Sunny (1941)

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Movie
Original title Sunny
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 98 minutes
Rod
Director Herbert Wilcox
script Oscar Hammerstein II
Otto Harbach
Sig Herzig
production Herbert Wilcox
for RKO Pictures
music Anthony Collins
camera Russell Metty
cut Elmo Williams
occupation

Sunny is a 1941 American musical film directed by Herbert Wilcox . Anna Neagle falls in love with Larry Warren ( John Carroll ), the son of a wealthy New Orleans family, which is especially a thorn in the side of his sister Elizabeth.

The screenplay is based on the musical stage play Sunny , book and text by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Jerome David Kern , published on September 22, 1925 in New York .

action

During the Mardi Gras festivities , Larry Warren, a member of a wealthy New Orleans family , meets equestrian and dancer Sunny O'Sullivan. The queen of hearts, who is out and about with her entourage in the festive turmoil, commands both of them to hug and kiss. When Sunny disappears after this hug in the darkness of the night, Larry, lost in thought, enters a circus that is located at the place where he met Sunny, still in the spirit of the young woman who has bewitched him. At the circus he surprisingly meets his sister Elizabeth, the family lawyer Henry Bates and Juliet Runnymeade, a circus debutante with whom a circus actor does all kinds of mischief. To his great surprise and delight, he also sees Sunny, who is dancing on stage with a partner, and cannot have a bouquet of flowers sent to her quickly enough. After the show he tries to get in touch with Sunny to meet her. However, due to a misunderstanding, things turn out differently and instead of Larry, Sunny is out with her old friend and stage partner Bunny Billings.

By chance, Sunny and Larry meet again in the restaurant where Sunny is with Bunny and another friend. Larry steers the young woman away from her friends, and together they go on a tour of the city. When the night ends, they are both hopelessly in love and Larry proposes to Sunny.

After Sunny says goodbye to her friends at the circus, Larry wants to introduce her to his aunt Barbara, who has been criticized as very harshly, as well as the rest of his family at the ancestral home of Waverly Hall. At the reception that takes place in the evening, Sunny is snubbed by Larry's sister Elizabeth and his aunt Barbara in such a way that she wants to leave the reception prematurely and deeply injured, but meets Aunt Barbara and can talk to the outwardly tough woman.

On the day of the wedding, everything of name and standing is gathered in Waverly Hall. But then Bunny and the circus people arrive, who want to surprise Sunny. Elizabeth sees this as a good opportunity to humiliate Sunny again and to ask the circus troupe to show what they can do before the wedding ceremony. When these, encouraged by Juliet and her partner Egghead, begin to entertain, Larry expels the circus troupe from the house. Sunny is so stunned by such behavior from her future husband that she joins her guests and leaves the property with them.

On the premiere evening of the new circus show with Sunny in the center, the performance is completely sold out. When Sunny takes the stage, she discovers that Larry, who bought all the tickets, is the only guest. Angry and disappointed, she storms off the stage and locks herself in her trailer. Larry then puts it on a trailer of his car and drags the trailer and Sunny to a waiting riverboat. Sunny steals on deck after a while. When Larry doesn't find her in the trailer, but instead finds her fur and a shoe on the railing , he believes she jumped overboard and jumps into the roaring water to save her. Sunny is very afraid for him, but also realizes how much he loves her. As soon as Larry is safe, they both embrace.

Production, background, soundtrack

The shooting extended from January 17 to the beginning of April 1941.

In the prologue to the film, it is stated that Carnival King Rex, the king of the joke, rules Mardi Gras in New Orleans for a week . According to the Hollywood Reporter , Herbert Willcox acquired the rights to Sunny from Warner Bros. to cast Anna Neagle in the role. It was the third collaboration in a musical comedy between RKO, Neagle and Wilcox after Irene and No, No Nanette , both in 1940. Anna Neagle was married to Herbert Wilcox from 1943 until his death in 1977.

The Australian actress May Robson was accepted for the role of Aunt Barbara, but was not cast. Cinematographer J. Roy Hunt shot the background shots for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The Vaudeville -Künstlerin Muggins Davies joined for the first time after fifteen years of seclusion again in a film. John Carroll was loaned to MGM to play Larry Warren. An article in the New York Times indicated that Ernestine Clarke, who doubled the riding scenes for Anna Neagle in the film, was a famous equestrian and circus performer from the Ringling Bros. Circus .

As early as 1930, the play Sunny was adapted and filmed by Warner Bros. under the direction of William A. Seiter with Marilyn Miller in the lead role, who also played the role on Broadway . According to a message in the Los Angeles Times , Warner Bros. was planning a new, updated film adaptation with Doris Day in the lead role in 1952 , but that didn't work out.

Soundtrack
  • D'ye Love Me? Music: Jerome Kern, poetry: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II
    • sung by Anna Neagle and John Carroll
  • Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms , traditional music, poetry: Thomas Moore (1908)
  • Jack Tar and Sam Gob
    • sung and danced by Anna Neagle and Ray Bolger
  • The Lady Must Be Kissed
  • Ringmaster
    • danced by Ray Bolger
  • Sunny , music: Jerome Kern, poetry: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II
    • presented by Anna Neagle
  • Two Little Love Birds , music: Jerome Kern, poetry: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II
    • danced by Grace and Paul Hartman
  • Boléro , orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel
    • danced under the name "The Mohache" by Grace and Paul Hartman
  • Who? Music: Jerome Kern, poetry: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II
    • Performed by Ray Bolger and sung by Anna Neagle and John Carroll

Theatrical release

  • USA: May 30, 1941
  • Mexico: July 11, 1941
  • Portugal: October 20, 1941 under the title Sunny, a Rainha do Circo
  • Sweden: March 16, 1942 under the title Cirkusprinsessan
  • Finland: December 28, 1945 under the title Sirkusprinsessa
  • Belgium: February 8, 1946 in Brussels - French title Mardi Gras
  • France: August 4, 1948 under the title Mardi Gras
  • Brazil under the title Sunny
  • Greece under the title To koritsi tou tsirkou

criticism

The industry journal of the entertainment industry, Variety, found that the third consecutive film adaptation of a musical comedy by Herbert Wilcox and his team with Anna Neagle was typical of an operetta Cinderella fairy tale. Ray Bolger's dancing skills were particularly appreciated. Anna Neagle was certified as a standard performance, but more important is the excellent performance of John Carroll, who romps happily as a young millionaire.

Also Bosley Crowther of the New York Times put forward the already third film old American musical comedies, and was of the opinion that Wilcox would revive the old American musical comedies well. A year ago it was Irene who the Irishman took out of the moth box, before that it was No, No Nanette , and now it is a charming memory of the late Marilyn Miller, even if Sunny has undergone considerable changes. Mr. Wilox and Miss Neagle have shown little respect for the original story, all they care about is the music and of course the titles. And so Sunny was forced into a routine concept and told a story that did not offer a single surprise. However, there are also these wonderful melodies by Jerome Kern like Sunny , Do You Love Me? and the unforgettable who , which would be presented with a lot of affection and varied. Crowther closes with the bon mot: "Sunny is as shiny as a new penny but also as flat."

Award

Oscar nomination in 1942 for Anthony Collins in the category “Best Film Music” (musical film) . However, the Oscar went to Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace and the cartoon Dumbo .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sunny script info at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ a b c Sunny information at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ Review: Sunny In: Variety, 1940 (English), accessed on January 13, 2016.
  4. ^ Bosley Crowther : Sunny , a Melodious Revival, at the Music Hall In: The New York Times . June 13, 1941 (English), accessed January 13, 2016.