The Heat’s On [Tropicana] ** (1943, Mae West, Victor Moore, William Gaxton) – Classic Movie Review 12,427

Director Gregory Ratoff’s 1943 musical comedy film The Heat’s On [Tropicana] stars Mae West in her last film from her prime is a weak backstage musical without the usual quota of naughty West wisecracks.

A slimmer Mae plays temperamental Broadway singing star Fay Lawrence, who finds herself in the middle of the rivalry between two producers (Victor Moore and William Gaxton) after she is persuaded by the Broadway producer Tony Ferris (Gaxton) to star in his latest production.

There is not too much fun or joy here, with not enough laughs in the screenplay, and the production numbers are uninspired too, but Mae is fun as the diva Fay. It also helps that there is music from Xavier Cougat and His Orchestra.

Also in the cast are Almira Sessions, Lester Allen, Mary Roche, Hazel Scott, Alan Dinehart, and Lloyd Bridges.

It was the end of an era, Mae’s film career partly brought down by the restrictions of the Production Code, and partly because she was getting older. She was 49 and making her first film in three years after starring on Broadway. Mae had written the screenplays and/ or story material for her previous films, but she had no part in the script here.

The movie was not a box office success and Mae West did not film again until Myra Breckinridge in 1970, though she continued a successful career in theatre.

The Heat’s On [Tropicana] is directed by Gregory Ratoff, runs 80 minutes, is made by Gregory Ratoff Productions, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Fitzroy Davis, George S George and Fred Schiller, is shot by Franz Planer, is produced by Milton Carter, is scored by Yasha Bunchuk and John Leipold, with Xavier Cougat.

The cast are Mae West as Fay Lawrence, Victor Moore as Hubert Bainbridge, William Gaxton as Tony Ferris, Lester Allen as Mouse Beller, Alan Dinehart as Forrest Stanton, Mary Roche as Janey Adair, Lloyd Bridges as Andy Walker, Almira Sessions as Hannah Bainbridge, Jack Owens .as Himself, Hazel Scott as Herself, and Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra as Themselves.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,427

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