Still trying to get some more posts up here... but meanwhile, here's a number from Star Spangled Rhythm, Paramount's entry in the "all-star revue movies for the troops with lame linking storyline" sub-genre. Paramount's lineup of stars at this point wasn't as impressive overall as WB or MGM, the other studios that did this kind of movie, but they had more singing/dancing stars than WB (which used mostly non-singing stars to sing in its entry, Thank Your Lucky Stars).
In this number, we get Paramount contractee Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake -- three very attractive women who were mostly used as decoration in Paramount movies, though Goddard did eventually get a good role in 1945's Kitty -- singing a funny Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer song lamenting their sex-symbol status. Well, Goddard and Lamour sing; most of Lake's singing is dubbed.
The number also includes a bizarre interlude with three character actors in drag: Sterling Holloway, Walter Catlett, and Arthur Treacher. (Catlett and Holloway had done voices for Disney features, and Treacher would later appear in Disney's Mary Poppins.)
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they had the three men in there; only Goddard showed signs of coming to life, but Lamour wasn't far behind. Someone should have given Veronica a line of coke.
ReplyDeleteThe three 'dragsters' really brought the number to life.