Watchingwell   

             Curated classic films

The 1940s

Musicals

     The penultimate category of this survey of the decade's iconic films --  20 films you should know: American Musicals.

Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940, Directed by Norman Taurog)

The last of the 'Broadway Melody' franchise, it boasts a Cole Porter score, and dancing by the great Eleanor Powell and the great Fred Astaire, together for the one and only time. The grande finale is the pair dancing alone to Begin the Beguine, against a sparkling, mirrored background. Non pareil! If you watch nothing else...

Down Argentine Way (1940, Directed by Irving Cummings)

Betty Grable and Don Ameche with Carmen Miranda in her American debut, opening the film with South American Way. But although there is a silly plot that surrounds Don and Betty's romance, it is totally entertaining just to watch Carmen Miranda and the fabulous Nicholas Brothers perform.


Buck Privates (1941, Directed by Arthur Lubin)

A look at basic training for the country, newly at war.
This very musical Abbot and Costello comedy also stars Lee Bowman, Alan Curtis, and the Andrew Sisters. Doesn't get more iconic.

Holiday Inn (1942, Directed by Mark Sandrich)

Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby have a great idea -- a hotel where they will sing and dance for the guests to music by Irving Berlin.  What could go wrong?  Too much success?  Classic tunes, including America's favorite holiday song, Bing singing, White Christmas.


Road to Morocco (1942, Directed by David Butler)

I know I have listed Hope/Crosby films elsewhere in the comedy category, they are also musicals, especially this one that features, besides the well-known title song, Bing singing the lovely, Moonlight Becomes You, to Dorothy Lamour.



Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, Directed by Michael Curtiz)

James, Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Rosemary deCamp in the biography of composer and performer, George S. Cohan.  A classic and Cagney's personal favorite, for which he won his only Academy Award.



You Were Never Lovelier (1942, Directed by William A. Seiter)

Loving Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers films as I do, I was not prepared to be so impressed by Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth as dancing partners. Nice tunes as Fred pursues Rita without her father's approval. 







Cabin in the Sky (1943, Directed by Vincente Minnelli)

Ethel Waters, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Lena Horne star in director Minnelli's first film. Many people familiar with the great jazz vocalists may not be aware of the fact that Ethel Waters was a fine singer as well as an equally-fine actress.

Girl Crazy (1943, Directed by Norman Taurog)

Many choices for a Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney musical, but this one has the advantage of a Gershwin score with Tommy Dorsey arrangements of But Not For Me, Embraceable You, I Got Rhythm. Judy never sounded better.



Stormy Weather (1943, Directed by Andrew L. Stone)

Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Bill Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers, Fats Waller star in this showcase of legendary performers. Great music and costumes. A rare chance to see some remarkable American talent.


Bathing Beauty (1944, Directed by George Sidney)

In a list of iconic musicals, it is necessary to include at least one Esther Williams film. Even if you don't care for synchronized swimming at the Olympics, you might appreciate this water musical just to know why Williams was a big star. With Red Skelton, Harry James, Xavier Cougat. 


Going My Way (1944, Directed by Leo McCarey)

Bing Crosby plays a younger, more modern priest who wins over the conservative Barry Fitzgerald. At the Academy Awards, it won Best Actor (Crosby), Best Supporting Actor (Fitzgerald), Best Director, Best Picture, Best Writing, Original Story and Screenplay, Best Music - Original Song , Swinging on a Star.  If you're into awards.


Step Lively (1944, Directed by Tim Whelan)

Musical remake of the Marx Brothers' Room Service, where a producer is putting a show together from a hotel, where he and the cast are staying on credit. Worth watching to understand the appeal of the young, skinny heartthrob, Frank Sinatra, singing, As Long As There's Music.



Rhapsody in Blue (1945, Directed by Irving Rapper)

Robert Alda, Alexis Smith, Joan Leslie, Oscar Levant, star in the Hollywood version of the life of George Gershwin. Basically, this is a tribute to the music, and 'who can ask for anything more'?


Wonder Man (1945, Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone)

Although his better-known films are in the 50s, this early Danny Kaye effort illustrates why he became such a big star.  Crazy antics by the multi-talented Kaye abound, who, in this story, is inhabited by the ghost of his brother. With Virginia Mayo and Vera-Ellen. 


Night and Day (1946, Directed by Michael Curtiz)

Very fictional biography of Cole Porter, starring Cary Grant, Alexis  Smith (again, in the role of the composer's love interest), Monty Woolley, Ginny Sims, and Jane Wyman. But, great music and Mary Martin performing her famous rendition of My Heart Belongs to Daddy.


Romance on the High Seas (1948, Directed by Michael Curtiz, Musical Scenes by Busby Berkely)

For those of you who only know Doris Day for the post-PillowTalk comedies, it will be enlightening to see and hear the young singer in her first film. The lovely and poised Doris sings, It's Magic, and a star is born.

Easter Parade (1948, Directed by Charles Walters)

I've watched this over the years without really seeing it, but the more I look at it, the more I appreciate the real quality of this production. Judy Garland must take the place of Ann Miller when Miller leaves Fred Astaire for a solo career. With Peter Lawford. Wonderful singing and dancing to a wonderful score by Irving Berlin. 

On the Town (1949, Directed by Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly)

Based on the musical play with music by Leonard Bernstein and  lyrics by Adolph Green and Betty Comden, this is a vehicle for the very talented players, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen, Betty Garrett and Jules Munshin to sing and dance to some great tunes in a story of sailors on leave for one day in New York City.


Meet Me in St. Louis (1944, Directed by Vincente Minnelli)

Meet Me in St. Louis could be the best musical of all time. Oh, I know there are many equally good in the music or the dance or the glamour department.  This film actually is deceptively simple in its presentation. But it is a drama where the music serves the story, as perfectly integrated as the costumes, sets, and lighting. There are films that have better music or better dance or where the story is something you experience while you wait for the next musical number.  But here, the music comes as a bonus to the story, a tapestry of rich colors and textures -- every scene, a small painting of the world of 1904 St. Louis, the whole masterfully directed by Vincente Minnelli.  And although it has been recorded by a thousand different artists, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas never sounds as poignant as when Judy Garland sings it to Margaret O'Brien.  With Mary Astor and Leon Ames.



OK, watch. Tell me this isn't great.