makin' whoopee on the cheap
When we look back on musicals, I guess we tend to remember the 'epics'. Big productions like "Footlight Parades" and "Singin' in the Rain" and "West Side Story".
But there was also a whole long-lived genre of 'chamber musicals' - little cheapies, one step up from the B-list, and sometimes - in the case of the singing cowboys - one step up from the C-list! The scale is smaller, but that's no reason for them all to slip off into obscurity. "Two weeks with love" is fun; "My gal sal" is fun; "For me and my gal" is lots of fun.
And if you ask me "I'll see you in my dreams" is a real charmer. It's an interesting story, even in the flossied up version: because it deals with relatively 'unknown' songwriter, Gus Kahn, it probably gives a better idea of Tin Pan Alley history than the various Gerswhin and Porter and Kern projects. The low-budget production values probably help, too: the whole thing has a pleasantly domestic scale.
Kahn's lyrics help things out considerably, too. Compare this movie with "Words and Music" - the Kalmar and Ruby songbook is spread pretty thin to fill a whole movie. No such problem with Gus: it's a pleasant ongoing surprise to discover that he wrote the lyrics to so many familiar standards.
Neither Danny nor Doris exactly "chews the scenery", but this is a fine showcase for them; there's little sexual chemistry, but there's a kind of professional rapport that makes the characters' relationship seem very believable and deep and adult. (And you can't say that about a lot of musicals.) Doris is such a credible actor in what's basically a dramatic role; the later comedies are fun, but she had more range than people give her credit for. And she's one of the best singers in the history of the movies: give her a couple of great songs, and the show's worth the price of admission already.
I like Danny Thomas in this. Because of where I live, I never saw Danny on TV: his shows weren't broadcast here. So whenever I've seen him since, I've thought he was overacting heinously. Here, he's very charming and dignified - a sort of Wallace Beery / Ernest Borgnine type.
But there was also a whole long-lived genre of 'chamber musicals' - little cheapies, one step up from the B-list, and sometimes - in the case of the singing cowboys - one step up from the C-list! The scale is smaller, but that's no reason for them all to slip off into obscurity. "Two weeks with love" is fun; "My gal sal" is fun; "For me and my gal" is lots of fun.
And if you ask me "I'll see you in my dreams" is a real charmer. It's an interesting story, even in the flossied up version: because it deals with relatively 'unknown' songwriter, Gus Kahn, it probably gives a better idea of Tin Pan Alley history than the various Gerswhin and Porter and Kern projects. The low-budget production values probably help, too: the whole thing has a pleasantly domestic scale.
Kahn's lyrics help things out considerably, too. Compare this movie with "Words and Music" - the Kalmar and Ruby songbook is spread pretty thin to fill a whole movie. No such problem with Gus: it's a pleasant ongoing surprise to discover that he wrote the lyrics to so many familiar standards.
Neither Danny nor Doris exactly "chews the scenery", but this is a fine showcase for them; there's little sexual chemistry, but there's a kind of professional rapport that makes the characters' relationship seem very believable and deep and adult. (And you can't say that about a lot of musicals.) Doris is such a credible actor in what's basically a dramatic role; the later comedies are fun, but she had more range than people give her credit for. And she's one of the best singers in the history of the movies: give her a couple of great songs, and the show's worth the price of admission already.
I like Danny Thomas in this. Because of where I live, I never saw Danny on TV: his shows weren't broadcast here. So whenever I've seen him since, I've thought he was overacting heinously. Here, he's very charming and dignified - a sort of Wallace Beery / Ernest Borgnine type.
- mundsen
- Jul 5, 2007