Star After Star
Added 4/10/2007
It's wartime, and this film is tailor made for the troops missing the good old USA! A few soldiers return home on leave to visit family. Eddie goes to a famous movie studio to meet his father under the assumption that his father is the head of the studio. In fact, Pops (Victor Moore) is just a security guard, but he doesn't want his son to be disappointed so he enlists secretary Polly's help (Betty Hutton). They gain access to the head cheese's office and in the process, accidentally promise Eddie to get major stars from the studio to star in an all-star revue just for the military.
There are so many wonderful stars in this film, all of them playing themselves. Bing Crosby and his son Gary appear. Bob Hope takes over as MC in his bits. Paulette Goddard, Veronica Lake, and Dorothy Lamour sing a song about their trademarks. Dick Powell and Mary Martin sing about Dreamland. Franchot Tone, Fred MacMurray, and Ray Milland put on a skit. On top of these cameos, Hutton steals the show as an enthusiastic star in her own right.
3 out of 3 people found this helpful.
|
A mixed bag... but still good nostalgic fun
Added 11/17/2002
Bing Crosby croons the closing number in this flimsily-scripted wartime tossoff in which Paramount Studios hosts a patriotic all-star revue to entertain our men in uniform. Eddie Bracken is a goofy sailor back home to get a girl... Lucky for him that Betty Hutton -- in her first major role -- has her eyes set on him as well. She fast-talks and finagles (in a very Lucy-like way) to get Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray and a bunch of other stars to come on board for the (spontaneous, yet amazingly elaborate) really big show, and in the process Hutton gets her man. The song and dance numbers, despite being written by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, are notably not first rate, although the Golden Gate Quartet have a nice cameo (even if they are playing train porters...) and a trio of starlets -- Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour and (aroooogah!! woof! woof!) Veronica Lake -- do a hilarious number together, based on their images as stars. Also notable is a silly, prolonged skit in which men pretend to be women (eek.) and Bing's big patriotic number at the end, which is some of the clumsiest wartime propaganda committed to film. Betty Hutton is given the film's biggest role, and though she hams it up, she's still totally adorable. Let's see more of her!! Film buffs will also enjoy the chance to see director Preston Sturges and studio legend Cecil B. DeMille onscreen.
5 out of 6 people found this helpful.
|
Absolutely crazy!
Added 11/30/2000
This combination of Paramount's stars during World War II is great! The storyline is typical of musical comedies from that era: Betty Hutton is a telephone operator at Paramount who, along with Victor Moore, pretends that Moore is the head director of the studio in order to impress Moore's sailor son (played by Eddie Bracken) and his shipmates. In reality, Moore is only a gate guard known as Pop, and when he is discovered by the director whom he is impersonating (Walter Abel) he and Hutton are fired and thrown off the lot. Unfortunately, they have promised Bracken that the stars of the studio will put on a show for the men on his ship. Hutton manages to sneak back into the studio and coaxes several actors and actresses to help their beloved Pop. The whole movie is a lot of fun. My family loves it, especially the part when Hutton is trying to get back into the studio! With a few exceptions--Hutton, Moore, Bracken, Abel, etc.--everyone in the movie plays themself, including several well-known Paramount directors of that time. Definitely a must-see if you love goofy movies from the forties!
7 out of 7 people found this helpful.
|
gooooood movies
Added 11/21/2009
These are movies thar my mother introduced me to as a teenager. She was an avid fan of Bob Hope and Betty Hutten. She found them on a public tv station that she often watched late at night. These movies not only allow me to share them with my children, but it is a reminder of how much fun we had watching with mom.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Bob Hope VINTAGE movies - AWESOME -
Added 10/6/2009
The delivery took a lot longer than is usually characteristic for AMAZON.COM. The quality of the DVD was very good, and since I enjoy these 'old timey pictures' it is a joy to watch, re-watch, and re-watch. If you like b-movies, Go for the GOLD that was left for us by our for-bearers!!Classic TV Comedians
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Two very good films,The first is typically Bob Hope. Star spangled Rhythm is full of Hollywood stars doing very different performances you wouldn't expect. A really fantastic funny film. Betty Hutton is at her best.Very enjoyable as a musical and a comedy.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Great double feature
Added 6/21/2007
You can't go far wrong with the early Bob Hope films. This double feature is misleading though because only one is a Hope vehicle.
"My Favourite Blonde" is a spy comedy, a take off of "The Thirty Nine Steps", a famous book by John Buchan and British film starring the gorgeous Madelaine Carroll and Robert Donat. The gags come thick and fast and Hope is perfectly cast as a second rate vaudevillian with a performing penguin. He inadvertantly gets mixed up with British agent Carroll who is trying to deliver secret microfilm to her boss. Their adventures take them from New York to Los Angeles, providing the script writers with endless opportunities for mayhem. It is a very entertaining film and Carroll surprises with her comedy technique.
"Star Spangled Rhythm" was Paramount's entry into the all star "putting on a show" films which every studio produced during the war. It is one of the best. Betty Hutton stars as a telephonist at the studio and she is very funny. She has 2 standout scenes - when she greets boyfriend Eddie Bracken and a superb routine with 2 acrobats in which she is trying to get over the walls of the studio lot. The show itself has the usual mixture of acts - good such as Dorothy Lamour, Paulette Goddard and Veronica Lake sending up their images (Lake is inept) and Ray Milland, Lynne Overman, Franchot Tone and Fred MacMurray (his dead pan timing is impeccable) demonstrating if men played cards like women; very poor such as an inexplicable and embarrassing turn by the inert Alan Ladd and Susan Hayward overacting as usual in a skit about the wartime rubber shortage. There are also a couple of great songs - "That Old Black Magic" and "Hit the Road to Dreamland" for example. Ironically, for me the worst bit is the climax with Bing Crosby performing a patriotic song and showing absolutely zero involvement as usual.
The prints of the films are excellent but the extras only include the trailers of the films and some liner notes about the productions and the casts. One irritating constraint is that once you have selected a film, you can not return to the top menu to select the other film.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
My Favorite Bob!
Added 2/15/2007
This is delightfully hysterical film starring funnyman Bob Hope and showcasing the gorgeous Madeline Carroll. She really shines and gets to show off her comedic talent. Carroll did so many serious roles like "Secret Agent", "Lloyds of London", that it is refreshing to see her act in a screwball comedy while maintaining some sense of dignity. They have wonderful chemistry. I especially love the scene where Bob gets to "rough-up" Madeleine in order to have the police called to the scene to provide safe escort from the building. The villians are wonderful and Bob gets the best of them. My favorite Bob Hope film. Oh yes, the bonus Star Spangled Rhythm movie is a good look at Hollywood's morale-boosting war contribution. The skit showcasing the three gorgeous ladies from Paramount - Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, and Veronica Lake is hysterical.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
