Music in Manhattan

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Movie
Original title Music in Manhattan
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1944
length 80-81 minutes
Rod
Director John H. Auer
script Lawrence Kimble
production John H. Auer
for RKO Pictures
music Leigh Harline
camera Russell Metty
cut Harry Marker
occupation

Music in Manhattan is an American romantic musical film directed by John H. Auer in 1944. The leading roles are starring Anne Shirley , Dennis Day and Phillip Terry .

Lawrence Kimble's script is based on a story by Jack Scholl , Hal Smith and Maurice Tombragel . The film was nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Sound".

action

The singing and dancing duo Frankie Foster and Stanley Benson manage to perform on Broadway . With ticket sales for her show slow, Frankie decides to fly to Washington, DC to ask Bradley, who is her father's estate administrator, about her inheritance. Since the machine is fully booked, however, Professor Roberti, Frankie's friend and colleague, uses a ruse and tells that Frankie is secretly married to the war hero Johnny Pearson, and that her husband is waiting for her in Washington because he will be awarded a medal there. In fact, the trick works and Frankie receives a ticket in the name of Mrs. Pearson. A taxi is already waiting for Frankie at the airport, which takes her to a hotel, where she is greeted as Mrs. Pearson and shown to a room. When Johnny Pearson went to his hotel room that night, to his great surprise, he found a woman sleeping in his bed. When Frankie wakes up and sees a strange man standing by her bed, she starts screaming. Johnny thinks there was a mistake while booking a hotel, but he also knows that there are hardly any hotel rooms available in town at the moment, and reassures Frankie that he will sleep on the couch.

The next morning Frankie goes to see Mr. Bradley, who refuses her request to pay her part of her inheritance. She then hitchhikes back to New York. There she finds out that her show with Stanley Benson, with whom Frankie is also in a relationship, is sold out, thanks to the fact that the newspapers have reported widely about Frankie's marriage to a war hero. After Frankie is determined to tell the audience the truth, she changes her mind when she realizes that this would be the end of her show with Stanley.

Johnny, who read about the success of "his wife" on Broadway in the newspaper, went to New York. When Frankie comes home that night, she finds Johnny in her bed. Frankie tries to explain to Johnny how and why this action came about. However, Johnny has no understanding of her motivations and accuses her of abusing him, the war hero, for her personal advertising campaign and ends the conversation. When Frankie apologizes to him the next morning, however, he accepts her apology and tells her that he will leave after he has showered. Quite surprisingly, however, Johnny's mother appears at the door and announces that her rapid recovery from a serious illness is due to the fact that she was so happy that her son was now married. Still worried that his mother might relapse, Johnny in turn asks Frankie to keep up the tale of their marriage. Since Mrs. Pearson wants to stay the whole week, all sorts of precarious situations arise that have to be overcome.

When pictures of the bride and groom subsequently appear on various front pages, Professor Roberti warns to put an end to it all by actually getting Frankie and Johnny married and having their marriage annulled again. Frankie and Johnny agree to this and after a brief ceremony, Johnny signs a document in which he agrees to annul his marriage to Frankie. Frankie, who has since fallen in love with Johnny, bursts into tears when he tries to give her the document and runs away. After Johnny tells his mother about the separation, she tries to reconcile the couple by telling her son that Frankie is pregnant. Johnny now believes Frankie is expecting a child from Stanley. However, Stanley has now come to terms with the fact that Frankie loves Johnny and releases her from her commitment.

When Johnny returned to Washington after his lecture tour, he received a letter from his mother, who explained what the situation really was. Johnny then asks the hotel operator to connect with Frankie. When he answers Frankie's call, she explains that she loves him and that she has reversed the marriage annulment. Johnny replies that he will pack his bags immediately and come to her. When he opens the door to his bedroom, he is delighted to find Frankie already waiting in his bed.

production

Production notes

The working titles of the film were: Here Comes the Bride and Cocktails for Two . According to the industry magazine The Hollywood Reporter , Leon Errol was initially slated for one of the leading roles.

The shooting extended from mid-March to the end of April 1944.

Albert S. D'Agostino and Al Herman as well as Darrell Silvera and Emile Kuri were responsible for the film construction, and Renié Conley for the costumes .

Music numbers

The following songs were composed by Lew Pollack , the lyrics by Herb Magidson .

  • When Romance Comes Along
  • I can see you now
  • One night in Acapulco
  • I Like a Man Who Makes Music
  • Did you happen to find a heart?

publication

The film premiered in New York on October 6, 1944. It ran for the first time on August 20, 1945 in Sweden, on April 20, 1946 in Madrid and on July 19, 1946 in Barcelona and on August 8, 1946 in Portugal. He was also seen in Brazilian and Italian cinemas. It was not published in the Federal Republic of Germany.

reception

criticism

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times was not convinced by the story of the film because it was difficult to imagine. RKO took this moderate act as an opportunity to see actors romping around in bedrooms and in between to show some harmless songs on stage. The film would have been dispensable, but on the other hand that would have prevented three smaller stars from being able to present themselves appropriately and to their advantage and the screen would have been denied a reasonably passable film.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) spoke of a romantic comedy, a rework of the 1937 film Dance with Me , which provided a bizarre treatise on marriage.

Award

Academy Awards 1945

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Music in Manhattan (1944) see notes at TCM (English)
  2. ↑ Music in Manhattan (1944) see original print information at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ Bosley Crowther : Mild Musical In: The New York Times . October 7, 1944. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  4. ↑ Music in Manhattan see archive.usccb.org (English). Retrieved February 20, 2019.