Lady Be Good *** (1941, Eleanor Powell, Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Lionel Barrymore, John Carroll, Red Skelton, Virginia O’Brien, Dan Dailey) – Classic Movie Review 6791

The 1941 MGM musical Lady Be Good stars Eleanor Powell, who dances dazzlingly in Busby Berkeley’s spectacular routine ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, and there is Ann Sothern comfort a-plenty too.

Director Norman Z McLeod’s 1941 musical film Lady Be Good stars Eleanor Powell, who dances dazzlingly in Busby Berkeley’s spectacular epic tap dance routine ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, and there is Sothern comfort a-plenty when Ann Sothern sings the Oscar-winning ‘The Last Time I Saw Paris’ composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.

That is recommendation enough for this otherwise unremarkable MGM musical, which would have done better to stick close to the 1924 George and Ira Gershwin Broadway stage hit musical for Fred and Adele Astaire. And not only has the movie got completely new story line, it also uses only two of the show’s songs: ‘Oh, Lady be Good!’ and ‘Fascinating Rhythm’ (both of them music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin).

The poor, unmemorable new story by Jack McGowan is about a couple of songwriters, would-be lyricist Dixie Donegan and struggling composer Eddie Crane (Ann Sothern and Robert Young), breaking up and divorcing after Young gets conceited with success. However, they are still in love after their divorce and Dixie’s friend Marilyn Marsh (Eleanor Powell) tries to get them to re-marry.

Also in the cast are Lionel Barrymore, John Carroll, Red Skelton, Virginia O’Brien, Dan Dailey, Tommy Dorsey, Reginald Owen, Doris Day, Edward Gargan, Tom Conway, Rose Hobart, Phil Silvers and Connie Russell.

Look at the quality of that cast and the brilliance of these songs: ‘Lady Be Good’ (music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin), ‘You’ll Never Know’ (music and lyrics by Roger Edens), ‘Your Words and My Music’ (music by Roger Edens, lyrics by Arthur Freed), “The Last Time I Saw Paris” (music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II), and ‘Fascinating Rhythm (music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin).

There was a row at the Oscar ceremony because the honoured song ‘The Last Time I Saw Paris’ was not specially composed for the film and yet still won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1941. It was published in 1940 and recorded before the film was released, and by that December, six versions of it were in the charts. Later, Kern asked the Motion Picture Academy to change the rules, so now an Oscar nominated song has to have been specifically written for the film it is performed in.

It is Kern’s second Academy Award for Best Original Song (after ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ in 1936), and Hammerstein’s first.

Lady Be Good is directed by Norman Z McLeod, runs 112 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Jack McGowan, Kay Van Riper and John McClain, is shot in black and white by George J Folsey and Oliver T Marsh, is produced by Arthur Freed and scored by George Stoll.

The Oscar-winning ‘The Last Time I Saw Paris’ song inspired the title of the film The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954) and figures prominently in it, where it was sung by Odette Myrtil.

Behind-the-scenes footage in the 1994 documentary feature That’s Entertainment! III shows how the ‘Fascinating Rhythm’ routine was done. Stage hands removed pieces of the set off camera as Powell dances between a series of pianos without interruption. Another sequence features Powell doing a dance routine with a dog she trained specially. There are also dance routines by the Berry Brothers.

The cast are Eleanor Powell as Marilyn Marsh, Ann Sothern as Dixie Donegan, Robert Young as Eddie Crane, Red Skelton as Joe ‘Red’ Willet, Lionel Barrymore as Judge Murdock, Phil Silvers as Nightclub Compere, Virginia O’Brien as Lull, John Carroll as Buddy Crawford, Dan Dailey as Bill Pattison, Rose Hobart as Mrs Wardley, Connie Russell as Singer, Tommy Dorsey, Reginald Owen, Doris Day, Edward Gargan, Tom Conway, and the Berry Brothers.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6791

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