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Lisa’s Home Bijou: Moon Over Miami

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Film Festival: Art Deco

Betty Grable is our hostess for a romance-filled tour in Moon Over Miami. When you think about Art Deco, Miami Beach comes to mind. It’s one of the best places in America to see Art Deco buildings and style integrated into the fabric of a city.Moon Over Miami with Betty Grable. Singing, dancing, Florida, and 1940's fashions! Lisa's Home Bijou

 

“We’re going to Miami. That’s right, Miami. Where rich men are as plentiful as grapefruit and millionaires hang from every palm tree.” –Kay

Moon Over Miami (1941) brings us Betty Grable and south Florida in maximum Technicolor glory. It’s the tale of the Latimer family, two sisters and their aunt, golddigging their way from Texas to Miami in a manic husband-hunt.

Kay (Betty Grable) and Barbara Latimer (Carole Landis) work as singing waitresses at Texas Tommy’s (“Service with a Song”) drive-in restaurant. Their Aunt Susan (Charlotte Greenwood) is the short-order cook. The three women are thrilled when they receive news of an inheritance, but after taxes and lawyers’ fees, they’re left with a very meager amount. Rather than give up on their dreams, they quit their jobs and devise a plan.

Our trio checks into a beautiful pink luxury hotel in Miami, the Flamingo. They used what was left of the inheritance to buy Kay a deluxe wardrobe. Barbara poses as Kay’s secretary and Susan plays their personal maid. They immediately meet two rich, eligible young men among the guests wintering at the hotel. The two boys get into a competition for the attentions of “wealthy” Kay.

“Let’s see what do we want? We want you, the juice of the grape and a good hot dance band.”
“But right now we’ll settle for those potato chips and cheese.”
— Phil and Jeffmoon-over-miami-potato-chips

Kay and Phil McNeal (Don Ameche) get very close. Phil confesses that his family fortune is gone and he is looking for a rich wife. Kay in turn confesses her plot to Phil and he begins to push her at the truly rich Jeff Bolton (Robert Cummings.) Meanwhile, Barbara and Susan enjoy their own romances. Susan flirts with a hotel waiter, played endearingly by Jack Haley. After multiple mix-ups, everyone ends up happy.

Travis Banton designed a memorable set of costumes for Betty Grable. We first see her in a short cowgirl skirt with fringe and boots that show off her great legs and a hat that frames her face. When arriving in Miami she wears an aqua fur-trimmed traveling suit with a giant matching muff. Her first party outfit is blue and white georgette, trimmed with stars. For a date she wears a peach halter-topped gown with silver sequined appliques down the front.

A midriff-baring silver lamé halter is the focus of another party gown. The long skirt is made of white chiffon and she wears a row of white-sequined lilies in her hair. When visiting a millionaire’s private off-shore island, Betty wears a royal blue and white pantsuit. Her final party dress is a white crepe gown with an open back, painted with huge, colorful butterflies. If you love 1940s fashion, these outfits will feed your soul!

The songs and musical numbers in Moon over Miami are by turns very gay or very romantic: “Mornin’ Friend,” “Oh Me, Oh Miami,” “You Started Something,” “I’ve Got You All to Myself,” “I Don’t Know,” “I’m in a Paradise with You,” “Conga to a Nursery Rhyme,” and “Swing Seminole.”moon-over-miami-susan

Miami and south Florida are also colorful stars of the movie. We visit Miami Beach, Cypress Gardens, Silver Springs, Rainbow Springs, and even get a little glimpse of the Hialeah racecourse.moon-over-miami-cypress-gardens

An energetic, attractive, and musical cast, the beautiful settings of Florida, and Betty Grable’s dancing all make Moon Over Miami a light-hearted package that is hard to resist.

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This review appeared originally in RETRO magazine, Nancy Eaton, editor.

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Whoopee! 1920s wedding comedy: Lisa’s Home Bijou

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Film Festival: Weddings, Hollywood Style

In triumphant lettering the opening credits of Whoopee! (1930) announce “Florenz Ziegfeld and Samuel Goldwyn present Eddie Cantor in Whoopee! A Musical Comedy of the Great Wide West.”Whoopee! with Eddie Cantor was huge Broadway hit for Flo Ziegfeld. Western wedding musical comedy with troubling aspects. Lisa's Home Bijou: Whoopee! (1930)

FLORENZ “FLO” ZIEGFELD was best known for his Follies, his elaborate musical stage revues. Whoopee! is one of the few book musicals he produced during the 1920s, based on the play “The Nervous Wreck” by Owen Davis. Though released in 1930, Whoopee! is very much a product of the ’20s, with its lavish costumes, humorous songs, and peppy dances. It was a star-vehicle for Eddie Cantor and his rendition of Makin’ Whoopee, the title song, became one of the most popular hits of 1928.

This movie has been called an antique for a variety of reasons. The racist and ethnic humor is quite insensitive by our modern standards. However, this show was extremely popular in its time and gives us a look back at the social mores of the day.

Wow! Talk about taking a musical off the Broadway stage. The opening scene is a western vista with mountains and Joshua trees. Two large groups of horseback riders gallop in, synchronized!whoopee-horses

The film begins with a bang — a huge Busby Berkeley production number. Out in the desert of the American West, a large troop of white horses appears over the horizon. Beautiful girls in white hats ride the horses. Coming to meet them is a large troop of black horses ridden by boys with spotted chaps. The boys and girls are a group of young people getting ready for a big wedding. They tap dance, they sing, they do formations, everything you’d expect from a lavish Busby Berkeley spectacle.

What is the story? Henry Williams (Eddie Cantor) is a hypochondriac who is convinced that he has multiple diseases and he’s just too fragile to live. He goes out West in a last attempt to regain his health. Miss Custer (Ethel Shutta) is his faithful nurse and she’s sure she can cure him.whoopee-henry-custer

“My stomach is so bad, when my grandfather died and left me $20,000 and in 6 weeks I spent it all on milk of magnesia, would you believe that?” –Henry

Sheriff Bob Wells (John Rutherford) is the lawman in the village Henry visits. He wants to marry Sally Morgan (Eleanor Hunt). However, Dick, or Wanenis, (Paul Gregory) has been in love with Sally since they were kids. Dick has returned to town after graduating from college and working in the copper mines in Montana. He looks like good marriage material, but there’s a problem – he’s the son of Black Eagle, the local Native American chief.

Henry gets himself tangled up in everyone’s romantic business all the while trying to keep Miss Custer at arm’s length.

Miss Custer: “Oh Henry, you must love me, you’re breathing so heavily!” Henry: “That’s not love, you fool, that’s my asthma!”

Henry spends most of the film involved in a series of screwball chases, as everyone misinterprets everyone else’s motives.whoopee-sally

Henry takes center stage to sing “Makin’ Whoopee” surrounded by Sally’s bridesmaids dressed in gauzy, ruffly pink, their pretty faces framed by picture hats.

“Another bride / another groom / the countryside is all in bloom / the flowers and treeses / the birds and beeses / are makin’ whoopee!”

The song shows off the famous Eddie Cantor style, the huge rolling eyes, the clapping hand gestures, and the soft shoe.

Another production number is staged at the Indian village. Beautiful girls come down a ramp on the mountain wearing skimpy, elegant costumes with large feather headdresses. Some of them parade on ponies.whoopee-indian-village

A very young Betty Grable is one of the Goldwyn Girls. She leads the opening Cowboys number. Make sure you get a good closeup view of her towards the end of the Stetson Hat number.whoopee-stetson

Eddie Cantor was very famous in the first half of the 20thcentury. He was a comedian, actor, singer, and dancer, and brought his New York immigrant style of humor to vaudeville first. Eventually he became a Broadway star in the Ziegfeld Follies and other musical comedies. He made movies, records, TV, and had a long-running radio show. He helped develop the March of Dimes and was known for his humanitarian work.

The girls are still beautiful, the costumes are still awe-inspiring, and the music is catchy. Many of the songs by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn are still popular today. And Samuel Goldwyn spared no expense in bringing all the spectacle of the stage show to the screen, employing a bevy of beauties, Busby Berkeley, and even using 2-strip Technicolor for the entire film.whoopee-bridesmaids

Blackface was used in American shows going back to the 1830s. Minstrel shows featured mocking caricatures of controversial stereotypes of black people and were a popular form of traveling show in the 19thcentury. Used primarily by white actors to play blacks, a few black actors used blackface in order to appear in front of white audiences. By the 1960s, blackface had mostly ended in the US. It is not something we want to see today as a reminder of a painful past. It’s hard to rate a movie when parts of it are so offensive. Watching this film can serve as a history lesson of past practices we do not want to repeat. You can watch the film to see the culture of the time without having to excuse the racism.

Resource links for Whoopee!

This is an update of a review that appeared originally in RETRO magazine, Nancy Eaton, editor.

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Lisa’s Home Bijou: Song of the Islands musical film

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Film Festival: The Islands and Tropicana

Song of the Islands (1942) shows the influence of cowboys on the Hawaiian cattle ranches. Ranches in Hawai’i brought an interesting mix of people to the islands. The Hawaiian culture has a strong expression in music and dance, both showcased in this film, with Betty Grable adding extra glamour to the mix.Betty Grable is the daughter of a Hawaiian cattle rancher finding love with Victor Mature. Features Hilo Hattie and Harry Owens. Lisa's Home Bijou: Song of the Islands (1942)

George Vancouver introduced cattle to Hawaii in the late 1700s. In the 1830s, vaqueros from California and Mexico were hired and began the paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) traditions.

Song of the Islands takes place on Ahmi-Oni Isle, a tiny island (near Lanai) in the middle of the Hawaiian islands. Ahmi-Oni has a split personality — one side of it is owned by Dennis O’Brien (Thomas Mitchell), the other by Harper (George Barbier.) O’Brien loves the native lifestyle. He has lived it himself, has raised his daughter amidst it, and wants to preserve his land for the island people. Harper is a no-nonsense absentee landowner. There are no women on his Circle H ranch and he wants his half of the island to be an efficient, profit-making cattle ranch.song-islands-cattle

“Bring me the fragrance of ginger / Strum your guitars while I dream away / Sing me a song of the islands / Aloha wau ia ‘oe”

Eileen O’Brien (Betty Grable) arrives back on the Isle in an outrigger canoe, singing “Sing Me a Song of the Islands.” She’s been at school on the mainland for three years. The O’Brien side of the Isle puts on a sumptuous homecoming party for Eileen, with guitars, singing, banana-leaf-covered pigs roasting in imu (cooking pit), hula dancers, and trays of fruits. They sing the Hawaiian War Chant (also known as the romantic song Kāua I Ka Huahua’i).

Eileen is very happy to be back home, but she learned to like one special convenience on the mainland and brought it back with her — a modern bathtub for their home.

The party cranks up when Eileen dresses in a grass skirt and flowers and performs a swing-hula with 20 local girls to “Down on Ami Ami Oni Oni Isle.” Her childhood nurse, Palola (Hilo Hattie), adds to the festivities by singing a comic version.

A sailboat suddenly beaches with two young men asleep in the cabin. They are cattle ranchers: Mr. Harper’s son and his Texas ranch manager, headed to the Circle H Ranch for a visit. Jeff Harper (Victor Mature) has been sent to make a deal with O’Brien to make his land part of the Circle H.

“Oh why did I ever leave Texas? –To show me how the little calves on dad’s ranches grow into nice big juicy steaks. –Say what do they feed them in a place like this? –Bananas and poi.” –Rusty and Jeff

Rusty Smith (Jack Oakie) is checking out the Hawaiian cattle operation. He finds the Hawaiian cowboy songs strange (Maika’i Ka Makani O Kohala), so he teaches them “Home on the Range.” The paniolo (cowhands) make it their own, changing it into a hapa haole song, half Hawaiian, half English.

Jeff and Eileen feel an attraction and start going out for moonlight sails and sunbathing on the black sand together.

“Say do you mind if I move the bouquet over so I can move in myself? –Ah ah, musn’t touch. –Why? –Well when a girl has a flower over her left ear it means…never mind. –What? Tell me! –It means she’s nobody’s sweetheart, she’s looking. –And over the right ear? –That means hands-off, she’s taken.” Jeff and Eileen (Actually, left ear means taken!)

Meanwhile, Palola has chosen Rusty for a husband-to-be, although he’s far more interested in her young cousin (Lillian Porter). Rusty meets Palola’s papa (Billy Gilbert), a very scary man reputed to be descended from cannibals (seriously?). Rusty survives a meal at Palola’s home that includes poi, coconut sauce, and octopus.

Jeff’s father flies in from Chicago on the Honolulu Clipper. He’s very upset that Jeff is not acquiring the O’Brien land and might actually marry the O’Brien daughter. Jeff wants his dad to calm down and relax. He brings him to a party at O’Brien’s where everyone sings Maluna Malolo Mawaena.

“Jeff, I’m not well, I’ve got a bad stomach. I want to retire. –You’re right, Dad, you’ve been working too hard. What you need is to get chummy with O’Brien. Learn how to enjoy life. –O’Brien! He’s been trying to pick my pocket for years. And that’s why his daughter is after you!” –Mr. Harper and Jeff

Harper and O’Brien discuss the use of O’Brien’s harbor for the Harper cattle operation. The talks break down when Harper won’t accept a friendly arrangement. Just when the Harper contingent is about to march off in a huff, a huge storm comes up and washes out the bridge between the two properties. Harper dad and son and Rusty have to spend the night with the O’Briens.

The two dads get friendly again while drinking a fermented papaya fruit concoction as a tonic. The senior Harper becomes convinced that he needs to spend more time on the Isle and get away from his hectic life in Chicago. Now the problem is to convince the angry Eileen to accept Jeff.

“You know, O’Brien, you’ve got a funny philosophy. Content to hibernate here on this island and even satisfied with the news you get from a 6-months-old newspaper! –What do you get from a fresh one? Nothing but news of troubles and taxes! Things you’d be happier knowing nothing about. They only keep you from enjoying the good things that were placed on this earth for all of us.” –Harper and O’Brien

Palola organizes a spectacular St. Patrick’s Day luau. Eileen wears a beautiful white evening-dress version of a hula outfit, covered with long white silk fringe. The local young men do a Samoan style dance, Palola sings the comic “Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai,” Eileen leads the group in “O’Brien Has Gone Hawaiian” and an Irish-hula-jig. There’s so much going on, you’ll have to watch closely to see if Jeff “captures” Eileen and if Rusty ends up with the lovely cousin or with Palola.

Mack Gordon and Harry Owens provide the lively music for this tropical celebration. Other song and dance numbers in the film include “Blue Shadows and White Gardenias”, “What’s Buzzin’ Cousin,” and Na Lei O Hawai’i.

Harry Owens and his Royal Hawaiians were the principal entertainment at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and provide a great soundtrack for the action. He wrote the hit song Sweet Leilani and wrote or transcribed many more Hawaiian songs. Clara Inter was the beloved Hawaiian entertainer Hilo Hattie. This was her first film.

Song of the Islands is a thoroughly entertaining journey to a Hollywood version of a Hawaiian island. Betty Grable looks wonderful in the tropical outfits and Victor Mature gets plenty of screen time to show off his physique. The Hawaiian foods, dances, and mode of dress are shown in rich Technicolor. Thomas Mitchell does his usual entertaining blustery Irish father role (check him out in “Gone with the Wind”). Fix yourself a tall coconut drink with a paper umbrella and sit back to be carried away for a rollicking good time.

Resource links for Song of the Islands (1942)

Let’s talk story

I’ve tried to document the actual Hawaiian songs in Song of the Islands and Honolulu. They are not listed on the soundtrack, nor are many of the performers listed in the credits. I don’t speak Hawaiian so it takes me awhile, but I think it’s important to get the songs added to the documentation on the Internet.

I love any movie with Betty Grable. I love Hawaii. But with modern eyes, it’s a little hard to watch this kind of Hollywood story. It makes me happy to see Hilo Hattie and Harry Owens, famous Hawaiian entertainers. I always wish that filmmakers would make more use of the beautiful heritage of true Hawaiian music and songs.

This is an update of a review that appeared originally in RETRO magazine, Nancy Eaton, editor.

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Lisa’s Home Bijou: Springtime in the Rockies

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Film Festival: Latin Flavor

Carmen Miranda’s vivaciousness and unique style are showcased in the 1942 film, Springtime in the Rockies. Portuguese by birth, Carmen Miranda emigrated to Brazil with her family as a youngster. As a teen she began working as a milliner and sang a bit on the radio. Although Carmen never grew past 5 feet tall, she became a Brazilian national treasure and an extremely popular bandleader and entertainer in the United States.Carmen Miranda brings the samba and her band to Lake Louise to assist Betty Grable's romance. Lisa's Home Bijou: Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

Springtime in the Rockies (1942) is a tale of two bickering lovers who are also Broadway stars. It’s the story of how they find happiness, along with all their friends, by the shores of Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies.

When we first see Dan Christy (John Payne) and Vicky Lane (Betty Grable) they are starring in “Stars in Your Eyes” on 42nd Street in New York. Dan is late for his duet with Vicky, who is worried. She talks things over with her friend Phoebe (Charlotte Greenwood).

“…He had a surprise for me. –Sounds like the old run-around. –Sounds more like an engagement ring to me. What else would a surprise be? –Well, I don’t know. Men have given me lots of surprises, they were never rings!”—Vicky and Phoebe

While they wait for Dan in the dressing room, Victor Prince (Cesar Romero) knocks at the door. Victor is Vicky’s old dancing partner and he wants her to join him again for a national tour. She nervously brushes him off because her heart belongs to Dan.

New York to Lake Louise, Banff, Canada

Dan finally arrives at the theater, so late that Vicky figures he must have been with another woman. He smells of expensive debutante perfume. After they sing and dance in a special-effects rainstorm on stage to “Run Little Raindrop, Run,” Dan tells her that he was late because he was buying a ring for her at Cartier’s. She cries tears of joy, but when he hands her a handkerchief, she sees that it is embroidered with the debutante’s initials. Victor’s offer of partnership suddenly looks much better to Vicky, so she takes him up on it.

Vicky and Victor do very well in their tour of nightclubs and hotel lounges. Meanwhile, Dan is jobless and spends his free time drinking. He meets a friendly bartender, MacTavish (Edward Everett Horton). While in the bar he finds out that the producers Bickell and Brown want to put up $60,000 for Dan’s new show, but the string attached is Vicky — they insist that she co-stars in the show. Dan’s agent, the Commissioner (Jackie Gleason), pays MacTavish to get the very drunk Dan on a plane to Lake Louise, where Vicky and Victor are enjoying a very successful gig at the Chateau.

An engagement and new employees

Dan wakes up in a hotel bed, very angry about the trumpet music that has awakened him. Outside, Harry James is entertaining the Chateau guests with “I Had the Craziest Dream” and “You Made Me Love You.” When MacTavish hands Dan a Bromo to relieve him, Dan can’t remember that he hired him as his a valet. MacTavish tells Dan a story:

springtime-lake-louise

“You see, when my Aunt Stephanie died I was a freshman at Harvard and in her will she stipulated that I was to receive an allowance of $10,000 a year as long as I remained in college. … Yes, sir, yes, sir, I’ve been going to school now for 20 years. I graduated last month. –20 years at one college? –No sir, no sir, I have diplomas from five!” –MacTavish and Dan

Dan intends to bring Vicky an engagement ring he purchased in Chicago, but once at Lake Louise, he finds that Vicky and Victor are already engaged. He returns to his hotel room to discover that while drunk in Detroit, he had hired a secretary, Rosita Murphy (Carmen Miranda). Dan can’t handle the pressure of everything he did while drunk or of Vicky’s apparent disinterest. He wants to return all his new employees to their points of origin and go back to New York. But MacTavish and Rosita want to stay in Canada. They convince Dan that Vicky has become jealous of the relationship she assumes exists between Dan and Rosita, so he decides to stay in Canada as well.

“Well, here I am, ready to go to work. –Murphy, take a letter. –Good neighbors! Is that what a secretary wears in Brazil? –Why, you don’t like my outfits? I think it’s a knock down. –Well, what good is it if there’s not a Mardi Gras in town?” –Rosita and Dan

Song and dance numbers

Vicky now needs to decide between Victor and Dan and now MacTavish looks like a good catch to Phoebe and Rosita. Rosita and Victor dance extremely well together. Bickell and Brown and the Commissioner all want Vicky. The song and dance numbers help move all this convoluted story line along:

  • Rosita has brought her six brothers (Banda da Lua) with her from Detroit. She brings them along with her to take dictation from Dan. Rosita is dressed in a red and yellow midriff-baring outfit and a turban covered with fruit. She convinces Dan to watch her family’s act and they do a Brazilian version of “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”springtime-chattanooga
  • Vicky and Victor dance a passionate floorshow based on the tango accompanied by Harry James’ music. In this number, Vicky wears a black illusion halter dress covered with sequins and a deep ruffle flounce. The dress shows off her beautiful back to its best advantage.springtime-tango
  • Rosita prepares for a date with Dan by dressing in a white satin sarong outfit and a white turban adorned with tulle ruffles. She’s afraid it’s too plain and tells MacTavish, “It needs some beads, some flowers, fruits, bubbles, knacks, knicks.” She borrows $10 from him and doctors her dress up with scarves, fringe, conchas, and Indian beadwork. Once at the supper club, she and her brothers take the floor to sing about her heart, “Tic Tac Do Meu Coracao.”Carmen Miranda brings the samba and her band to Lake Louise to assist Betty Grable's romance. Lisa's Home Bijou: Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
  • Phoebe performs a “Strange Interlude” to the tune of “I had a dream last night” in an orange pleated gown. Charlotte Greenwood throws in her famous high kicks.springtime-high-kick
  • “Pan American Jubilee” brings all the gang together to dance a combination of jitterbug and samba. Vicky begins the number in a white satin sweetheart neckline dress with bead gardenias in her hair. She changes to a blue and silver glittery strapless dress with the skirt composed entirely of long fringe.

Glamorous happy ending

Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda look marvelous in Technicolor. Carmen is a real part of the action of Springtime in the Rockies, not just here for musical insert. Her patter-style of singing and her comedic talent are shown off very well.

Harry James and Betty Grable do not share much screen time, although in real life, they married and raised a family in Las Vegas. Charlotte Greenwood (see her in Oklahoma and Moon Over Miami) and Edward Everett Horton (see him in Top Hat, among others) lend their usual top-notch support to the film. Springtime in the Rockies is a fun-filled look at wartime show business, resort life, and the Latin pizazz of Carmen Miranda.

Resource Links for Springtime in the Rockies

Affiliate links: if you make a purchase using these links, I’ll receive a small compensation towards maintaining this blog, at no extra cost to you.


This is an update of a review that appeared originally in RETRO magazine, Nancy Eaton, editor.