Down to Earth (1947)

Great Film overall

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Terpsichore comes down from Parnassus to fix a Broadway show in which she is depicted in lowbrow fashion. Presumably after the war they could relax a bit but this really is a dire idea for a musical. The heavenly theme is carried over from "Here Comes Mr Jordan" (1941) - it allows Hayworth to make the transition from goddess to ordinary gal but the fantasy stuff is just too bogus and the putting-on-a-show stuff is dire (all the singing is dubbed). Hayworth looks good but gets better support from her Playtex than from Larry Parks, who is uncharismatic, and Edward Everett Horton who isn't funny - putting Horton in a military uniform was surely some kind of a mistake. Bizarrely bad.

Miffed about the way a new Broadway musical is portraying Greek mythology, goddess Terpsichore gets herself to Earth and promptly lands a part in the show. As she charms the show's producer, Danny Miller, and he incorporates her ideas into the show, the show becomes a flop, and there may just be a hint of love in the air to further complicate matters.Down To Earth is like a cake that has been on display in the window all day. It looks nice on the outside but when you get to the inside there really isn't much taste to it. Worthy of a watch primarily because of Rita Hayworth {Terpsichore} in Technicolor {it's easy to accept such beauty as a goddess} Alexander Hall's musical version of his own Here Comes Mr. Jordan is a rather flat and uneventful affair. Not to decry the sweet nature of the story, and it "is" a charming fable, there's too many things wrong to make it fully function as an uplifting musical.The songs from Doris Fisher and Allan Roberts are weak and uninspiring, and they are further hindered by the overtly evident voice dubbing of the cast. Not normally an issue to me, but when the lyrics are so tepid the focus is drawn to the irritants. Then there is the lack of spark between Hayworth and her leading man, Larry Parks as the show's producer Danny Miller. Parks was riding the crest of a wave after his Oscar nominated turn in Al Jolson the previous year, but here he struggles and looks nothing like leading man potential. The choreography is fine, including a well constructed sequence in a play park, and the set design is easy on the eye. But there is no getting away from it, without Rita Hayworth in the lead, this film would have sank without trace from the musical aficionado's memory bank. A generous 5/10 from me as it looks fabulous on a High Definition TV, where you can see that producer Dan Hartman at least had the vision to put on a glossy show.

It would seem only natural that the greatest of screen goddesses would be cast as one of the residents of Olympus, but Rita Hayworth more than fills the part. Something tells me that if she and Terpsichore were talking now, Terpsichore would be real happy with Rita.I don't think she would be all that happy with the film as a whole, but the Greek Deities are a hard subject for the theater. Rodgers&Hart did well by them in By Jupiter, their last original collaboration. But Cole Porter had a misfire with them in Out Of This World. And the team of Doris Fisher and Allan Roberts aren't quite of the caliber of Porter and Rodgers&Hart. No great songs come out of the score here and that certainly would have helped the film a lot.In Down To Earth, Terpsichore does just that when up in her celestial viewing spot she sees that performer/producer Larry Parks planning a musical comedy that is a satire of the Greek Gods. She's not happy that liberties are being taken with her relations so she comes down and of course gets the dancing lead and the leading man, sort of.Rita Hayworth was dubbed by Anita Ellis who did her songs in a few of her Forties films. But why people were expecting the voice of Larry Parks in his one duet with Hayworth to be Al Jolson's, those Greek Gods only know. Parks was dubbed by a singer named Hal Derwin and I took a look at Mr. Derwin's credits and he dubbed at various times, Lee Bowman, Gene Nelson, and Bob Cummings in various films. It wasn't Jolson by why would anyone expect that.Helping out in Down to Earth are three roles from Here Comes Mr. Jordan, one of Columbia's earlier comedy/fantasy hits. Stepping in for Claude Rains as the all knowing Mr. Jordan is Roland Culver. And repeating their roles from Here Comes Mr. Jordan are Edward Everett Horton as the snippy heavenly messenger and James Gleason as the good hearted, but slightly confused Max Corkle who has quit managing fighters and is now an actor's agent. I suppose the job calls for the same skills.But this film is really Rita Hayworth's show. She's at the height of her screen fame when this was made and one look at her by young fans who might not have been alive when she was will tell you why that woman was the greatest screen sex symbol ever.So in overcoming a mediocre musical score Rita makes this film as personally her own as Gilda in the previous year. Not as good as Gilda, but all Rita.

Rita Hayworth shows why she was dubbed "The Love Goddess" in this technicolored musical fantasy incorporating some of the supporting players of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" to flesh out its plot about Terpsichore returning to earth to help producer (Larry Parks) put on a correct version of his mythological musical. Unfortunately, the script doesn't provide Larry Parks with a role up to his Jolson impersonations and the chemistry between them isn't quite enough to make this more than a routine musical.Rita is perfectly cast as a goddess and is at her most ravishing. She has several good dance routines which she performs with her customary grace and skill. Larry Parks, then riding the crest of his popularity after "The Jolson Story", does a workmanlike job in a lackluster role. But she steals as the spotlight as the Greek muse of the theater, unhappy about the way the nine Muses are being portrayed. Along with an angel (Edward Everett Horton), she is allowed to go down to earth in an attempt to give the show some class. It's a pleasant enough fantasy and gives Rita the chance to do some fancy footwork in dance routines staged by Jack Cole. The good cast includes Roland Culver, James Gleason and Marc Platt.For more about Rita, watch for my upcoming career article slated for publication in FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE sometime soon.