We're back on Broadway, people. Eleanor's back. George Murphy's back. Fred Astaire's back...oh, wait. This was his first and only Melody, although he did dance on the real Broadway, so there's that. After the rather confusing and lackluster Broadway Melody of 1938, MGM went for a less-is-more approach with what became the final film in the Broadway Melody series, The Broadway … Continue reading Keep It Simple, Sweetheart
Brave Walter Mitty
I'll see you in my dreams... I remember reading "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in the eighth grade because my lit teacher, Mz. Howell was a big James Thurber fan (Yes, she spelled her "Ms." with a "Z." She was a fun lady.). Anyway, the story was originally published in the March 18, 1939 … Continue reading Brave Walter Mitty
Page To Screen: The Song of Bernadette
1943's The Song Of Bernadette turned Jennifer Jones into an Oscar winner. She was twenty-five at the time and it was her first starring role. How this film came about is a story in and of itself, of course. A Czech Jew named Franz Werfel, who was fleeing the Nazis, sheltered for a time in … Continue reading Page To Screen: The Song of Bernadette
Morocco Bound
On the road again... Few Golden Age comedy teams have worn better than Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Bob was the zany comic. Bing was the suave crooner who always got the girl. Whenever these guys were together they played off each other, they trolled each other, and they had a ball. Thankfully for those … Continue reading Morocco Bound
And Then There Was Agatha Christie
Building a mystery... One of the first Agatha Christie films I ever saw was 1945's And Then There Were None. It's got an all-star cast and an effective bait-and-switch structure that I would hate to spoil, so it's probably best to just dive right in without much of a build-up. Here we go... The movie opens … Continue reading And Then There Was Agatha Christie
Stage To Screen: Girl Crazy
Amazing as their music is, a lot of George and Ira Gershwin's musicals aren't presented today in their original forms, and while Girl Crazy is no different, it has stayed more intact than the vast majority of its mates, at least in terms of its music. Girl Crazy marked the debut of such classics as "I Got … Continue reading Stage To Screen: Girl Crazy
I Shall Return
One of the Second World War's most iconic images is that of General Douglas MacArthur wading through the surf at Leyte in his long-promised return to the Philippines. While that incident has famously been called "staged," it was and it wasn't. MacArthur's landing craft was unable to take him right up to the beach because … Continue reading I Shall Return
Somewhere Over the Film Noir
Betty Grable and Carole Landis don't really come to mind when one thinks of film noir. They're fun and nice and pretty and hardly the type for dark and stormy nights, but dark and stormy is exactly what they get in 1941's I Wake Up Screaming, a murder mystery based on the Steve Fisher novel, Hot Spot. Well, … Continue reading Somewhere Over the Film Noir
It’s All About People
It's a great day for the Irish... We all know 2020 was a strange year, not only because it felt like the hits just kept on coming, but how we relate to each other was turned on its head. Certain salespeople would have us believe that being apart is no problem. Just get on Zoom … Continue reading It’s All About People
The Lady In the Tutti-Frutti Hat
Taking Up Room's first blogathon of 2021... Carmen Miranda's star rose very quickly in the United States, and it didn't take long for Twentieth Century Fox to play that up in a big way. The most overt example of was 1943's The Gang's All Here. The film appears to be an homage to the Good Neighbor … Continue reading The Lady In the Tutti-Frutti Hat
Down On the Farm
This year has shown us things about ourselves, positive and otherwise, and it may mean discovering depths and talents we never knew we had. With that in mind I decided to revisit 1947's The Egg and I. It's not only based on a true story of a city couple trying to start a chicken farm, … Continue reading Down On the Farm
Let’s Put On A Show
Escapism can take some funny shapes, and in 1944's Broadway Rhythm it literally does. It was meant to be the latest installment in the Broadway Melody series, but L.B. Mayer decided to change it to a vehicle for up and coming singer Ginny Sims. It was also an adaptation of a Kern and Hammerstein musical called Very Warm … Continue reading Let’s Put On A Show
Vive La France
Welcome back, Mr. Rains... While France was occupied during the Second World War, its soldiers, sailors, and airmen managed to deal heavy blows to the Axis with assists from the English and Americans. Like many other aspects of the war this effort was fodder for Hollywood's movie factory, and in 1944 our guest of honor … Continue reading Vive La France
Astaire’s Worst Movie
Gotta dance... Fred Astaire wasn't immune to the occasional turkey and one of them is 1940's Second Chorus. Astaire plays Danny, a trumpet player in a college band. It sounds all right on the surface, except that Astaire was forty-one at the time. At least Artie Shaw was along to make it all better. Oh, … Continue reading Astaire’s Worst Movie
See You In Court
Kate and Spence have returned, all... When Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy come up, people often talk about how well-matched they are. They're like two peas. Whatever Spence gave Kate, she gave back to him, and their love for each other was always evident. This dynamic played successfully in nine feature films, and one of … Continue reading See You In Court
We Can Take It
Rule, Britannia, Britannia rules the waves... It's no secret that early in the Second World War the United Kingdom was among the few free nations fighting against the Nazis. By 1944 people were exhausted and pep talks were in order, one of which came in the form of the Carol Reed film, The Way Ahead. … Continue reading We Can Take It
Through Different Eyes
I don't know what I was expecting when I bought 1945's The Enchanted Cottage. I didn't even think much about the plot except that it might be some nice late-World War Two escapism. What I found, though, was a quietly beautiful story about two outsiders who discover that the world has more for them than they realize. … Continue reading Through Different Eyes
Taking Up Room 