There were only a dozen or so films between 1943 and 1950 for 20th Century Fox musical comedy queen Betty Grable, and many of those films seem quite similar with their vaudeville or musical comedy settings, so it seemed a nice idea for 20th to take one of Betty's old films, give it a new setting and change the name. Other details have been altered too, but for the most part, the films are almost identical. They all focus on ownership rights of the leading hero over a dance hall or music hall, where Betty Grable just happens to be the star, actually quite a temperamental one. Grable had never been so hot and bothered in her characterizations before. Feisty, yes, but temperamental, no.
Once the curtain rise on Grable singing the title song amongst the chorus girls, you can't wait for her to break into singing and dancing on her own, and she does that with a winner of a number. "I wish that I could shimmy like my sister Kate" is a rousing dance number, and she has several of these, most memorably "May I tempt you with a big red rosy apple?" and the campy "Wilhemina". Other than that, this is more of the same, with practically every archetype character from "Coney Island" here to make the unmistakable perception that it was indeed the same story. James Barton is the equivalent of the same character Charles Winninger played, with Victor Mature taking on the role that equally rugged George Montgomery had played before.
One major addition was the inclusion of a Carrie Nation type temperance leader, here played by Margaret Hamilton in a zany fight scene that is truly comical with her subordinates going wild-swinging on chandeliers, throwing glasses at the bartenders, and even Hamilton breaking the mirror behind the bar. Phil Harris and Reginald Gardiner round out the leading players with roles straight out of its original source. This is a rare rambunctious musical for director Henry Koster whose previous musical films were those starring Deanna Durbin, quite a different leading lady than Ms. Grable.
Once the curtain rise on Grable singing the title song amongst the chorus girls, you can't wait for her to break into singing and dancing on her own, and she does that with a winner of a number. "I wish that I could shimmy like my sister Kate" is a rousing dance number, and she has several of these, most memorably "May I tempt you with a big red rosy apple?" and the campy "Wilhemina". Other than that, this is more of the same, with practically every archetype character from "Coney Island" here to make the unmistakable perception that it was indeed the same story. James Barton is the equivalent of the same character Charles Winninger played, with Victor Mature taking on the role that equally rugged George Montgomery had played before.
One major addition was the inclusion of a Carrie Nation type temperance leader, here played by Margaret Hamilton in a zany fight scene that is truly comical with her subordinates going wild-swinging on chandeliers, throwing glasses at the bartenders, and even Hamilton breaking the mirror behind the bar. Phil Harris and Reginald Gardiner round out the leading players with roles straight out of its original source. This is a rare rambunctious musical for director Henry Koster whose previous musical films were those starring Deanna Durbin, quite a different leading lady than Ms. Grable.