This is not the type of movie I would usually tune in to, but with the Turner Classic Movie channel as a new addition to my cable line up, I thought I'd give it a try. It turned out to be a fairly entertaining little number, showcasing Kathryn Grayson and June Allyson as runaways from Boston society and all its' hoity toity poofery. Throw in Jimmy Durante as a saloon owner in the Bowery, and you get a funny, fast paced musical comedy, that throws in a bit of opera just to maintain a proper snob level.
In the story, the Boston Chandler's receive dubious word of Abigail in New York City where she's top billed as High 'C' Suzie, a dance hall girl at The Golden Rooster. It's supposed to be a quick job to raise money for opera lessons, but you know how things go. Sister Martha (Allyson) attempts to set Abigail/Suzie on the right path, but all bets are pretty much off when Spike Merango (Durante) weaves his way into various scenarios to protect his headline girl. Spike's forte is feigning past associations with various influential characters in the story, and dismantling their composure with an oft repeated "I don't know nothing'". He gets more results by not knowing anything than anyone I've ever seen.
If you're an opera fan, you'll know of Lauritz Melchior, famous Danish opera star who made his mark at the Metropolitan Opera and became a character player for MGM in his later years. He gets to sing quite often in the story, though he manages to get upstaged by his pet dog once, who impersonates the RCA Victor canine in a funny scene. In case you're wondering, he sings quite well for this layman's ear.
Peter Lawford provides a bit of a romantic element in the story as he becomes smitten first with Abigail and then Martha. His character isn't fully fleshed out, with most of his time attempting to evade the prim and proper eyes of his upper crust parents (Thurston Hall and Nella Walker). Part of the story's fun comes from the mistaken notion that his father keeps a mistress, though that angle plays out pretty quickly.
Besides being entertaining, I found the film to be educational too, or at least I was intrigued enough to follow up on something. When it was mentioned twice that Aunt Harriet ran off with the hurdy gurdy man, I began wondering whether Donovan made that whole thing up or if there really is such a thing. It turns out that a hurdy gurdy is a musical instrument dating back to twelfth century Europe correctly known as a 'vielle'. It's a stringed instrument that also has a keyboard and a wooden wheel to make music, which sounds like a cross between a fiddle and a bagpipe, with a kazoo like sound keeping time.
Can you imagine that? And all the while as I watched the movie, I thought the hurdy gurdy man might be somebody like Jimmy Durante.
In the story, the Boston Chandler's receive dubious word of Abigail in New York City where she's top billed as High 'C' Suzie, a dance hall girl at The Golden Rooster. It's supposed to be a quick job to raise money for opera lessons, but you know how things go. Sister Martha (Allyson) attempts to set Abigail/Suzie on the right path, but all bets are pretty much off when Spike Merango (Durante) weaves his way into various scenarios to protect his headline girl. Spike's forte is feigning past associations with various influential characters in the story, and dismantling their composure with an oft repeated "I don't know nothing'". He gets more results by not knowing anything than anyone I've ever seen.
If you're an opera fan, you'll know of Lauritz Melchior, famous Danish opera star who made his mark at the Metropolitan Opera and became a character player for MGM in his later years. He gets to sing quite often in the story, though he manages to get upstaged by his pet dog once, who impersonates the RCA Victor canine in a funny scene. In case you're wondering, he sings quite well for this layman's ear.
Peter Lawford provides a bit of a romantic element in the story as he becomes smitten first with Abigail and then Martha. His character isn't fully fleshed out, with most of his time attempting to evade the prim and proper eyes of his upper crust parents (Thurston Hall and Nella Walker). Part of the story's fun comes from the mistaken notion that his father keeps a mistress, though that angle plays out pretty quickly.
Besides being entertaining, I found the film to be educational too, or at least I was intrigued enough to follow up on something. When it was mentioned twice that Aunt Harriet ran off with the hurdy gurdy man, I began wondering whether Donovan made that whole thing up or if there really is such a thing. It turns out that a hurdy gurdy is a musical instrument dating back to twelfth century Europe correctly known as a 'vielle'. It's a stringed instrument that also has a keyboard and a wooden wheel to make music, which sounds like a cross between a fiddle and a bagpipe, with a kazoo like sound keeping time.
Can you imagine that? And all the while as I watched the movie, I thought the hurdy gurdy man might be somebody like Jimmy Durante.