Cover Girl

When nightclub singer Rusty Parker (Rita Hayworth) “wins” a contest held by a wealthy magazine publisher (Otto Kruger), she becomes an overnight sensation as a cover girl. Will instant fame cost Rusty her relationship with boyfriend Danny (Gene Kelly)? Musical comedy favorite includes star-making performances by Hayworth and Kelly, standout supporting turns by Phil Silvers and Eve Arden, and songs by George Gershwin and Jerome Kern.

Cover Girl (1944) starring Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Phil Silvers, Eve Arden

Product Description

Rusty Parker, a red-headed leggy dancer at Danny McGuire’s Night Club in Brooklyn, wants to be a successful Broadway star. She enters a contest to be a ‘Cover Girl’ as a stepping-stone in her career. She reminds the publisher, John Coudair, of his lost love, showgirl Maribelle Hicks. He was engaged to Maribelle, although his wealthy society mother made fun of her. Maribelle left John at the altar when she saw the piano at her wedding. It reminded her of the piano-player she truly loved.

Rusty is Maribelle’s granddaughter and there are musical sequences with Maribelle dancing to songs from the beginning of the 20th century. Rusty lands on the cover of her grandmother’s former fiancé’s magazine (as a bride). She is pursued by Coudair’s pal, the wealthy theatrical producer, Noel Wheaton. He produces a lavish musical to star Rusty, surrounded by real cover girls of the mid 1940’s. Rusty runs down a huge spiral into the arms of dozens of men who seem clumsy next to her ethereal dancing. But her success threatens Danny McGuire.

He expressed his distress that his girlfriend will find success without him in Kelly’s famous dance with himself, ‘Alter Ego’. He and his sidekick, Genius, leave New York and entertain soldiers fighting in World War II. Rusty agrees to marry Noel, dazzled by success, security, and his power and money. But she drinks and loses weight because her heart belongs to Danny. She receives a symbolic pearl with great power and tells Coudair and Wheaton that she must spend her life with the man she loves.

Editorial review of Cover Girl courtesy of Amazon.com

Cover Girl was one of the big hits of Rita Hayworth’s run as movie queen (and World War II pinup girl), a splashy musical geared to the talents of its redheaded star. Be warned: this is the kind of movie in which a single magazine cover turns an unknown dancer into the toast of her own Broadway show, virtually overnight. The corn runs high, but so do the spirits; plus, Eve Arden is around to toss in her trademark one-liners. Gene Kelly, as Hayworth’s sulky choreographer and part-time boyfriend, stops the movie cold with his brilliant dance alongside his own reflection.

The Jerome Kern-Ira Gershwin songs are middling, except for the lovely “Long Ago and Far Away.” One number presents a parade of magazine cover girls come to life (great snapshot of an era). And check out the movie’s hats: a parade of insane creations, perched uncertainly on many beautiful women’s heads. –Robert Horton

Cast of characters

• Rita Hayworth (My Gal Sal, Gilda) … Rusty Parker / Maribelle Hicks
• Gene Kelly (For Me and My Gal, DuBarry Was A Lady) … Danny McGuire
• Lee Bowman (My Dream is Yours, Having Wonderful Time) … Noel Wheaton
• Phil Silvers (Summer Stock, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum) … Genius
• Jinx Falkenburg … Jinx Falkenburg
• Leslie Brooks (Romance on the High Seas) … Maurine Martin
• Eve Arden (Our Miss Brooks [movie], Mildred Pierce) … Cornelia Jackson
• Otto Kruger (Dracula’s Daughter, Another Thin Man) … John Coudair
• Jess Barker (Scarlet Street) … John Coudair as a Young Man
• Anita Colby … Miss Colby
• Curt Bois (The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse) … Chef at Danny McGuire’s

Songs

• The Show Must Go On
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • Performed by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears), Leslie Brooks and Chorus
• Who’s Complaining?
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • Performed by Phil Silvers, Rita Hayworth, Leslie Brooks and Chorus
• Sure Thing
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • Performed by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears) and Chorus
• Make Way For Tomorrow
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Lyrics by Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg
  • Performed by Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears) and Phil Silvers
• Put Me to the Test
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • Performed by Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth
  • Comedy reprise by Gene Kelly and Phil Silvers
• Long Ago and Far Away
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • Performed by Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears)
• Poor John!
  • by Fred W. Leigh Henry E. Pether
  • Performed by Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears) and Chorus
• Alter Ego
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Performed by Gene Kelly
• Cover Girl
  • Music by Jerome Kern
  • Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • Performed by Rita Hayworth and Chorus