At its’ heart, Meet the People is a musical romantic comedy, where shipyard worker William ‘Swanee’ Swanson (played by Dick Powell) has written a patriotic play about the American worker during World War II. Actress Julie Hampton (played by Lucille Ball) is hired to act in the play, but when Swanson has “creative differences” with the producer, he wants the actual shipyard workers to star in the play.
Follow the Fleet, a musical romantic comedy starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard
In Billy Rose’s Jumbo, Pop and Kitty Wonder are the owners of the Wonder Circus. Because of Pop’s gambling addiction, they’re constantly in debt, with creditors very close to foreclosing on them. Their main attraction is Jumbo the Elephant. Their competitor, John Noble, wants Jumbo and to take their show. Out of nowhere, a mysterious new wire walker named Sam Rawlins joins. Kitty is taken with him, but what they don’t know is that he is Noble’s son.
An aspiring actress takes a bet that she can answer “no” to every question for 24 hours. If she can, she’ll win the opportunity to finance and star in her own Broadway musical. Based on the 1920’s stage play and film, “No, No, Nanette”. The score features songs by George & Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Al Dubin and Harry Warren.
“Everybody is miserable in Brooklyn!” declares Anne Fielding, a pretty music teacher. It may start out that way, but Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Jimmy Durante, and Peter Lawford bring plenty of music, romance, and laughter to New York’s most colorful borough. Anne (Grayson) has to teach music because her opera career started off on the wrong note. Army private Dannie Miller (Sinatra) is too shy to let anyone hear him sing. Jamie, an English duke’s grandson (Lawford), is too stuffy to fit in. And Nick, the janitor (Durante), has never known love. But they all discover anything is possible if they believe in each other and the spirit of Brooklyn.
On the day before Easter in 1911, Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) is crushed when his dancing partner and girlfriend (Ann Miller) refuses to start a new contract with him. To prove that he doesn’t need Nadine, Don acquires a new, innocent protegee named Hannah Brown (Judy Garland). He vows to make her a star in time for next year’s Easter Parade.
Musical version of Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” adapted from the stage hit, 1968 Best Picture Oscar.
Ziegfeld Follies is an attempt at recreating the spectacle of Flo Ziegfeld’s famous Broadway shows … And so the film is a series of unrelated musical and comedy routines. They’re unconnected except by the narration of the ghostly Flo Ziegfeld (played by William Powell) as he sits back in Heaven, thinking of the spectacles that he could create with then-current stars. The various acts include:
Neptune’s Daughter is a laugh out loud funny romantic musical comedy, which I enjoyed immensely. Although the movie stars the beautiful (and aquatic) Esther Williams and the dashing Ricardo Montalban (one of my favorite actors), the movie comes to life when Red Skelton is onscreen.
