If I'm Lucky (1946)

I love this movie so much

the audience applauded

Just perfect...

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

With a cast of Perry Como, Carmen Miranda, Edgar Buchanan, Harry James and Vivian Blaine along with Phil Silvers, what could go possibly wrong?Imagine the premise that crooner Como runs for governor? That's what we have here in this highly entertaining films. Carmen Miranda belts out her songs in her usual Brazilian style. Silvers, as the leader of the troupe, is conniving and lovable as usual. Vivian Blaine, as Como's love interest looks old here but is entertaining nonetheless.Even back then, we see the corruption of politics and greedy government officials taking full advantage of a corrupt system.

Silly but pleasant little Fox B trifle. A Carmen Miranda musical in B&W is an oddity but in B&W or color she is always Technicolor and is as full as sass as ever and her headgear is as truly astounding. Perry Como sings well and is certainly attractive but he is missing that big screen charisma needed for major stardom. It is easy to see why he was a big hit on TV, he possessed a very warm and friendly presence that makes you feel right at home. Vivian Blaine is lovely and Edgar Buchanan is always a welcome addition to any movie but Phil Silvers is an acquired taste, there's no in between either you like him or not. For me he's hard to take but if you're a fan than he can be amusing. One big plus this has is that Harry James and his band provide the music and that's always a good thing.

If a film was described as "made by 20th Century Fox, featuring Vivian Blaine, Carmen Miranda, Phil Silvers, Harry James, and Perry Como," you might reasonably expect the sort of bright, brash, and breezy Technicolor musical of which TCF were the masters during the 1940s.If a film was described as "a black and white political satire about an upright young man duped into standing for office only to find that he was intended to front for a gang of corrupt politicos," you might reasonably expect the sort of film of which Frank Capra was master, perhaps starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur.It is unlikely that you would envisage one film to fit both descriptions, but "If I'm Lucky" does just that. Perhaps we shall never know what prompted TCF to produce this unlikely hybrid, but surprisingly it works quite well. The musical numbers are neatly integrated into the plot, Phil Silvers' usual over-exuberance is kept in check, one misses Technicolor only during Carmen Miranda's numbers, and the political shenanigans are carried mainly by Edgar Buchanan, Reed Hadley, and other supporting players, thankfully making little demand on Perry Como's acting abilities.This is not a particularly good movie, but nor is it a bad one, and it is sufficiently unusual to warrant attention.

This is a lightweight but enjoyable remake of "Thanks a Million" (1935). While it's far from a must-see, it has modest aspirations and makes for a decent time-passer. The star of this one is Perry Como--and his singing is typically smooth and enjoyable even though none of the songs are particularly memorable. He is supported by Vivian Blaine, Harry James, Phil Silvers and Carmen Miranda. As far as Silvers and Miranda go, they are pretty low-key in this film and lack the loud and brash qualities that made "Something for the Boys" a rather poor musical. In fact, this prior film ALSO starred Vivian Blaine and Perry Como--making "If I'm Lucky" sort of a reunion picture. Of the two films, "If I'm Lucky" is the vastly superior film.The five stars all are out of work and need a musical gig. By luck, they are discovered by a political machine--who puts the band to work during their gubernatorial campaign providing a warm-up act before their candidate gives a speech. However, during one of their stops, the candidate (Edgar Buchanan) gets stinking drunk and Como instead entertains the audience and makes a small speech. It ends up going over so well that the political machine offers to run Como for governor instead of Buchanan! Como knows he cannot win but realizes it would be great publicity for him and his friends and their band. The problem is that he DOES have a chance and his squeaky clean political machine is not so squeaky clean after all! And, these new 'friends' threaten to ruin his friends' careers if he doesn't play along. What is this honest guy going to do?Overall, this is a very pleasant little film. I already commented about the music by Como, but this film features a few insane musical numbers (such as Miranda's "Botocudo") as well. While these folks are SUPPOSED to be performing a few songs during an election run or in night clubs, the production numbers become ridiculously big as the film progresses. This isn't a complaint--just an observation about the sort of song and dance numbers that were popular during this era. Not a must-see but a decent little time-passer.