Step Lively
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Step Lively |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1944 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Tim Whelan |
| script |
Warren Duff Peter Milne |
| production | Robert Fellows |
| music | Leigh Harline |
| camera | Robert De Grasse |
| cut | Gene Milford |
| occupation | |
| |
Step Lively is a 1944 American comedy film directed by Tim Whelan and starring young Frank Sinatra in one of his early roles. The film is a remake of the Marx Brothers production Room Service from 1938 and is based on the play of the same name (1937) by John Murray and Allen Boretz.
action
The stage impresario Gordon Miller is largely broke. He has housed his entire cast of 22 people in a New York hotel run by his brother-in-law Joe Gribble as the manager. When Gribble informs him that Mr. Wagner, the director of the hotel, has tracked down all of the troop's previously unpaid bills, Gordon assures Gribble that he has found a financier for his show. Gordon's financial troubles are even greater when playwright Glenn Russell arrives and threatens to phone his uncle, a judge, if Miller doesn't finally pay him, Russell, the $ 1,500 Gordon had promised to perform his new play. To reassure Glenn, Gordon lets him check into the hotel and pretends to be rehearsing Russell's play. Tomorrow, said Gordon, he could be present at a rehearsal. That evening, Gordon takes Glenn to a nightclub, where Miller's show star Christine Marlowe appears as a singer. When Christine asks the author on stage to sing along, the female audience goes crazy with enthusiasm. Gordon, who believes that Russell's talent could be used, asks Christine to bewitch Russell to take part in the performance of the Russell piece as an interpreter.
The next morning, Simon Jenkins, Gordon's financier, experiences a terrible performance from Glenn's show and is about to withdraw his support when his companion, Miss Abbott, hears Glenn singing and insists on investing in the show. Then Jenkins pricked up his ears and offered Gordon $ 50,000 to produce his music revue. Jenkins says he represents Miss Abbott's wealthy patron. That lady wanted to buy the entire show without further ado so that she could make Miss Abbott big. Before the business is dry, the impatient hotel manager Wagner demands that Gordon should finally settle the hotel bill for his troops. To hold the man off, Gordon claims that Glenn Russell got sick and is currently unable to move. Wagner is suspicious and instructs a doctor to take a closer look at the alleged patient. To make matters worse, financier Jenkins appears at the hotel room door at this very moment, holding a check that a potent millionaire signed for the show. Since the doctor is not supposed to notice anything of the fraud, Gordon quickly locks him out on the balcony. Jenkins hands Gordon the check, and the hotel manager of all people enters the suite and threatens to call the police if Gordon and his theater people don't leave the property immediately. Wagner's threat now also causes Jenkins to panic, who immediately tries to run away.
Thereupon Wagner, his manager Gribble and Gordon pursue Jenkins and force him to finally sign the check. Wagner then leaves the hotel room with the countersigned check. Christine appears with the bad news that Jenkins is planning to have the check canceled as soon as possible. Since the check is in an account with a California bank, Gordon assumes that he has five days before that bank can block the check. Gordon believes there is enough time to get the show off the ground in just three days. In order to keep Glenn, who is supposed to sing along in the piece, happy until then, Gordon asks Christine to temporarily flirt with him. But Glenn soon notices that he is playing a double game, leaves the stage and returns to Illinois. Christine, on the other hand, realizes that Glenn means more to her in this short time than she had previously assumed. Gordon absolutely needs Glenn for his show, which can only be a success with him, and so he unceremoniously cabled the singing author to Illinois that he should come back, because Christine fell in love with him.
On the evening of the festive premiere, director Wagner and his manager Gribble discover that the check has bounced, whereupon Wagner threatens Gordon with jail. At that moment, Glenn from Illinois arrives and distracts Wagner by faking a suicide attempt. Gordon arrives and also tries to stop Wagner after instructing his people to start the show. The performance begins and time moves on. Then finally the moment comes when everyone is waiting for Glenn to appear. Gordon unceremoniously locks Director Wagner in a closet and chases Glenn onto the stage. It takes a while for Wagner to get out of his predicament and rush to the performance. The audience applauds frenetically, the ladies in the stands and in the seats riot. Wagner realizes that the performance is a triumph and that he will soon get his money with it. And Gordon finally has a real hit again.
Production notes
Step Lively was filmed under the title Manhattan Serenade from February to late March 1944 and premiered on July 26, 1944. The film was never shown in Germany.
The film constructions by Albert S. D'Agostino and Carroll Clark and the equipment by Darrell Silvera and Claude E. Carpenter received an Oscar nomination.
Constantin Bakaleinikoff took over the musical direction, Edward Stevenson designed the costumes. Ernst and Maria Matray were responsible for the choreography. Vernon L. Walker created the special effects.
Reviews
Bosley Crowther wrote in the New York Times : “Frankie can gurgle his songs and get the general attention while the others do most of the work. As a consequence, 'Step Lively' is a thoroughly worthwhile little show, be it for those who want sheer pleasure or those who want to succumb to 'The Voice'. The crazy mix-ups of ' room service ' the Marx Brothers joked with six years ago ... have been sufficiently preserved to ensure an abundance of humor along the line of farce. And Frankie moans out enough music to get his teenage fans going. George Murphy works up a sweat and provides most of the fun in the role of the miserable producer (...) Walter Slezak, Adolphe Menjou and others support his delirium in a pleasant way. In fact, their portrayal of the classy and picturesque farce comes closer to the original than the wrangling of the Marx Brothers did. "
“Extremely hectic, with sharp dialogues and a funny contribution from Slezak as the hotel manager. If you blink you could miss the (brunette) Dorothy Malone, who plays a switchboard operator in the lobby. "
Halliwell's Film Guide thought the film was "a dazzling remake of Room Service , all very efficient, albeit simple-minded."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bosley Crowther : 'Step Lively,' a Remake of 'Room Service,' With Frank Sinatra, Opens at Palace In: The New York Times . July 27, 1944 (English). Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- ^ Leonard Maltin , Movie & Video Guide 1996 edition, p. 1246 (English).
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 961 (English).
Web links
- Step Lively at Turner Classic Movies (English)
- Step Lively in the Internet Movie Database (English)