Lovely to Look At

Broadway producers Al Marsh (Red Skelton), Tony Naylor, and Jerry Ralby are desperate for money. Al inherits a dress salon in Paris from his late Aunt Roberta. The trio sets off to get Al's money. The shop turns out to be a bust and one half of it is already owned by sisters, Stephanie and Clarisse. Their performer friend Bubbles Cassidy comes looking for Tony and Stephanie gets jealous. Aside from Red, I'm not that familiar with these performers. I'm not really invested in anyone other than Red. It's a romantic musical. There is a lot of old fashion crooning. Musical is not my best genre and this type of music is really not mine. I'm not going to complain about the singing when the songs aren't doing it for me. The production value is good and there is some good dancing. Others may like this. I'm not the best judge for this one.

One is tempted to call this a standard MGM musical for its time though that is not necessarily a put down. The lavish sets for the musical numbers as well as the stunning gowns are as eye dropping today as they were back then. The trouble is the script and the dialogue. A master director, Leroy does not have the goods here to work with. There are some decent moments and the actors do the best they can but u get the idea that everybody knows something is missing here.

The studios were churning out musical comedies in grosses in the 50's and this is a great example of why the genre eventually died. Red Skelton had NO chemistry with the Grayson-Keel pairing. The comedy does not mesh with the singing which is out of balance with the dancing, and there's no plot to speak of anyway. Try Kiss Me Kate instead. My score: 4/10.

This is a very loose remake of The wonderful "Roberta", one of Jerome Kern's finest Broadway shows. The original movie starred Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Irene Dunne (in one of her finest singing roles on screen, the other being the original "Showboat"). There is absolutely no comparison between these movies. The original is really a fabulous Art Deco wonder, and includes a fashion show near the end, during which an extremely young, very blond Lucille Ball can be seen as a model. Skip this horrible movie and see the original in all of its splendor. As much as I love Ann Miller and Kathryn Grayson, this is far from their best work, and I simply cannot stand Red Skelton.

Typical MGM treatment. Not much plot but the musical numbers are beautifully staged and the whole production is much more enjoyable than the Astaire-Rogers version. Grayson and Keel blend well in their duets and Ann Miller is in top form. Marge and Gower Champion have a field day in their roles and certainly deserve the praises they received during their time together. Red Skelton was always a class act and this role is no exception.

In a movie with all these phenomenal stars, the audience should be able to expect a riot of comedy and charm. Unfortunately, the talents of Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson tend to burn rather than smolder as the plot develops. Some scenes between the two main characters become absolutely tedious. That aside, Marge and Gower Champion are superb in this film, and Red Skelton with some help from Zsa Zsa Gabor adds several funny sketches to the overall production.

This could have been much better. Terrific cast, however Red Skelton (one of my favorites, usually) isn't in good form (but Ann Miller's form is terrific), Howard Keel is lackluster, and Zsa-Zsa is YOUNG! However blah the plot and acting are, I can highly recommend this picture on the basis of 3 dance routines by Marge & Gower Champion, two of which are unique. The first takes place among clothes racks, utilizing a wheeled dress-sizer. Take a long look at the dance... there are no cuts! IT IS ALL ONE TAKE! The last dance is near the end of the film, where jewel-thief Gower tries to take a diamond bracelet from mannekin Marge. Superb choreography in both routines! I gave it an 8 out of 10.