She's got glamour surrounding her with furs, jewels, the latest fashions, and all the available men at her beck and call. Yet, she's terribly unhappy, filled with self doubt, depression and on the verge of a breakdown due to nervous exhaustion. Even in dowdy suits that don't hide her loveliness, Ginger Rogers' Liza Elliott seems barely living, only going through the motions. Yet, she has a fantastic fantasy life, and with psycho analysis tries to make sense of it all.
Even before "Oklahoma!", this Broadway hit went to places in musical theater that most shows avoided. A smash hit for Gertrude Lawrence, it seems the perfect vehicle for any movie musical queen to take on. Who would it be? Judy at MGM? Alice at 20th? Rita at Columbia? The independently working Ginger Rogers got the key part, and does her best to instill it with every emotion known to mankind, er womankind, that is when she chooses to act like a typical mid 20th Century woman.
Perhaps the fact that this seems quite ahead of its time can be utilized as the reason for its awkwardness. It's certainly lovely to look at, but that one key ingredient, magic, is missing. The Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin score seems to move in and out, played mostly over the fantasy sequences, and no more substantial than the humming in her head of the show's glorious ballad, "My Ship".
Surrounding Rogers are the wisecracking Ray Milland who refers to Rogers as "boss lady", Warner Baxter as her devoted suitor who bears more than a passing resemblance to her father, Jon Hall as a hunky movie star, and Mischa Auer as the very effeminate photographer whose statements about Hall are filled with obvious sexual innuendo.
There's so much to like, if not love, in this big colorful spectacle. This show, rarely revived, has been documented in the Gertrude Lawrence musical bio "Star!" (where Julie Andrews camped it up in an over-the- top "Jenny") and a profile featuring original cast member Danny Kaye and a seductive Lynn Redgrave on the PBS special "Musical Comedy Tonight". Hopefully, this will get a proper revival one day, but something tells me that its attitudes about women and careers are considered very dated.
Even before "Oklahoma!", this Broadway hit went to places in musical theater that most shows avoided. A smash hit for Gertrude Lawrence, it seems the perfect vehicle for any movie musical queen to take on. Who would it be? Judy at MGM? Alice at 20th? Rita at Columbia? The independently working Ginger Rogers got the key part, and does her best to instill it with every emotion known to mankind, er womankind, that is when she chooses to act like a typical mid 20th Century woman.
Perhaps the fact that this seems quite ahead of its time can be utilized as the reason for its awkwardness. It's certainly lovely to look at, but that one key ingredient, magic, is missing. The Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin score seems to move in and out, played mostly over the fantasy sequences, and no more substantial than the humming in her head of the show's glorious ballad, "My Ship".
Surrounding Rogers are the wisecracking Ray Milland who refers to Rogers as "boss lady", Warner Baxter as her devoted suitor who bears more than a passing resemblance to her father, Jon Hall as a hunky movie star, and Mischa Auer as the very effeminate photographer whose statements about Hall are filled with obvious sexual innuendo.
There's so much to like, if not love, in this big colorful spectacle. This show, rarely revived, has been documented in the Gertrude Lawrence musical bio "Star!" (where Julie Andrews camped it up in an over-the- top "Jenny") and a profile featuring original cast member Danny Kaye and a seductive Lynn Redgrave on the PBS special "Musical Comedy Tonight". Hopefully, this will get a proper revival one day, but something tells me that its attitudes about women and careers are considered very dated.