Coney Island (film)

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Movie
Original title Coney Island
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1943
length 95 minutes
Rod
Director Walter Lang
script George Seaton
production William Perlberg
for 20th Century Fox
music Alfred Newman
camera Ernest Palmer
cut Robert Simpson
occupation

not in the credits:

Coney Island is a 1943 American musical film directed by Walter Lang . Kate Farley, played by Betty Grable , is a singer with a penchant for flashy costumes. When Eddie Johnson ( George Montgomery ) takes a job with his old friend Joe Rocco ( Cesar Romero ) in his club on Coney Island, where Kate is the attraction, there are always disputes not only between Kate and Eddie, but also between Eddie and Joe.

The film was nominated for an Oscar at the 16th Academy Awards in 1944 in the "Best Film Music" category.

action

In 1905, promoter Eddie Johnson moved to Coney Island. There he goes in search of his rival and buddy Joe Rocco, who cheated him out of his share that the men had won at a festival they led. He finds Rocco in his nightclub "Ocean Gardens", in which the singer Kate Farley is the star. After Eddie has watched Kate perform, there is an argument between him and Joe, because Eddie thinks Kate's costumes are hideous and he doesn't like her hectic fidgeting on stage either. Joe then recommends Eddie go.

Eddie persuades his friend Frankie, who is putting on a side show with a tattooed woman, to let him take part in order to demonstrate the exaggeration of Kate's performances. This leads to another argument between him and Kate, in which Eddie's remarks did not fully rebound. However, Eddie's calculation works to the extent that he snatches not a few guests away from Joe. When Kate tells Joe who he owes it to, Joe sends some thugs to destroy the venue. In retaliation, Eddie and Frankie initiate a big brawl in Joe's saloon, in which Joe accidentally hits the lovable Irishman Finnegan in the fray. Eddie and Frankie then take Finnegan away and give him money to hide in Atlantic City for a month. Then they stage a funeral for Finnegan. Eddie convinces Joe that he killed Finnegan and threatens to hand him over to the police unless Joe allows him to run the saloon for a month. Joe reluctantly agrees. Eddie doesn't have it so easy with Kate because she doesn't want him to tell her about her garish costumes and her frenetic singing. But that subsided little by little, Eddie's methods prevailed and after a short time gave the saloon three times the profit and Kate was very popular.

Then Finnegan reappears in the saloon, which exposes Eddie. Joe decides to wait and see, convinced that the day of his revenge will come. There is a noticeable crackling between Eddie and Kate, they fall in love. Eddie's plan is to open his own nightclub. Joe reacts to the love between Kate and Eddie with jealousy, arguments are the order of the day. When Eddie reveals his plans to him and announces that he wants to take Kate with him, Joe develops a plan, even if he himself has to give up Kate, and contacts Broadway impresario William Hammerstein, who also arrives to hear Kate sing. Eddie and Frankie manage to get Kate out of the saloon that evening, so she misses the audition. Joe then tells Kate that Eddie is only using her. Remorseful, Kate accompanies Joe to Joe Hammerstein's theater the next day to audition for him. After Eddie apologizes to Kate, she forgives him.

Kate and Eddie decide to get married, but Joe throws both of them on by hiring an actor to tell Kate that Eddie has secured a bank loan for his club by offering Kate's singing skills as collateral. This time Joe's plan seems to work, Kate is devastated and breaks up with Eddie even if he vehemently protests his innocence.

Some time later, Hammerstein staged a show with Kate with Joe acting as her manager. Eddie is also there that night and gets Joe backstage to admit that he told Kate lies, not knowing that Kate was listening. After Kate returns on stage, Joe has Eddie assist the orchestra on the piano in the show's finale. When Kate realizes that Eddie is on stage, the two smile back and forth while Kate sings the romantic ballad she is performing just for him.

production

Production notes

Filming took place from late September 1942 to January 12, 1943 at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles. The film had an estimated budget of $ 1,620,000. The film opens with individual cards on which the names of the actors are presented, with a choir singing in the background. During the finale, the tracks Oh Susanna and Let Me Call You Sweetheart are heard in an instrumental version.

Frank E. Hughes and Thomas Little were responsible for the film construction, and Helen Rose for the costumes . Roger Heman senior worked in the sound department, Cyril J. Mockridge , Leigh Harline , Charles Henderson and Arthur Lange worked in the music department, and Fred Sersen was responsible for the special effects .

Template, occupation

While contemporary magazines reported that the storyline on books by journalist Edward Van Every and the script should also come from Every and his collaborator Dwight Taylor, this was actually the case for another film starring Betty Grable, namely Sweet Rosie O'Grady . The studio was struggling to get clearance from the heir, so the rumor about Every was spread in order to prevent another studio from taking an interest in the subject.

According to the Hollywood Reporter , Laird Cregar , Alice Faye and Pat O'Brien were to star in the film, but this did not prove to be true, as did Irving Cummings , who was in discussion as a director and the participation of Ann Rutherford was not confirmed. Lynn Bari is said to have been available as the second female lead. The announced song Old Demon Rum by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger is also not present in the finished film. Co-director Otto Brower is said to have shot some movie scenes on Venice Beach .

Betty Grable was at the height of her fame at the time of this film's release. 1943 was also the year in which she ended her relationship with the married George Raft and entered into a marriage with the band leader Harry James .

Soundtrack

Alfred Newman's score contains a number of original songs with music by Ralph Rainger and lyrics by Leo Robin , including:

  • Beautiful Coney Island
    • Lecture: opening choir, Betty Grable and mixed choir,
      later Grable and George Montgomery and Phyllis Kennedy, harmonica player and choir
  • Get the money
    • Lecture: Phil Silvers
  • Winter, winter
    • Lecture: Betty Grable and choir
  • Miss Lulu from Louisville
    • Lecture: Betty Grable (as a mulatto) and Blackface Choir
  • Take It from There
    • Lecture: Betty Grable and a male sextet
  • There's Danger in a Dance
    • Lecture: Betty Grable and choir
  • Old Demon Rum

further music numbers:

reception

publication

The world premiere of the film took place on June 11, 1943 simultaneously in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in San Francisco. The film opened in New York on June 16, 1943. On June 18, 1943, it was shown generally in the United States. It was published in Sweden, Mexico, Portugal and Australia in 1944. In France he was seen in Cannes in October 1947 and in Paris in May 1949. It was published in Finland and Spain (Madrid) in 1949. He could also be seen in Belgium, Brazil, Greece and Italy. The film had the working title In Old Coney Island .

criticism

Although the film received mostly positive reviews, some critics complained about its lack of historical accuracy. A critic from Variety criticized that scriptwriter George Seaton had apparently escaped the fact that Willie Hammerstein had not produced musicals.

Bosley Crowther wrote in the New York Times that Betty Grable had trained her vocal cords and limbs to give her a not insignificant advantage. He described George Montgomery and Cesar Romero as carnival characters who constantly tried to trick each other with underhand tricks to win Kate's hand. Crowther praised the amount of old melodies as well as some lively new ones that would sound very pleasant to the ear and the colorful picture. Some of the enjoyable older songs Miss Grable sings include Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Dearie and Everybody Loves a Baby, That's Why I'm in Love With You . Grable's performance of a new tune by Leo Robin and the late Ralph Rainger, Lulu of Louisville , was also praised . All in all, there is a lot of fun in Coney Island with pleasant show elements. The only sad thing is that it's not Coney Island - not even fictional.

Leonard Norwitz of LensViews spoke of a delightful, spectacularly costumed, if predictable, musical with the legs and talent of Betty Grable as a cheeky singer in a lower class Coney Island saloon. There are many songs, mostly on stage, wonderful costumes and lots of color. There are also some fascinating special numbers. The roar of the always tipsy Irishman Finnegan, played by Charles Winninger, was also mentioned.

For the critics of the Bishops' Conference of the United States (USCCB), the film plot presented itself as standard musical romance with a colorful honky-tonk background from 1890. Double romantic complications and ethnic stereotypes, it concluded.

Aftermath

Lux Radio Theater aired the story once on April 17, 1944 with Dorothy Lamour and Alan Ladd and once on September 30, 1946 with Betty Grable and Victor Mature . The duo also starred in the remake of this film, titled Variety Princess from 1950.

Award

Academy Awards 1944 :

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The 16th Academy Awards | 1944 sS oscars.org (English)
  2. ↑ a b Coney Island Original Print Info sS TCM (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e Coney Island Notes sS TCM (English)
  4. ↑ a b Coney Island Articles sS TCM (English)
  5. ^ Bosley Crowther : "Coney Island", Another Period Musical Film, With Betty Grable and Geo. Montgomery, opens at the Roxy Theater In: The New York Times . June 17, 1943 (English). Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  6. ↑ Leonard Norwitz: Coney Island sS dvdbeaver.com (English, with various film posters and film images).
  7. ↑ Coney Island sS archive.usccb.org (English)