Higher and Higher (1943)

Movie
Original title	Higher and higher
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1943
length	88-90 minutes
Rod
Director	Tim Whelan
script	Jay Dratler , Ralph Spence ; Dialogues: William Bowers , Howard Harris
production	Tim Whelan for ; RKO Pictures
music	Constantin Bakaleinikoff
camera	Robert De Grasse
cut	Gene Milford
occupation
	Michèle Morgan : Millie, aka Pamela Drake; Jack Haley : Michael "Mike" O'Brien; Frank Sinatra : Frank Sinatra; Leon Errol : Cyrus Drake; Marcy McGuire : Mickey; Victor Borge : Sir Victor Fitzroy Victor, ; aka Joe Brown; Mary Wickes : Sandy: Brooks; Elisabeth Risdon : Mrs. Georgia Keating; Barbara Hale : Catherine Keating; Mel Tormé : Marty; Paul Hartman : Byngham; Grace Hartman : Hilda; Dooley Wilson : Oscar; Ivy Scott : Mrs. Whiffin; Rex Evans : Mr. Green; Stanley Logan : Hotel Manager; Ola Lorraine : Maid; King Kennedy : Mr. Duval; Robert Andersen : Announcer; Rita Gould : Assistant; Harry Holman : Banker; Warren Jackson : Contractor; Anne Goldthwaite : debutante; Elaine Riley , Shirley O'Hara , Dorothy Maloney , Daun Kennedy : Bridesmaids; Drake Thorton , Buddy Gorman : Pages; Edward Fielding : Minister;

Higher and Higher is a 1943 American romantic musical film directed by Tim Whelan . The leading roles are starring Michèle Morgan , Jack Haley and Frank Sinatra , who can be seen here in his first role as actor, and also on the movie posters in particular was highlighted.

The script is loosely based on the musical Higher and Higher , book by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan , music and text by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart , produced by Dwight Deere Wiman on April 4, 1940 in New York.

The film received two Academy Award nominations .

action

The eccentric ex-millionaire Cyrus Drake, who has always lived big, is broke and can no longer even pay his servants. The employees have not received any wages for seven months now. Now Drake threatens to lose his villa, which he will lose to the bank if he cannot meet his debts within 30 days. Since Drake has been married before and has a daughter, Drake's valet Michael "Mike" O'Brien, a former entertainer, comes to him with the idea of what if Drake's daughter Pamela returned to her father. Introduced as a debutante , she would meet wealthy men and surely marry one of them, which would solve Drake's problems. The servants suggest that the French maid Millie pretend to be Drake's daughter, whom he has not seen in a long time since she lived abroad. In fact, mother and daughter have lived in Switzerland since Drake was abandoned by Pamela's mother around 15 years ago. Millie is now supposed to marry a rich man in order to clean up “her father's” household. The catch is that Millie doesn't want to play this role, partly because she thinks it's wrong to fool others and partly because she is secretly in love with Mike. Mike doesn't seem to notice Millie at all, but thinks he knows that she is in love with her neighbor, singer Frank Sinatra. Millie reluctantly complies, is redesigned accordingly and instructed in etiquette by Sandy Brooks, Drake's personal secretary, and courtship from Mike.

Of all people, Sir Victor Fitzroy Victor is chosen as Millie's wealthy bachelor. However, Millie doesn't care about him at all and tries desperately to get Mike to discover his feelings for her. Frank likes Millie a lot, but her interest in him is purely amic. But there is another maid in Drake's house, Mickey, who is very fond of Frank, but is hardly noticed by him.

When the local newspaper publishes an article stating that Drake's wife and daughter have returned from Switzerland, Sandy has to take on the role of mother. Georgia Keating, who has read the newspaper article, then visits her "old friends" with her daughter Catherine and looks critically at the alleged Pamela to see if she could achieve the title of "number one debutante". At the ball you meet Sir Victor Fitzroy Victor, whom Catherine is after, without knowing that, conversely, Fitzroy Victor is looking for a rich girl. Mike wants Millie to attract the attention of the noblewoman and he actually shows himself to be enchanted by the young woman and begins to woo her.

Fitzroy Victor, the fake nobleman, assures his manager, who wants money from him, that once he marries Pamela Drake, that will be plentiful. After all sorts of back and forth, the wedding between Victor and Pamela is actually on. When Millie looks for something borrowed and something blue in the attic, Mike follows her and they dance a minuet. As a result, Mike decides to abandon the wedding venture. However, those involved in the plan do not agree and lock Mike in the basement. Just as Millie and Victor are about to take their vows, Mike's voice, which comes through the fan shaft in the basement, announces that Pamela Drake is really Millie's maid. By chance, Mike bumps into a secret door behind which a wine cellar is hidden with almost priceless treasures. The maid Sarah, brought by the Keatings to the wedding celebrations, recognizes Victor, her friend Joe Brown, a crook.

Shortly afterwards, Mike, who has now seriously fallen in love with Millie, leaves town believing that Millie loves Frank. Surprisingly, however, he then receives a wedding invitation from the couple Catherine Keating and Frank Sinatra. When Mike tries to confront Frank, he explains that Millie has long been in love with him. Mike then looks for Millie and finds her in the kitchen, where they both hug and then start dancing.

production

Pre-production, production notes

The Hollywood Reporter read that the rights to the book were bought by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan for $ 15,000. The Movie Picture Herald Prod Digest reported that the book had been revised to better present the popular singer Frank Sinatra and that all but one song from the Richard Rogers / Lorenz Hart score had been discarded.

The filming went from the end of July to the end of September 1943. Edward Stevenson was responsible for the costumes . The artistic directors were Albert S. D'Agostino and Jack Okey , production design: Claude E. Carpenter and Darrell Silvera .

occupation

This was Frank Sinatra's first film in which he played a role. In the musical film Las Vegas Nights from 1941 he could only be seen as a singer, as well as in the romantic comedy Schiff ahoy! from 1942 and the musical comedy Reveille with Beverly , released in February 1943 . RKO signed a seven-year contract with Sinatra, which obliged the singer to appear in two of the studio's films per year. Sinatra only made one more contract film, Step Lively , for RKO, however, and then switched to MGM . Although the film was tailored to Sinatra, contractual obligations forced RKO, Michèle Morgan and Jack Haley, who was also in the play on Broadway, to position over the singer.

For Frank Sinatra, 1943 was a special year in his career as he became the first teenage idol in American music history. In his first role as an actor in a film, and immediately in a leading role, he played a little himself, a rich young man named Frankie, who sings, but the film helped him break into the big screen.

For Mel Tormé the film was his debut. Hollywood Reporter reported that Constance Moore was originally to play the role of Catherine and that Joan Davis was also slated for a role. Modern sources wrote that Roy Webb was responsible for the score and Maurice de Packh for the orchestrations.

Music in the film

The Movie Picture Herald Prod Digest reported that the book had been revised to better present the popular singer Frank Sinatra and that all but one song from the Richard Rogers / Lorenz Hart score had been discarded. To replace the original score, Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh wrote four new songs that were specially tailored to Sinatra's vocal style. The songs

I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night by McHugh and Adamson,
sung by Frank Sinatra with Dooley Wilson on the piano and on the radio and more often during the film
A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening by McHugh and Adamson,
played at the beginning and during the film, played on the piano and sung by Frank Sinatra

became big hits for Sinatra, I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night received an Oscar nomination, as did the film music as a whole. Sinatra recorded one of the most beautiful songs by Rodgers and Hart Never Entered My Mind and seven other songs by the duo a few years later. Martha Mears lends Michèle Morgan her voice when the actress sings.

More songs in the film:

The Music Stopped by McHugh and Adamson,
sung by Frank Sinatra, danced by Sinatra with Michèle Morgan and Barbara Hale,
later danced by Jack Haley with Morgan, Victor Borge, Barbara Hale and other couples

It's a Most Important Affair by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson,
sung by Mel Tormé, Marcy McGuire, Paul Hartman, Grace Hartman, Michèle Morgan (or Martha Mears),
Dooley Wilson and Ivy Scott

Today I'm a Debutante by McHugh and Adamson,
sung by Michèle Morgan (respectively Martha Mears), Jack Haley, Mary Wickes, Leon Errol and a choir

I Saw You First by McHugh and Adamson,
sung by Marcy McGuire and Frank Sinatra

Disgustingly rich by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart ,
sung by Mary Wickes, Paul Hartman, Grace Hartman, Ivy Scott, Leon Errol, Marcy McGuire and Mel Tormé

You're On Your Own by McHugh and Adamson,
sung by Dooley Wilson, Mel Tormé, Marcy McGuire, Frank Sinatra, Barbara Hale, Victor Borge,
Michèle Morgan (or Martha Mears), Mary Wickes and a choir and played as background music

Minuet in Boogie by McHugh and Adamson, based on the Minuet in G major by Paderewski,
sung by Marcy McGuire, Mel Tormé, Mary Wickes, Leon Errol, Michèle Morgan (resp.Mears), Ivy Scott and a choir

Minuet in G major by Ignacy Jan Paderewski ,
played on a harpsichord by Mel Tormé, turns into Boogie in Minuet

5th Symphony (C minor, Opus 67; Fate Symphony ) by Ludwig van Beethoven
(the first four notes were played twice on the piano by Victor Borge)

6th Symphony (Pathétique) , in B minor op. 74 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ,
first movement played by Victor Borge with an orchestra in the background,
once more while Frank Sinatra sings A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening

Bridal choir from the opera Lohengrin by Richard Wagner ,
played as background music during the wedding

After the film was released, songwriters Jack Trizio and Chuck Bennett sued the studio, as well as McHugh and Adamson. They claimed that the song The Music Stopped was a plagiarism of their composition You're Mine to Love . It is not known how the lawsuit ended.

Publication, profit

Higher and Higher premiered in the United States on New Year's Eve 1943. The film premiered in the United Kingdom in 1944, as well as in Mexico, Portugal and Sweden. In 1947 he was seen for the first time in France (Paris) and in Denmark, and in 1948 in Finland. It was also published in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Greece, Italy and Spain.

The production of the film hit approximately $ 600,000 and made a profit of $ 780,000.

reception

criticism

Bosley Crowther , a New York Times reviewer, said the film should have been called Lower and Lower . The director made sure that Frank Sinatra was not seen all the time, because it was a fact that he was neither Gable nor Barrymore . The best the film has to offer is a multitude of songs.

Dennis Harvey, critic of Variety , was of the opinion that the film spreads a good mood, was rich in comedic elements and beautiful songs, and had a pace that could give the film a high profile at the box office.

Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World pointed out that this was the film in which then-teen idol Frank Sinatra played his first leading role in a movie, and he does it well, even though it's not essential to the plot. Schwartz went on to say that the comedy of errors is just not funny and that the French actress Morgan in the female lead is terrible, while Haley is on the verge of being as terrible as you can be without being terrible. Referring to Crowther, Schwartz also stated that he thinks that Crowther is right when he thinks the film title should have been Lower and Lower . Although Haley and Morgan were named first, Sinatra was the movie's big pull star, which was backed up by the ads that headlined The Sinatra Show .

Alex Udvary, freelance film critic, wrote that what makes the film stand out is the collaboration of Frank Sinatra, because if he hadn't been there, this film would have been completely forgotten by now and it would not have been released on DVD. The fact that he shows Sinatra in his first leading role makes the film a curiosity and the audience gets the opportunity to watch Mr. Sinatra at the beginning of his film career. Watching Higher and Higher is therefore not a waste of time, even if it is not a great comedy or a great musical film.

Derek Winnert said that director Tim Whelans made a pleasantly entertaining romantic musical comedy. It's fun to watch Sinatra, who is actually himself, at the beginning of his career.