This movie stars James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Doris Day & Gordon MacRae (who were a fairly common duo). It's amazing how many people think James Cagney is ONLY a movie 'tough guy'. The man is great in other roles, including musicals. James plays a broadway director/producer who has gambled his career away. He takes a job he hates, offered by someone he hates, just to keep his girl (Virginia Mayo) from leaving him. The job is to lure a student (Gordon MacRae) at West Point away from the military while directing a musicial created by the students. (PROMO HERE)
It's a fun story, helped by a good supporting cast. Alan Hale Jr (the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island") & Gene Nelson being the most important of this group. Alan provides a number of funny moments with James, and Gene has an AMAZING dance routine that I can't find anywhere on the internet unfortunately. Honestly, I couldn't find most of the clips I wanted to share here. I strongly recommend this movie, and after watching this & other James Cagney films, I've come to think of him as the Prancing Tough Guy. In this role especially he seems to prance/dance as he moves. I'll share the videos I did find below, along with a few from other movies.
10,432 Sheep
I thought this was a cute number from Doris Day.
She's Working Her Way Through College (1952)
I decided to share this video because it features Virginia Mayo & Gene Nelson. The routine is called "I'll Be Loving You", and yes that is Ronald Reagan. Oh, and Mayo's voice was dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams.
Lullaby Of Broadway (1951)
Here's another clip featuring Doris Day & Gene Nelson. This number is called "Somebody Loves Me", and Gene's voice was dubbed by Hal Derwin.
Tea For Two (1950)
Doris Day & Gordon MacRae singing in the finale....you'll also see Gene Nelson again.
No comments:
Post a Comment