Coming up next we have 1942's "Springtime In The Rockies", a story about a dancing duo that splits up. When the man chases the woman to the Canadian Rockies, he must break up her engagement to another man and convince her to return to work with him before he loses backers for his new show.
The film's cast includes Betty Grable, Carmen Miranda, John Payne, Cesar Romero, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, Harry James, Jackie Gleason, Bess Flowers, Patrick O'Moore, and Helen Forrest.
Broadway star Vicky Lane gets a surprise visit in the middle of a show from her former dance partner Victor Prince.
He wants to get their act back together. Knowing she has other commitments, Vicky puts him off.
Dan Christy is also starring in Vicky's show, and he's very late. The two are romantically involved, though Vicky can't help but be suspicious about his alleged womanizing and reluctance to form any kind of commitment.
After the show, Vicky decides she's had enough. She quits and agrees to join Victor again, leaving Dan on his own.
With Vicky gone, Dan takes to drinking. He's also informed that unless he can get Vicky back, there will be no financial backing for his new show.
He tracks her down to Chateau Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, where she and Victor are a very big draw to the hotel guests. Dan also finds out that the dancing pair are engaged to be married.
Arriving in Canada in a drunken stupor, Dan is very surprised to find out that he's acquired a valet named McTavish. McTavish comes with a wealth of knowledge of everything except romance. "Though I am a master of romance languages, I’m scarcely
a master of romance.Bachelor of Arts, yes, but awfully tired of
being a bachelor," he says.
And he's even more surprised when he finds out that he's arrived with a spicy South American secretary named Rosita Murphy.
Once he's recovered enough from his hangover, Dan gets to work on finding a way to get Vicky to come back to work with him.
She's very dubious about Dan's supposed "changed" behavior when she meets his secretary Rosita. Thinking that he's the same old Dan, she dismisses his offers to work together and walks away. "Nice for you to make my acquaintance, Miss Lane," Rosita calls after her.
It turns out that Rosita is much more than a secretary. She wants to break into show business. When she turns up in Dan's room with her brothers, she gives him a performance of the "Chattanooga Choo Choo".
At dinner that evening, Vicky and Victor continue to delight guests with their moves on the dance floor.
Dan has dinner at their table, and he brings Rosita along to make Vicky jealous. When Vicky says she needs to go to the powder room, Rosita says, "I'll go with you. My face is a mess, too." That does not endear her to Vicky at all.
However, once in the powder room, the two ladies dish on Dan and become fast friends.
Finding herself alone at table, a tipsy Phoebe (Vicky's friend and dresser) makes her way to the dance floor and delights onlookers with a little performance of her own.
Later, Rosita gives a spirited performance with her brothers which is very well received.
And the two ladies humorously fight over McTavish later in the evening.
Dan and Vicky eventually reunite and decide to get married. However, the backers of Dan's show have decided to pull out, leaving them in the lurch when it comes to funding.
An unexpected source of revenue comes from McTavish, who is on the wealthy side. "Rich? Why, I'm only worth in the neighborhood of, say, six hundred thousand dollars," he tells them when they enquire about his financial means. Rosita smiles and says, "That's a good enough neighborhood for me."
The show opens on Broadway and is a smashing success. Everybody, including the jilted Victor Prince, gets a part.
Cast rundown:
Betty Grable.....................................Vicky Lane
Carmen Miranda................................Rosita Murphy
John Payne.......................................Dan Christy
Cesar Romero...................................Victor Prince
Charlotte Greenwood.........................Phoebe Gray
Edward Everett Horton.......................McTavish
Harry James.....................................Himself
Patrick O'Moore................................Travel Clerk
Helen Forrest....................................Herself
And that's it for Springtime In The Rockies. Alice Faye had originally been cast in the role of Vicky Lane. She had to drop out when she found she was expecting her first daughter. The film pairs Betty Grable with her future husband Harry James. They were married eight months after the film appeared in theaters. The song "I Had The Craziest Dream" that is featured in the film, played by Harry James and sung by Helen Forrest, was played at Betty Grable's funeral in 1973.
As this film is in the public domain, you can watch it here in its entirety.
Coming up next we have 1953's "How To Marry A Millionaire", a film about 3 enterprising young ladies whose dream it is to marry into the upper classes after a lifetime without money. The ladies date both rich guys and poor guys, and one of the poor guys might not be all he appears.
The film's cast includes Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, David Wayne, Rory Calhoun, Cameron Mitchell, Alexander D'Arcy, Fred Clark, and William Powell.
The setting of our film is New York City, and the filmmakers showcase the city in all its glory during the opening sequence. New York, "you busy, busy, razzle dazzle, scandalous place", as the song "New York" tells us.
Three single ladies rent a fabulous, furnished New York apartment. All of them have the same dream, to marry a millionaire. And Schatze, the originator of their scheme to land at least one rich guy, has set some ground rules on how to meet the proper gentleman. "Next thing you’ve got to remember is that a
gentleman you meet among the cold cuts is simply not as attractive as
one that you meet, say, in the mink department at Bergdorf’s," she advises.
None of the girls can afford to live in this luxurious apartment. So, in order to keep up with the rent, they pawn the furniture that they don't own. When they're down to their last cent, luck turns up in the form of Texas oil baron J.D. Hanley, who promises to introduce the girls to his oil-rich friends.
Schatze takes up with J.D. right away. She puts her best foot forward and it pays off. J.D. arranges for their furniture to be returned.
Loco takes up with a rich, married guy. Although initially reluctant to go out with him because of his married state, Loco wears down and decides to just go with it.
And Pola (who cannot see without her glasses) begins dating J. Stewart Merrill, who presents himself as an Arab oil tycoon. Later in the film, we find out that he is bluffing about his wealth.
During the course of the film, we meet Tom Brookman, who develops a crush on Schatze. She can't stand the kind of guy she thinks he is. One of her dislikes is his stubborn refusal to wear a necktie. "Look, the first rule of this proposition is that
gentlemen callers have got to wear a necktie. I don’t want to be
snobbish about it, but if we begin with characters like that, we might just as well throw in the
towel right now," she told the girls earlier. Schatze thinks Tom is some sort of garage mechanic. The girls are models and he arranges to show up at their place of work for an impromptu fashion show.
The models parade in front of Tom and are all smiles, except for Schatze, who can't stand him.
Pola and Loco are extremely curious about Tom, but Schatze just shrugs him off and tells him to get lost.
In due course, Loco is invited by her gentleman friend up to his lodge in Maine. There, she meets Eben Salem, a forest ranger.
Back in New York, Schatze is trying to convince J.D. that their age difference is no barrier to a relationship. "Well, what I’m trying to tell you, J.D., is that
I’ve always liked older men. Look at Roosevelt.Look at Churchill.Look at that old fellow what’s his name in
African Queen.Absolutely crazy about ‘em," she says.
In Maine, Loco finds herself ditching the guy she came with and falling in love with Eben. It comes as a shock to her that he isn't wealthy, but love wins out and they get together.
Pola flies to Kansas City to meet with her beau, but comes to realize he was faking the whole time. On the plane she meets Freddie Denmark, whom Pola comes to realize is the owner of the apartment that she and the girls have been renting.
She feels comfortable enough with Freddie to wear her glasses in front of him, though she's a bit worried they make her look like an old maid. After she puts them on, Freddie looks at her and says, "I've never seen anybody in my whole life that reminded me less of an old maid." Naturally, that seals the deal for Pola.
Schatze starts spending time with Tom trying to convince him of all the reasons they are wrong for each other. In the process, she ends up confusing herself and becomes unsure of her feels for both Tom and J.D.
She ends up getting engaged to J.D. At their wedding, she breaks down and confesses to him that she is in love with Tom. He tells her he understands and they call off the wedding.
Schatze finds herself in for a surprise when all three couples are out to dinner later that night. When trying to find out home much money they have between them, Tom finally confesses that he's extremely wealthy and pulls out a $1000 bill to pay for a $2.70 check. The girls are astounded by the wad of bills Tom carries.
The girls faint clean away as the men raise a glass and toast their wives.
Alexander D'Arcy...............................J. Stewart Merrill
Fred Clark........................................Waldo Brewster
William Powell...................................J.D. Hanley
And that's all for How To Marry A Millionaire. During the fashion show scene, Marilyn Monroe models a red swimsuit studded with diamonds as the show narrator says, "You know, of course, that diamonds are a girl's best friend." This references the film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", which starred Marilyn Monroe and was released earlier in the year.
At the beginning of the film, a seventy piece orchestra performs the instrumental number "Street Scene" for a full five and a half minutes before the opening credits.
