La rue de la gaieté

What a shame. The colour is great as are the costumes for the showgirls on stage, but there is far too much time wasted with a comedy Irish drunk character and the plot will have you asking "where's the story?" as well as the story being completely ludicrous when it actually gets going. The idea is that Victor Mature (Andrew) will fool Phil Harris (Mike) into thinking Harris has killed someone in order to blackmail Harris to produce a show together and steal his girlfriend Betty Grable (Ruby).

Grable keeps this watchable with her music numbers otherwise it would be a bore and quite annoying with that idiotic drunken James Barton (Harrigan) taking up far too much screen time and grinding the film to a halt every time he appears.

Remake of 1943's "Coney Island" (both starring Betty Grable!) has Victor Mature (in suits and straw hats) playing a hustler-showman conning old acquaintance Phil Harris into going in business together in 1890s Chicago. Seems nightclub owner Harris has scuffled with a rowdy drunk and believes he's killed him; Mature holds this over his head and steals his girl in the process! Screenwriter Charles Lederer has penned a great deal of smart, sassy patter (broken up every now and again by cute musical numbers), but he fumbles what little plot there is. Lederer also isn't helped by the casting: Phil Harris seems like such a genuinely nice guy (with a big, gregarious smile) that Mature comes off a bit cold-hearted by contrast (he's not the dashing romantic intended). Grable is very lively on stage and funny in a catfight scene with a showgirl; she keeps a heated temper throughout and gives the movie a good goosing. Also funny is Margaret Hamilton in small role as a crusader for decency (no one displays comic indignation better than Hamilton). Fox production values a bit low, although the trick photography during a ferris wheel sequence is well done and Harris has a funny bit there inadvertently proposing to a sailor. ** from ****

Betty Grable has always been adorable, awfully cute to look at and to watch dancing. Generally she didn't have to DO anything besides be and look cute, which she did awfully well. But act? In "Wabash Avenue" she does!

It's a slight story, full of clichés and not-especially-developed characters, but Betty Grable so completely dominates her scenes and the entire movie that "Wabash Avenue" is a must-see.

You MUST watch her face -- not just her legs -- and her body movements. She gives what must be her greatest performance, and she is absolutely marvelous. She hits just the right notes in gestures and expressions and I would recommend "Wabash Avenue" for third and fourth viewings just to see her.

Then there's Phil Harris. Usually he gets to be a cardboardish caricature of himself, which is usually all he needs to be and all we want or need him to be. But as "Mike Stanley," he out-does himself, and probably no one else could have given quite the same portrayal. He too is marvelous.

He and the other excellent cast members are helped, immensely, by some clever and entertaining dialogue, some OK music and beautiful and/or skimpy costumes, and some excellent character actors, especially James Barton, who steals every scene he's in, and the great Reginald Gardiner.

Of course we shouldn't omit mention of Victor Mature who gives a good performance without taking off his shirt or wielding a weapon. He probably deserves more respect generally.

"Wabash Avenue" is not necessarily a great movie, but it is fun and, as mentioned above, Betty Grable and Phil Harris are reason enough to watch and re-watch.

Lots of action in this Betty Grable film with a fine supporting cast.

Victor Mature is great with his escapades of being successful at starting trouble amongst Betty and Phil Harris. Phil Harris's character is pretty good in this department at playing games as well.

The musical numbers are divine and the choreography is very good.

The cinematography is brilliant with all the vivid colors. Very entertaining for a remake of Grable's "Coney Island." Nice to know that both films, made only seven years apart, were box office hits.

Ruby Summers (Betty Grable) plays the main attraction at a Chicago burlesque theater run by Mike Stanley (Phil Harris), when Andy Clark (Victor Mature) an old acquaintance, shows up. Set around the turn of the century, with references to Oscar Hammerstein and the suffragette movement (a scene with Margaret Hamilton playing the leader of a militant band intent on wiping out these kinds of establishments leads her girls into Harris' club). The film has numerous musical numbers with Grable dressed up in some stunning outfits, as she sings and dances across the stage backed up by knock-out chorus line girls. The arrival of Harrigan (James Barton) as a heavy drinking tap dancer, energizes an already fast paced film. Phil Harris' part as the slightly crooked owner of the club is great as he and Mature outmaneuver each other for Grable, who looks great in the outfits, with the whole thing glamorized by lush Technicolor.