Orchestra Wives (1942)
Archie Mayo is a functional director remembered a couple of first rate movies, "Petrified Forest" and "A Night in Casablanca." Now Hollywood has slews of great movies by directors like this, getting just the right mixture of elements to succeed, but their other movies still usually have elements, moments, or qualities that rise above and make them worthwhile.
This is a war time big band lightweight romance. But it has such great music and some polished great acting (some), the contrived plot is easy to swallow. It's a fun, excellent ride, not at all shabby. Ann Rutherford is really first rate, sweet and smart when she needs to be, and touching at others.
The music? Completely Glenn Miller. The real Glenn Miller, even though he takes on the name of Gene Morrison for the role. And it's great to see them playing (or pretending to play--it's a pretty good match, but not live recording and filming). It's the great film introduction for "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo," which is enough to enshrine the movie (including a second version with a pair of African-American singers and dancers leading the way). This is Miller's second film, and is part of the home front cheerleading (in the best sense) a worried public as the U.S. entered the war. Miller of course formed a whole new band for the war effort, and died when his plane disappeared in Europe. It's part of his lore, and it adds some pathos to how we see the movie now, in retrospect.
The male lead, across from Rutherford, is the band's trumpet player, meant to be the incomparable Harry James, but played not by the real James (which would have been fun) but by George Montgomery. Cesar Romaro plays a clichéd role, and makes the most of it, endlessly cheerful. And look for a young Jackie Gleason a couple of times (he's a bass player).
The fairy tale ending is perfectly unbelievable, and a great feel-good cherry on a feel-good movie. Like many Astaire-Rogers movies, this musical drama is far far better than it should have been!
Archie Mayo is a functional director remembered a couple of first rate movies, "Petrified Forest" and "A Night in Casablanca." Now Hollywood has slews of great movies by directors like this, getting just the right mixture of elements to succeed, but their other movies still usually have elements, moments, or qualities that rise above and make them worthwhile.
This is a war time big band lightweight romance. But it has such great music and some polished great acting (some), the contrived plot is easy to swallow. It's a fun, excellent ride, not at all shabby. Ann Rutherford is really first rate, sweet and smart when she needs to be, and touching at others.
The music? Completely Glenn Miller. The real Glenn Miller, even though he takes on the name of Gene Morrison for the role. And it's great to see them playing (or pretending to play--it's a pretty good match, but not live recording and filming). It's the great film introduction for "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo," which is enough to enshrine the movie (including a second version with a pair of African-American singers and dancers leading the way). This is Miller's second film, and is part of the home front cheerleading (in the best sense) a worried public as the U.S. entered the war. Miller of course formed a whole new band for the war effort, and died when his plane disappeared in Europe. It's part of his lore, and it adds some pathos to how we see the movie now, in retrospect.
The male lead, across from Rutherford, is the band's trumpet player, meant to be the incomparable Harry James, but played not by the real James (which would have been fun) but by George Montgomery. Cesar Romaro plays a clichéd role, and makes the most of it, endlessly cheerful. And look for a young Jackie Gleason a couple of times (he's a bass player).
The fairy tale ending is perfectly unbelievable, and a great feel-good cherry on a feel-good movie. Like many Astaire-Rogers movies, this musical drama is far far better than it should have been!