Shine On, Harvest Moon ** (1944, Ann Sheridan, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Irene Manning) – Classic Movie Review 12,539

Warner Bros’ tuneful 1944 film Shine on, Harvest Moon is a fun but flimsy musical biopic of Broadway stars Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, played by Ann Sheridan and Dennis Morgan. Jack Carson is The Great Georgetti, and Irene Manning plays Blanche Mallory. 

Director David Butler’s tuneful nostalgic 1944 Warner Bros black and white film Shine on, Harvest Moon is a fun but flimsy musical biopic of once-famed vaudevillians Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, early 20th century Broadway stars.

It stars Ann Sheridan as Nora Bayes, Dennis Morgan as Jack Norworth, Jack Carson as The Great Georgetti, and Irene Manning as Blanche Mallory, with S Z Sakall as Poppa Carl and Marie Wilson as Margie.

Shine on, Harvest Moon is a largely fantasised concoction and without much in the way of an interesting story to tell. But there is a nice, relaxed mood, the music is pleasant, and the stars get their chance to shine. It is is directed very smoothly and efficiently by David Butler, with the usual careful and meticulous Warner Bros production. Alas though, Warner Bros did not regard it as one of their top movies. There was a shortage of colour stock as well as of spare cash. Though planned to be filmed entirely in Technicolor, thanks to wartime limited colour stock, it is shot in black and white, but it ends with a glorious Technicolor final sequence, restored in the 1980s.

Also in the cast are The Four Step Brothers, Robert Shayne, Bob Murphy, Will Stanton, James Bush, Joseph Crehan, Betty Bryson, Al Hill, Mike Mazurky, Bert Roach, Nestor Paiva, and Charles McAvoy. It is also the final film of Peggy Carson.

The popular evergreen 1908 song ‘Shine On, Harvest Moon’ was written by Nora Bayes (music) and Jack Norworth (lyrics).

Ann Sheridan’s singing voice is provided by Lynn Martin, also the voice of Rita Hayworth in Gilda.

It is the second of three screen pairings of Ann Sheridan and Dennis Morgan, following Wings for the Eagle (1942) and preceding One More Tomorrow (1946).

When it was first screened on TV from 1956 onwards, the 16mm prints were in black and white.

There is a previous 1938 film of this title, a completely unrelated Roy Rogers Western.

Shine On, Harvest Moon is directed by David Butler, runs 112 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is written by Sam Hellman and Richard Weil (screenplay and story), James V Kern and Francis Swann, is shot by Arthur Edeson, is produced by William Jacobs, and is scored by Heinz Roemheld.

It was a hit. Costing $1,457,000, it earned $3,706,000.

The cast are Ann Sheridan as Nora Bayes, Dennis Morgan as Jack Norworth, Jack Carson as The Great Georgetti, Irene Manning as Blanche Mallory, S Z Sakall as Poppa Carl, Marie Wilson as Margie, Robert Shayne as Dan Costello, Bob Murphy as Police Sergeant, The Four Step Brothers as Dance Team, Will Stanton, James Bush, Joseph Crehan, Betty Bryson, Al Hill, Mike Mazurky, Bert Roach, Nestor Paiva, Charles McAvoy, and Peggy Carson.

It is one of 11 films in which Morgan and Carson appear together, starting with Wings for the Eagle (1942).

Irene Manning.

Irene Manning was born as Inez Harvuot on July 17, 1912 in Cincinnati, Ohio. A Warner Bros contract actress and singer, she is best remembered as diva Fay Templeton in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), in which she acts, sings the song ‘Mary’ and plays the piano all at the same time. She starred with Humphrey Bogart in The Big Shot (1942) and with Dennis Morgan in both The Desert Song (1943) and Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944). Later MGM offered her a contract as a possible replacement for Jeanette MacDonald but dropped her without any MGM work. She made a dozen films. She then did stage and starred on her own BBC TV show, An American in England, until 1951. She died on May 28, 2004, aged 91.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,539

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