Las Vegas Nights

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Movie
Original title Las Vegas Nights
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 86-90 minutes
Rod
Director Ralph Murphy
script Ernest Pagano
Harry Clork
Eddie Welch
(additional dialogues)
production William LeBaron
music Victor Young
camera William C. Mellor
cut Arthur P. Schmidt
occupation

Las Vegas Nights (also called Las Vegas Nights - The Last Frontier Town ) is a 1941 American musical film directed by Ralph Murphy. A vaudeville troupe, led by Norma Jennings ( Constance Moore ), her two sisters and Stu Grant ( Bert Wheeler ), tries to turn a shabby house into a posh nightclub.

action

The Jennings Sisters, as the three sisters Norma, Mildred and Patsy call themselves when they appear in a nightclub, are arrested along with Patsy's husband, the variety artist Stu Grant, in Las Vegas for smuggling pigeons into the state without to have a permit for it. The judge to whom they are brought before, however, handles this offense with ease and dismisses the troops without penance if they do him the favor of presenting something for him.

Some time later, Bill Stevens, who runs his father's ranch in California, ended up in a casino where Tommy Dorsey and his band also performed, and is convinced that it is good luck to be kissed by a stranger before to start a slot machine. He comes across Norma of all people there, and her kiss actually brings him the happiness he has longed for. They spend the evening together and win every game they tackle. The next morning, Norma gives Stu her share of the $ 1,500 profit so that he can deposit the money at the bank. However, Stu uses it in gambling and loses the entire amount. Stu doesn't tell the sisters what happened. Shortly afterwards, the four of them meet with Hank Bevis, the slick young lawyer who represents them in court on an inheritance matter. The sisters inherited an uncle's house. They inspect the run-down property and decide to use Norma's profits to build their own nightclub on her legacy. Little does the trio know that Hank and Bill's father are working together and are desperate to acquire the property they have inherited in order to build a large hotel complex. To make matters worse, Stu borrows money from Hank, who also acts as a lender and deals in expensive furniture in order to be able to give the sisters money to set up the nightclub.

On the opening night, thugs hired by Hank almost completely destroy the nightclub, but the loan that has already been used must still be repaid. The four do not know that Hank was the cause of the destruction. Bill, who wants to help, forces the troupe to appear at Tommy Dorsey's casino. While Patsy demonstrates her tricks with the pigeons, Hank ensures that her performance is permanently disturbed, the pigeons fly away and terrorizes the audience at the same time. The next morning, Bill tells the sisters that he gave his casino winnings to Hank to pay off the loan that Stu took out. Norma now insists that with her share she guarantees that he will get his money back.

Tommy Dorsey lets the surprised sisters know that he is hiring them and immediately pays them an advance of $ 1,500. The sisters use the money to trigger Bill's payment at Hank. In his devious way, he wants to make them believe that Bill is only having a romance with Norma, so that he can tear the house under the nail. A telegram from Bill's father comes to his aid, congratulating him on buying the house. However, Bill swears none of this is true and calls his father, who confirms that he wants the house. Out of loyalty to the three sisters, Bill tells his father that another company has already made a high offer for the house and property.

While the troupe is performing with the Tommy Dorsey Band that night, Bill and Hank head to the coveted property. Bill's father appears quite unexpectedly. Bill claims a competitor offered them a purchase price of $ 47,000. Bill's father signs a $ 46,000 purchase agreement, which is Bill's list. When Bill and Norma later embrace, Bill assures his surprised father that ownership of the property will remain in the family.

production

Production notes

The film was shot from late November 1940 to early January 1941 for the production company Paramount Pictures . The film was shot in Las Vegas , Nevada , in the USA.

background

According to the industry magazine Hollywood Reporter , Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman were originally supposed to write the script for this film. For Tommy Dorsey it was his first appearance in a feature film. For Frank Sinatra, who was introduced as the singer with the Tommy Dorsey Band, it was his first appearance on the big screen. Sinatra was hardly mentioned by the critics at the time, as he was still little known at the time and did not play an essential role in the film. Ziggy Elman , Ray Linn, Chuck Peterson, Clyde Hurley (trumpet), Les Jenkins, George Arus, Lowell Martin (trombone), Johnny Mince (clarinet, alto saxophone), Fred Stulce, Heinie Beau (alto saxophone) played in Tommy Dorsey's orchestra during filming ), Don Lodice, Paul Mason (tenor saxophone), Joe Bushkin (piano), Clark Yocum (guitar), Sid Weiss (bass) and Buddy Rich (drums).

music

Sinatra did not sing the Oscar-nominated song Dolores , the song that reached number one on the US charts and became its second number one success for Sinatra, but together with the pied pipers I'll Never Smile Again (and not yet once complete), the song that became his first number one hit.

  • Dolores , music: Louis Alter , poetry: Frank Loesser
    • Performed in Spanish by the Mexican Trio as well as Bert Wheeler and Tommy Dorsey & Band
  • I Gotta Ride , music: Burton Lane , poetry: Frank Loesser
    • Performed by Phil Regan and a cowboy choir
  • Mary, Mary Quite Contrary , music: Burton Lane, poetry: Frank Loesser
    • Presented by Lillian Cornell, Virginia Dale and Constance Moore,
    • accompanied by Bert Wheeler on the harmonica
  • I'll Never Smile Again , written by Ruth Lowe
    • Performed by Tommy Dorsey & Band together with Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers
  • The Lamp on the Corner , music: Agustín Lara, poetry: Ned Washington
    • Presented by Lillian Cornell
  • That's Southern Hospitality , written by Sam Coslow
    • Presented by Virginia Dale and Bert Wheeler
  • Cocktails for Two , written by Arthur Johnston
    • Performed by Tommy Dorsey & Band (at rehearsal)
  • On Miami Shore , music: Viktor Jacobi , poetry: William LeBaron
    • Performed by Lillian Cornell, accompanied by The Pied Pipers and Tommy Dorsey & Band
  • Shadow Waltz , music: Harry Warren
    • played by Tommy Dorsey & Band, "Pigeon Dance" danced by Virginia Dale
  • The Trombone Man Is the Best Man in the Land
  • Song of India , music: Nikolai Andrejewitsch Rimski-Korsakow
    • Performed by Tommy Dorsey & Band

publication

The film premiered on March 19, 1941 in New York before it was generally released in the United States on March 28, 1941. On March 27, 1942, it was published in Mexico under the title Noches de rumba . It also ran in Brazil under the title Noites de Rumba and in Portugal under the title Canção ao Amanhecer . In the UK it was called The Gay City when it was released .

criticism

Jeremy Arnold felt that the film was primarily of interest for Tommy Dorsey's wonderful music, but also for Frank Sinatra's feature film debut and Dorsey's debut appearance, because without him and his band the film would hardly be worth mentioning. The New York Times did not find the film worth snapping, but said it was able to arouse some interest because of Tommy Dorsey and his band.

Award

Louis Alter and Frank Loesser were nominated for an Oscar in the “Best Song” category at the 1942 Academy Awards ceremony with their song Dolores , but had to Jerome David Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the song The Last Time I Saw Paris from the musical film Lady Be Good give way.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Las Vegas Nights - The Last Frontier Town (1948) Original Print Information at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ Las Vegas Nights - The Last Frontier Town (1948) at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ a b c Las Vegas Nights - The Last Frontier Town (1948) at TCM (English)
  4. ↑ Tom Lord : Jazz discography (online)
  5. ↑ Dolores , sung by Frank Sinatra on metrolyrics.com
  6. ↑ I'll never Smile Again , sung by Frank Sinatra