The goddess is dancing

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Movie
German title The goddess is dancing
Original title Cover girl
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1944
length 107 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Charles Vidor
script Marion Parsonnet ,
Paul Gangelin ,
Virginia Van Upp
production Arthur Schwartz
for Columbia Pictures
music Jerome Kern ,
Ira Gershwin ,
Carmen Dragon ,
Morris Stoloff
camera Allen M. Davey ,
Rudolph Maté
cut Viola Lawrence
occupation
synchronization

The goddess dances , also known as Das Fräulein on the title page (Original title: Cover Girl ), is an American film musical with Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly from 1944, which is a further development through innovative animation technology and musical interludes as important parts of the plot of the genre. The film cemented Rita Hayworth's status as the glamor queen of the 1940s and gave Gene Kelly his final breakthrough in Hollywood . A story by Erwin S. Gelsey served as a template .

action

Rusty Parker, a revue girl from Brooklyn , dreams of being able to dance on a real Broadway stage one day. The little nightclub she works at is owned by Danny McGuire, who is also the revue's choreographer and Rusty's admirer. Although he is convinced that Rusty will one day be a big show star, he thinks nothing of it when she and her colleague Maurine Martin take part in a beauty pageant to get on the cover of a magazine and thus advance her career. Danny firmly believes that dancing is more about good footwork than a beautiful face.

In order to increase her own chances of getting on the cover, Maurine tells the prettier Rusty that a girl with a cheeky and lively charisma is wanted for the cover, which is why Rusty tries to be particularly bold and talkative during her audition. Rusty is rejected by the editor of the fashion magazine, Cornelia "Stonewall" Jackson, but she nevertheless caught the attention of publisher John Coudair when he discovered her in Danny's nightclub. He recognizes in her the image of his great love, Maribelle Hicks, who once left him for a pianist. As it turns out, Rusty is Maribelle's granddaughter. With Coudair's help, Rusty finally wins the title page competition and becomes famous overnight. Reporters and members of society are scrambling for her, particularly producer Noel Wheaton, who offers her a promising engagement on a Broadway show.

Although Danny fears losing Rusty forever, he doesn't want to get in the way of her career, which is why he fires her from her nightclub contract. After Rusty became a celebrated Broadway star, Danny's revue is about to end. When Rusty finds out about this, she blames herself terribly, because her departure meant Danny's ruin. She tries to dispel her gloomy thoughts with alcohol and agrees to marry Noel Wheaton. But as she walks to the altar, she realizes that she still loves Danny and that her successful career cannot replace this love. And so, like her grandmother once, she leaves the groom at the altar to return to Danny.

background

Pre-production

The Goddess Dances was the first Columbia Pictures film musical to be shot in expensive technicolor . With the films You Will Never Get Rich (1941) and You Were Never More Enchanting (1942), Rita Hayworth had already proven her dancing skills and her pulling power at the box office at the side of Fred Astaire , which is why Columbia dances the goddess at no cost and spared efforts to sell them to the public in the best possible way. Hayworth was featured on numerous covers at the time, making the original title Cover Girl an obvious one and becoming a synonym for the actress.

Marion Parsonnet , Paul Gangelin and Virginia Van Upp wrote the script together based on a story by Erwin S. Gelsey. Columbia was able to win the successful songwriting duo Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin for the film songs , while Charles Vidor was hired as director, who had already shot The Lady in Question with Hayworth in 1940 and later staged her greatest triumph with Gilda (1946). Studio boss Harry Cohn was initially against producer Arthur Schwartz's suggestion that Gene Kelly be cast in the lead male role. However, Schwartz prevailed and loaned Kelly from MGM - with the promise that Kelly would be allowed to design the choreographies himself, which MGM had not previously allowed him to do.

Filming

Gene Kelly around 1944

Columbia gave Gene Kelly a lot of leeway when designing the dance interludes, which is why he was significantly involved in the choreography and camera work of his dances for the first time in his film career. This is also the case with his alter ego dance number, in which he dances with his mirror image using innovative trick technology. Kelly also had several walls removed from the studio's stages so that he, Hayworth and Phil Silvers could dance down a long street on a single stage in an uncut recording. He was supported by his assistant Stanley Donen , with whom he had already worked on Broadway and with whom he later staged his great successes such as Heut 'geht wir strolleln (1949) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).

For Hayworth, who was voiced by Martha Mears for her vocal interludes, filming was a particularly happy time in her life - professionally and personally. On the set she got along brilliantly with her colleagues: “There weren't any problems when we were shooting the film! Really none. We had a great time with Gene and Phil. I knew immediately that we would be in harmony - it was really nice to work with them. It was a really happy time. I wasn't really aware that we were doing anything special, but it was obvious that it was good because it felt good. ”Part of her joy was also due to the fact that she had married director Orson Welles during a break from filming , which her colleagues only found out about from the newspaper.

Music and dance numbers

  • The Show Must Go On ( Jerome Kern , Ira Gershwin ): Rusty Parker (Rita Hayworth), Maureen Martin ( Leslie Brooks ) and six other revue girls appear on stage at Danny's nightclub forthe opening scene of the film. One after the other appears through a yellow curtain and sings a line of song at a time. Then they get rid oftheir two-piece white cloaksin a kind of striptease , so that they are only dressed in skimpy, gold-glittering outfits that show both their waists and their bare legs. They stand next to each other in a row and step to the lively music until they disappear again behind the yellow curtain. The song The Show Must Go On (German: “The show must go on”) is aimed at US soldiers at the beginning of the film as a message of perseverance, which is also reflected in the portrayal of the revue girls as scantily clad pin-up girls .
  • Who's Complaining? (Kern, Gershwin): Who's Complaining? Is used as a comic show by Genius (Phil Silvers) . (Eng .: "Who's complaining?") performed in Danny's nightclub. First, Genius performs the song in a kind of spoken chant. He then opens four doors through which a dancer emerges as a maid, Rusty as a taxi driver, another dancer as a secretary and Maureen as his wife. Genius flirts with all four women who jump across the stage with him in their short skirts. In the end, Genius has to choose one of the ladies. He chooses Maureen, who, however, slams the door in his face when he tries to light a cigarette.
  • Sure Thing (Kern, Gershwin): After Coudair ( Otto Kruger ) Rusty at Who's Complaining? has seen on stage and this reminds him of his childhood sweetheart Mirabelle (Hayworth), a flashback follows in which Mirabelle performs the nostalgic song Sure Thing (German: "The sure thing"). She is dressed in the typical fashion of the turn of the century and moves elegantly over a stage on which the fine company is shown at a horse race.
  • Make Way for Tomorrow (Kern, Gershwin, EY Harburg ): When Danny, Rusty and genius in their hangout as always oysters order to a pearl to find they agree spontaneously the song Make Way for Tomorrow (dt .: "Clear the way free for tomorrow ”), leaving the bar and stepping happily and carefree on the streets of Brooklyn . At first they pretend they were a small military band and that they were driving a boat. After quietly escaping the warning of a police officer, they tease a couple, play Indians, dance with a milkman and help a drunk, who then applauds them. Like The Show Must Go On , the song serves as an encouragement not to give up in the hope that the next day will be a lot nicer.
  • Put Me to the Test (Kern, Gershwin): Again on stage in Danny's nightclub, Rusty and six other show girls appear in dresses of different colors. Danny, dressed in green, joins them and chooses Rusty in her light green dress to be his girl. While Dannysings Put Me to the Test and Rusty asks him to give him a task with which he can prove that he really loves her, Rusty is flirtatious and disappears. The other girls then go across the stage. Danny runs after them and starts tapping with them. But since none of the girls want to stay with him, he is content with a clothes rack in the form of a headless and armless woman's body as a new object of his worship. Rusty finally comes back and steps alongside Danny at high speed with many jumps and turns across the stage, until at the end the lights go out, they hug and kiss.
  • Long Ago (and Far Away) (Kern, Gershwin): After Rusty has neglected her work as a dancer due to her success as a photo model and Danny is angry about it, Rusty assures him of her love for him one evening in the club and agrees with the balladLong Ago Far Away(German: "A long time ago and far away"), to which she is accompanied by Genius on the piano. At first, Danny does not respond. But when Rusty is about to leave the room sadly, Danny also begins to sing the song. Then they move around the tables and chairs to the beat of the music, whereupon they reconcile.
  • Poor John (Henry E. Pether, Fred W. Leigh): In another flashback, Coudair remembers how Mirabelle in a red costume with a feather hat played the song Poor John (Eng: "Poor John") in front of him and other viewers in Cockney -Lectures in English and describes how she met his strict mother. Mirabelle parodies his mother, who disapproves of her as a daughter-in-law. Then four dancers appear in blue suits with matching hats and tap with Mirabelle at an increasing pace. In the end, they carry her off the stage while sitting on a bench.
  • Alter-Ego Dance (Kern): After Rusty and Noel Wheaton ( Lee Bowman ) put Danny upfor an evening,Danny walks through the nightly streets of his neighborhood wondering why Rusty didn't come. Suddenly his reflection appears in a shop window, which rebukes him. If he actually loves Rusty, he should grant her success as a "cover girl" and let her go, even if it breaks their relationship. His alter ego then jumps to him on the street and forces Danny to tap according to his example or according to the instructions of his gestures. Danny tries to escape and manages to force his alter ego back into a window pane. In order to get rid of his inner voice for good, Danny throws a garbage can into this shop window.
  • Cover Girl (That Girl on the Cover) (Kern, Gershwin): In Noel Wheaton's Broadway Theater, the eponymous show takes place, in which several photo models appear on a large stage in front of the camera, each with a US magazine as the “cover Girl ”(German:“ girl on the title page ”). Rusty appears as the last model on a serpentine ramp, on which she then runs down in a golden dress and is swarmed by numerous dancers and lifted over the stage until they run up the ramp in lockstep while a rain of glitter falls on she falls down.
  • In the end, when Rusty and Danny make up again in their local pub, they sing Make Way for Tomorrow with Genius again and, like in the old days, the three of them jump around the streets.

reception

publication

The Goddess Dances premiered on March 30, 1944 at New York's Radio City Music Hall . The film received largely glowing reviews, with special praise for the Technicolor colors, Gene Kelly's alter-ego number and Hayworth's charm. The two main actors were even compared with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and celebrated as the new dream couple of the screen musical. At the box office, It Dances the Goddess proved to be one of the biggest hits of the year and made a substantial profit despite the final budget of $ 1,600,000, which was $ 600,000 above planned production costs.

Both Hayworth and Kelly subsequently rose to the A-League of Hollywood stars. Columbia then acquired the rights to Kelly's Broadway hit Pal Joey , hoping to bring Kelly and Hayworth back on camera together. However, MGM refused to loan Kelly to Columbia one more time. Until then, Louis B. Mayer's studio had largely underestimated Gene Kelly's talent. But now the studio realized what it was about him and he got bigger roles. In Germany was Cover Girl for the first time in theaters on December 21, 1950th In 2003 the film was released on DVD.

Reviews

The US magazine Time described Es dances the goddess as “the best screen musical of the year and one of the best in a long time”. "Not even the plot - the only banal thing about it -" thwarted the plan. Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly's dances are "the best since Astaire and Rogers split up". Hayworth dances “better than ever before”, also looks “more than ever like a Tizian's model ” and shows “beginnings of a real acting talent”.

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times stated that the screen would be wrapped in all the colors of the rainbow "with a stunning set of features". In addition, "this colorful bow to divine femininity also offers very beautiful music from the pen of Jerome Kern". Rita Hayworth plays "with a spell that she has never used so skillfully". Variety praised the "good and consistent direction by Charles Vidor", which had "made the most of the technical innovations". The dance sequences "which illustrate the dancing skills of Hayworth and Kelly" are "masterfully staged". The music by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin, which comprises seven songs, is "of high caliber".

The film critic Leonard Maltin said that the film overcomes the "unbelievably clichéd plot" thanks to "Rita's charm, the fine music of Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin and especially Kelly's solo appearances". Phil Silvers contributed “a few laughs”, but it was Eve Arden who “stole the show from everyone as Kruger's sharp-tongued assistant”. According to Craig Butler of the All Movie Guide , Rita Hayworth is “definitely and deservedly the star of the film”, but Kelly was able to “hold her own”. They would also harmonize “in a miraculous way”. Hayworth looks "gorgeous" in a number of "gorgeous" costumes. She plays her role "very instinctively" and her dancing is "fantastic". The "boyish looking" Gene Kelly sounds "great" and shows "his first choreographic masterpieces during the famous alter ego sequence". The film music is "first class"; the “beautiful” song Long Ago and Far Away is “rightly a highlight”. Phil Silvers and Eve Arden, on the other hand, “deliver their comic parts reliably and Charles Vidor's direction is sovereign”. "A spirited revue film with first-class music and brilliant dance performances by Gene Kelly," said the lexicon of international films .

Awards

At the Oscar ceremony in 1945 was Cover Girl for five Oscars nominated. But only Carmen Dragon and Morris Stoloff were able to win the award for their work in the category Best Film Music in a Film Musical. In the categories of Best Cinematography ( Rudolph Maté , Allen M. Davey ), Best Sound ( John P. Livadary ) and Best Production Design ( Lionel Banks , Cary Odell , Fay Babcock ) the film musical Henry King's biography Wilson had to admit defeat. In the Best Song category , in which Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin were nominated for Long Ago and Far Away , the song Swinging on a Star from the film The Way to Happiness with Bing Crosby won . Long Ago and Far Away nonetheless became a standard song in the United States. In 2004 the American Film Institute selected the ballad at number 92 in the list of AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs of the 100 Best American Film Songs .

meaning

In the history of the film musical Es Dances the Goddess marks a turning point in which the music and dance interludes were no longer just entertaining fill in gaps, but part of the plot itself. For example, Gene Kelly's alter-ego dance number, in which he was in a kind of psychological competition dances with his reflection that is his conscience. Through this further development, the genre was elevated to a higher level of art, especially since Kelly's dance style was more influenced by ballet than revue .

The film also forms the link between revue-like music films from the 1930s and the classic Hollywood musicals of the late 1940s and 1950s. Accordingly, Es dances the goddess has motifs and characteristics of both styles. As in the revue films of the previous decade, dancers and showgirls act on the stage in The Goddess Dances . But as in later film musicals , the goddess dances too melodramatic moments and is instead characterized by a consistently strong optimism, which must also be viewed with regard to the then current events during the last years of the Second World War - as a kind of perseverance, like it describes the first dance number at the beginning of the film: The Show Must Go On .

German version

The German dubbed version was created in 1950 by Willy-Zeyn Film GmbH Berlin . The dubbing direction was Erich Kobler based on the dialogue book by Kurt Hinz .

role actor Voice actor
Rusty Parker / Maribelle Hicks Rita Hayworth Eleanor Noelle
Danny McGuire Gene Kelly Paul Klinger
Noel Wheaton Lee Bowman Curt Ackermann
genius Phil Silvers Hans Nielsen
Cornelia "Stonewall" Jackson Eve Arden Ingeborg Grunewald
John Coudair Otto Kruger Albrecht Schoenhals
John Coudair as a young man Jess Barker Albrecht Schoenhals
Tony Pastor Thurston Hall Klaus W. Krause

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d John Kobal: Rita Hayworth: The Time, The Place and the Woman . W. W. Norton, New York 1977, pp. 119-125.
  2. ↑ “No problems while making that film! None, none. We had a sensational time with Gene and Phil. I knew we had a rapport - they were both so great to work with. It was a happy time. I didn't know we were doing anything special, but you knew it was good because it felt good making it. ” Rita Hayworth quoted. after John Kobal: Rita Hayworth: The Time, The Place and the Woman . W. W. Norton, New York 1977, pp. 93-94.
  3. ↑ “The picture […] is the best cinematic musical the year has produced, and one of the best in years. Not even Cover Girl ’s story - the one really conventional thing about it - gets in its way. […] Miss Hayworth's and Mr. Kelly's […] dance duets are the best since Astaire and Rogers split. [...] Besides dancing better than ever before, Rita Hayworth looks more than ever like a model in brisk flight from Titian, and shows marked symptoms of acting. " See The New Pictures . In: Time , April 10, 1944.
  4. ↑ “It rainbows the screen with dazzling decor. [...] Further, this gaudy obeisance to divine femininity has some rather nice music in it from the tune shop of Jerome Kern. [...] Miss Hayworth even acts with an enchantment which she has never so capably turned on. " Bosley Crowther : 'Cover Girl,' With Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly, at the Music Hall . In: The New York Times , March 31, 1944.
  5. ^ “Fine and consistently-paced direction by Charles Vidor, and taking full advantage of the technical contributions. [...] Dance sequences spotlighting the terping abilities of Hayworth and Kelly are expertly staged. [...] Score by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin, comprising seven tunes, is of high caliber. " See Cover Girl . In: Variety , March 8, 1944.
  6. ↑ a b Steffen Haubner: The goddess dances . In: Jürgen Müller (Ed.): Films of the 40s . Taschen, 2005, pp. 119-220.
  7. ↑ “Rita Hayworth is definitely (and deservedly) the star of the film, but Kelly more than holds his own with her. There's a wonderful chemistry between them […]. Hayworth looks smashing, costumed to the teeth in an array of fabulous outfits [...]. She also acts her role very affectingly [...] and her dancing is stupendous. Kelly, looking very boyish, sounds great and displays his first real choreographic sparks during the famous Alter Ego sequence. The score is first rate; the beautiful Long Ago and Far Away is justifiably a highlight […]. Phil Silvers and Eve Arden supply dependable comic relief, and Charles Vidor's direction is sure. ” Craig Butler, cf. omovie.com
  8. ↑ The goddess is dancing. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 26, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  9. ↑ AFI's 100 Years… 100 songs. (PDF; 134 kB) In: afi.com. American Film Institute (AFI), June 22, 2005, accessed August 28, 2015 .
  10. ↑ cf. synchrondatenbank.de