Riding High (1943)

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Movie
Original title Riding high
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1943
length 88-89 minutes
Rod
Director George Marshall
script Walter DeLeon ,
Arthur Phillips ,
Art Arthur
production Fred Kohlmar
for Paramount Pictures
music Charles Bradshaw ,
Leo Shuken ,
Victor Young
camera Harry Hallenberger ,
Karl Struss
cut LeRoy Stone
occupation

Riding High (reference title Melody Inn ) is a 1943 American comedic music film directed by George Marshall . Dorothy Lamour , Dick Powell and Victor Moore star . The script is based on the play Ready Money by James Montgomery , which premiered on August 19, 1912 in New York.

The film received an Oscar nomination in the category "Best Sound" .

action

After their show Strip, Strip, Hooray! has leaked, Ann Castle, a burlesque dancer , returns to her father, who runs the Grenada silver mine in the Arizona desert. There she learns that Steve Baird, mining engineer and her father's new partner, has so far owed him the $ 1,000 he has to pay for a partnership. Steve's attempts to win his friends over as investors in the mine were unsuccessful.

Ann, who is considered an outstanding artist, is hired by Tess Connors on their "Bubbling Well Guest Ranch" to lift the spirits of their employees. She furiously defends herself against Steve's advances because she believes he is a fraud. In the meantime, the forger Mortimer J. Slocum has appeared, and Steve's situation is just right. He befriends him and gives him $ 20,000 in fake bills so Steve can get into the mine. Before he even realized that the bills he was given were forged, Slocum acts so skillfully that Steve's friends are convinced that the mine promises a good profit and are ready to give him the $ 1,000 he needs. After Steve recognizes the fake, he tries to return the flowers to Slocum in exchange for the real 1,000 dollars, which, however, repeatedly prevents special circumstances. Ann's interest in Steve, on the other hand, has grown since she believed he could pay the deposit to her father. The evening after their show at Tess' ranch, the two of them talk to the lake. At this point, Ann is not aware that Tess secretly loves Slocum.

The next day some misunderstandings arise, culminating in the fact that the envelope with the money ends up in Ann's handbag. Ann thinks the envelope is a letter she sent to her aunt, but it was returned because of insufficient postage.

Over dinner, Sheriff Bob "Foggy" Day reveals the counterfeit, and Steve's friends demand their money back. They do not refrain from it when Ann's father shows up and reports of an amazing find in the mine. Slocum, in turn, uses the fake $ 20,000 to ensure that Tess' chuckwagon can beat rancher Frenchy McGuire's car in the annual chuckwagon race. But here, too, there are disagreements, whereupon Shorty, an employee of McGuire, blames Slocum for the sabotage. In the subsequent Mêlée , Sheriff Foggy's pistol accidentally makes itself independent, whereupon the horses pulling Tess's wagon, in which Ann and Slocum are, break out. Neither Ann nor Slocum know what to do next, so that the wagon is damaged. Both Steve with his wagon and the other participants rushed after Ann and Slocum's vehicle. After Steve has reached Tess' wagon, which is slowly threatening to threaten, Slocum throws counterfeit money out of the back of the wagon, over which the competing pursuers begin to fight. This is how Tess succeeds in getting the Tess wagon through the finish line first and collecting the $ 1,000 prize money.

Now that the sheriff has evidence of the counterfeit, he arrests Slocum. Steve refuses to accept McGuire's check because Slocum has cheated. McGuire still insists on giving Steve the money and seeing it as an investment in the mine. When Slocum is being taken away, he advises Tess to marry Foggy. Steve, on the other hand, clashes with Ann in a way that should be characteristic of their subsequent love affair and that has something to do with a splash of cold water.

production

Production notes, filming

The film's working titles were: Calgary Stampede , Canadian Capers, and Ready Money . According to The Hollywood Reporter , the film was supposed to have a Canadian background for the titles Calgary Stampede and Canadian Capers . After transport difficulties arose in August 1942 while trying to bring the crew etc. to Calgary to take appropriate exterior shots, the trip was canceled and the story settled in Arizona . Several scenes were shot in Chatsworth , California . The final shooting took place between January 16 and the end of February 1943.

Edith Head was responsible for the costumes .

Background, other versions

As early as 1914 Paramount released the film as a silent film under the title Ready Money , the script of which also goes back to James Montgomery. The director was Oscar C. Apfel , the main roles were occupied by Edward Abeles and Monroe Salisburg.

In a version broadcast by Radio-Theater in mid-May 1952, Fred MacMurray and Rhonda Fleming were the main actors.

Music in the film

The PCA insisted that certain lines of text be included in the songs

  • You're the rainbow ,
  • Get Your Man and
  • I'm the Secretary to the Sultan ,
    which were perceived as suggestive or ambiguous, should be changed.

More songs in the film:

  • Injun Gal Heap Hep by Ralph Rainger , Leo Robin, and Joseph J. Lilley
  • Willie the Wolf of the West by Johnny Mercer and Lilley
  • He Loved Me Till the All Clear Came by Mercer and Harold Arlen
  • In the Dark by Rainger and Robin
  • Whistling in the Light by Rainger and Robin,
    • sung by Dorothy Lamour and Cass Daley
  • You're the Rainbow from Rainger and Robin,
    • is sung by Dorothy Lamour and Dick Powell

publication

The film had its premiere in New York on December 22, 1943, after it had already opened in the USA on November 11, 1943. It was shown for the first time in the United Kingdom (London) in January 1944 and again in May 1944. It was also shown for the first time in Mexico in 1944, in Sweden in 1945, in Finland in 1946 and in Portugal in 1948. It was also published in Belgium, Brazil and in Spain.

reception

criticism

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times did not like the film and stated that it lacked wit and spirit, which he tried to make up for with a massive production in Technicolor. A thin group of lukewarm comedians just stand around and chatter incessantly for most of the film. Crowther said that in other times, which are less sick than the present, it probably would not have even been shot.

On the TV Guide page, too , they didn't really talk about the film and said that the joke was too short in the script, whereas the stupidity was too long. The songs are unforgettable, but far below the talent of Powell and Lamour. The camera is used well, which is a waste of this rather meaningless musical film.

Award

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Riding High (1943) see screenplay info at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d Riding High (1943) see Notes at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ Riding High (1943) see original print info at TCM (English)
  4. ^ Bosley Crowther : "Riding High", a Knockabout Musical Film, with Dorothy Lamour, Dick Powell, Victor Moore, opens at Paramount In: The New York Times . December 23, 1943 (English). Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  5. ↑ Riding High sS tvguide.com (English). Retrieved January 4, 2019.