Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)

Just perfect...

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Absolutely brilliant

The main reason for seeing this morale-boosting film, released in the midst of WWII, is to see the antics of Betty Hutton. She was more fun than all the rest of the Paramount stars put together. The best female film clown until Lucie Ricardo(Ball)replaced her in the '50s. She was the ultimate bubbly cute blonde bombshell, in only her second feature-length film. As in her first film: "The Fleet's In", she was largely paired with comedian-straight man Eddie Bracken, a trend that would continue in several additional films. She's way down on the billing list at this site, but she dominated the first half of the film, along with Eddie, and Victor Moore, who played Eddie's father. Most of the other stars were crammed into the second half of the film.There is a dramatic side to the show. Eddie Bracken played a serviceman who is on leave in Hollywood to see his father, who claimed to have been promoted to head of production, and to see his pen pal girlfriend(Betty). The problem is that Eddie's father actually is just a security guard at the studio. Thus, the challenge is to keep this knowledge from Eddie's buddies, and to keep the real production chief(played by Walter Able) away from his office until Eddie and his buddies go back to their ship. Of course, this leads to many comedic situations.All the music was composed by Harold Arlen, with lyricist Johnny Mercer. The only "keeper" was "That Old Black Magic", which was released as a single by several singers around the same time, as well as in later years. Vera Zorina danced to it, while Johnny Johnston sang it. "Hit the Road to Dreamland " was sung by Mary Martin and Dick Powell. Betty Hutton sings "I'm Doing it for Defense. 'Rochester' Anderson led a group of African Americans in singing and dancing to "Sharp as a Tack". Marjorie Reynolds and others sang "On the Swing Shift". Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake(dubbed) sang and danced to "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peek-a-Boo Bang", followed by 3 men made up as caricatures of the women, who also sang and danced to it. Bing Crosby finished with the patriotic "Old Glory". There were a number of non-musical skits, as well, including the shower scene, with William Bendix and Bob Hope: the latter also serving as master of ceremonies, for about the last half of the film. "If Men Played Cards as Women Do", with 4 stars, fell flat for me.Although this was shot in B&W, occasionally, a rainbow of colors is seen, due to differential refraction of the light from microstructures. This is especially evident in Betty's dress in the 'climbing the wall' skit, and in Vera Zorenas's dress in the "That Old Black Magic" dance. I haven't noticed such in any other B&W film.

Betty Hutton, one of the nominal stars of Star Spangled Rhythm, was not just doing it for defense as in her number, but the whole studio was doing this All Star flag waver for the defense of the morale of the USA.I can never resist one of these all star spectaculars and there's only one I would ever have given a bad review to, and this isn't the one. Everybody working on the Paramount lot got to do his bit for defense in this film, some bits being longer than others.The nominal plot of this film has Betty Hutton as a switchboard girl at Paramount studios and Victor Moore, a former silent western star, now working as a security guard at the studio trying to convince Eddie Bracken and a bunch of his sailor buddies that Moore is really the head of the studio. For that they have to con and bamboozle Walter Abel who is a real studio executive out of his office and off the lot so they can do their masquerade uninterrupted.Of course Bracken asks the inevitable, pop can you get all these stars down for a big Navy show, and the con has to continue. But all of this nonsense is just an excuse for some musical and comedy numbers by the Paramount players.Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote the score and out of it came two really big standards, That Old Black Magic which was nominated for Best Song that year, but lost to another Paramount film song, White Christmas and Hit the Road to Dreamland.The latter was done as director Preston Sturges was playing himself and screening a musical number from his latest film. As the projector rolls on screen it's Dick Powell and Mary Martin on a Pullman car singing about finally hitting the hay after some romance. The scene is so well done I wish it was included as an integral part of a real film.That Old Black Magic is sung by Johnny Johnson and danced by ballet star Vera Zorina. It was enormous hit that year, recorded by a flock of singers. Oddly enough not by Bing Crosby though he got to sing it in another film, Here Come the Waves. Of course the finale is a wartime flag waving number with Bing Crosby singing Old Glory about the flag and the wonders of the country behind it. The number about the flag probably wouldn't fly today still and that's a pity.It's even more of a pity that these musical extravaganzas are a thing of the past with the decline of the Hollywood studio system. Star Spangled Rhythm is one of the best of its kind.

Anyone who considers himself an old movie buff must see this film. It is a time capsule of Paramount in 1942. All the studio's great stars, including Susan Hayworth, Fred MacMurray, Bob Hope. and others participate in this film. Unfortunately, some of the big stars of that time are no longer known today and the surprise of seeing them do certain numbers no longer amaze contemporary audiences as would have happened in 1942. There are some priceless vaudeville skits (such as Betty Hutton trying to get over a studio wall) that are real classics. The ending of the movie is a grand patriotic number sung by Bing Crosby as he asks Americans what this country means to them. It is too bad that today's movies don't do a little reminder like that about the glories of our country.

A potpourri of star turns lift the charming but silly plot above itself. Worth seeing for the Dick Powell/Mary Martin number alone. I kept backing the tape up and watching this part again and again. Why Martin wasn't a greater Hollywood star is a mystery to me, but H'wood's loss was B'way's gain. Many other nice things to see, but I have a feeling some numbers were cut from the final print. Wonder what they were?