Sensations of 1945

Sensations of 1945 is a 1944 American musical-comedy film which was released by United Artists. This film was an attempt to recapture the ensemble style of films such as Broadway Melody of 1936 by showcasing a number of top musical and comedy acts of the day, in a film linked together by a loose storyline. Sensations of 1945 stars dancer Eleanor Powell and Dennis O'Keefe as two rival publicists who fall in love, but the film's main purpose is to showcase a variety of different acts, ranging from tightrope walking to comedy to Powell's athletic tap dancing. This film is notable for several reasons. It was Powell's first and only non-MGM film after becoming a star at MGM nearly a decade earlier; it was also her final starring role in a film, after which she would only make a cameo in MGM's Duchess of Idaho in 1950 and some unused footage of her would appear in a 1946 MGM compilation, The Great Morgan. Powell's dance inside a giant pinball machine (as part of the song, "Spin Little Pinball") has been cited by critics variously as both a highlight and as the nadir of her film career. Comic actor W.C. Fields also appears in what was his final movie appearance before his death in 1946. Other performers in this film include Sophie Tucker, Lyle Talbot, Dorothy Donegan, Cab Calloway, Gene Rodgers, Woody Herman, and Les Paul. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music Scoring.