So You Want To Be In Pictures (1947)

 

So You Want To Be In Pictures - 1947

Coming up next is 1947's "So You Want To Be In Pictures", an installment in the "So You Want To..." franchise.  This time Joe McDoakes is headed to Hollywood to be an actor, and it's a lot tougher than he anticipated.

The film's cast includes George O'Hanlon, Art Gilmore, Jack Carson, Robert Hutton, Joan Leslie, Fredric March, Janis Paige, Ronald Reagan, Alexis Smith, Martha Vickers, George Chandler, and Bess Flowers.

So you want to be in pictures.  You want to work for a big movie studio like Warner Brothers?

You want to come home at the end of a day's filming to a fashionable Bel Air mansion?

You want to attend those big Hollywood premiers and sign autographs like Joan Leslie?

You want to eat at fashionable restaurants and have your name called over the loudspeaker for everyone to hear?

Well, first you have to learn your craft.  Joe McDoakes is currently doing just that.  He's taking some acting lessons by recording.  These lessons teach him to use voices and mannerisms just like Charles Boyer and Ronald Colman.

Unfortunately for Joe, when he gets a call from the studio for a job, the only thing he can do are Charles Boyer and Ronald Colman accents, which are not what the director is looking for.

While Joe is searching for the perfect part, we are introduced to a few of the studio stars who have made it big, including Ronald Reagan, Janis Paige, Alexis Smith, Wayne Morris, Robert Hutton, and Martha Vickers.

Finally, a part is found for Joe.  It's not much, but it's definitely something!

He gets to be actor George O'Hanlon's stand-in.  It's not a great day at the office when you get a pie in the face.  But, hey, never turn down work, right?

Cast rundown:

   George O'Hanlon...............................Joe McDoakes/Himself

   Jack Carson......................................Man Giving Directions

   Robert Hutton...................................Himself

   Joan Leslie........................................Herself

   Fredric March....................................Himself

   Janis Paige........................................Herself

   Ronald Reagan..................................Himself

   Alexis Smith......................................Herself

   Martha Vickers...................................Herself

   George Chandler................................Sammy

   Bess Flowers.....................................Woman At Brown Derby

   Art Gilmore.......................................Narrator

And that's it for So You Want To Be In Pictures.  I love the narrator's familiarity with all the actors in the film.  "There's Ronnie Reagan!" and "There's Robert Hutton and Martha Vickers.  Hiya, kids!"  It's great fun.  It's hilarious to watch George O'Hanlon put on a Charles Boyer accent.

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Bathing Beauty (1944)

Bathing Beauty - 1944

Our next film is 1944's aquamusical "Bathing Beauty", and it stars Red Skelton and Esther Williams.  (FYI, an aquamusical is the term for films in the 1940s/1950s that featured elaborate synchronized swimming and diving performances as well as the traditional musical features).

The film's supporting cast includes Basil Rathbone, Bill Goodwin, Nana Bryant, Carlos Ramirez, Ethel Smith, Xavier Cugat, Harry James, Lina Romay, Helen Forrest, Donald Meek, and Janis Paige.

The film opens with Miss Caroline Brooks doing a swimming routine at a pool in California.  Her fiance, songwriter Steve Elliot, is there to watch.  The two plan to be married the next day.  Both have quit their jobs in order to relocate to California and pursue other interests.

The marriage seemingly goes off without a hitch.  However, Steve's friend George needs him to finish some songs for a water pageant he's organizing and wants to stop the marriage before it's too late and Steve is out of the business.

He's unsuccessful in stopping the marriage, but he does get Caroline to leave Steve when he hires a girl to pose as Steve's wife whom he never divorced.  Steve is just as shocked as anyone.  No amount of explaining can keep Caroline with him.

She goes back to her job at Victoria College in New Jersey, a school for girls.  Steve follows her there.

Through a loophole in the school's charter, Steve is able to enroll as a student, much to the chagrin of Caroline.  She tells him she's started annulment proceedings.  Steve is bound and determined to win Caroline back.

Of course, thing aren't easy.  Unaccommodating faculty, a big dog, and an old beau of Caroline's make things difficult for Steve to say the least.

But he tries his hardest to make Caroline fall in love with him again.  She tries to hold out, but she finds that she's having a lot of trouble not succumbing to Steve's charm.

Steve even has to join an all-girl ballet class as part of his college coursework.  This is an absolutely hysterical scene in the movie, which features a non-limber Steve making his way clumsily around the dance floor, a non-compliant candy wrapper, and a teacher who's determined to make Steve move like the others. 

Eventually, Steve does get Caroline to fall in love with him.  She starts out the evening trying to get him expelled by keeping him after curfew, but she gives way to her feelings and the two reconcile.

Unfortunately, events conspire against Steve and he is expelled from Victoria College and Caroline is fired.

He gets George to give Caroline the starring role in his water pageant, which is nothing short of spectacular.

The elaborate sequence features synchronized swimming and diving and features Caroline swimming through a number of circular moving swimmers.  The spectacular finale shows off a fire and fountains effect.

At the end, Steve jumps into the water and he and Caroline kiss to cement their relationship.

The film features a number of musical performances, including Colombian singer Carlos Ramirez.

Trumpeter Harry James and his orchestra also provide us with a few nightclub sequences.

The best, though, is organist Ethel Smith.  Her fingers move rapidly over the organ keys as she plays "By The Waters Of Minnetonka: An Indian Love Song" and her own composition, the South American-styled "Tico Tico", featuring Smith play the organ and the tambourine at the same time.  I'm in awe at the way this lady plays.

Harry James and Ethel Smith even get to play a duet together during one of the scenes.

And Xavier Cugat and his orchestra are also on hand to provide some Latin spice in the music.

Cast rundown:

   Red Skelton.................................Steve Elliot

   Esther Williams............................Caroline Brooks

   Basil Rathbone.............................George Adams

   Bill Goodwin................................Professor Willis Evans

   Nana Bryant................................Dean Clinton

   Carlos Ramirez.............................Himself

   Ethel Smith..................................Herself

   Xavier Cugat................................Himself

   Harry James................................Himself

   Lina Romay..................................Herself

   Helen Forrest...............................Herself

   Donald Meek................................Chester Klazenfrantz

   Janis Paige..................................Janis

And that's it for Bathing Beauty.  Filming of the opening swimming pool sequence took place in January.  The grass surrounding the pool was brown and dying.  So, the crew spray-painted the grass green.  Though it worked for the duration of the filming, it totally ruined the grass.  The studio had to send a crew to re-seed the lawn in the spring.

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