Calendar Girl (1947)

I love this movie so much

Instant Favorite.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

For Republic Pictures this was undoubtedly one of their bigger productions in 1947 and I couldn't help thinking that with a score by top songwriters Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson this film might be better known had some major studio did it.As it is Calendar Girl takes place at the turn of the last century and it concerns life in the artist's colony of Greenwich Village. Two men of the arts from Boston, painter James Ellison and composer William Marshall, arrive in town and take up residence in the artist's boardinghouse of the indulgent Irene Rich who must have a literal last name to put up with the itinerant payments of rents she gets and expects. Another in the house is singer Jane Frazee who both Marshall and Ellison court.The problem is that Ellison is already engaged to Gail Patrick back in Boston and he's wealthy on his own and just taking a hiatus from the family banking business. He's making a play for Frazee and that's coming between him and Marshall. As for Marshall he gets a different kind of partnership. Singer Kenny Baker is becoming Hart to his Rodgers and with his tenor is plugging their songs as well. I can't forget Frazee's father Victor McLaglen who is a fire captain and still regards Frazee as Daddy's Little Girl even after she becomes a celebrity of sorts when Ellison's painting makes her the Calendar Girl of 1901. McLaglen is just his overbearing, lovable, oafish self.The lack of production values kills what is a nice picture and could have been a classic over at MGM.

An entertaining but dated period musical, this seems out of place in an era of colorful A musicals from the majors. But what is there is still enjoyable with up-beat song and dance numbers that bring the early part of the 1900's back to life even in glorious black and white. The more than slight story concerns a song-writing team (William Marshall and Kenny Baker) who promote a beautiful dancer for the cover girl of an upcoming 1901 calendar. The daughter of a tough fire chief, she at first spurns their romantic intentions but is soon torn between the two. This leads to friction between the two which can only be resolved in typical fashion through another woman. The music is the real star here with rousing performances of such standards like "At the Fireman's Ball" between a few lovely ballads which includes "Have I told You Lately That I Love You?". An amusing supporting cast includes such pro's as Victor McLaglen as the heroine's pop, Franklin Pangborn as an agent and stage veteran Irene Rich as a dottie landlady.

Quick note on the print I viewed: not the best picture or sound quality, but apart from a view small cuts, complete. It can be found on Disc 1 of the 50 Movie Pack of Musicals DVD.The story is so-so, predictable for a musical. A songwriter and a artist share a flat in an artists-friendly establishment. One is in love with the girl next door but the other enjoys stringing her along.Someone is wealthy but he doesn't like people to know. And the girl next door has a father with a fiery temper.The songs are rather catchy and pleasant, and singers such as Kenny Baker and Janet Martin move them along. Attempts at comedy come off well as does the (slight) drama as the story unfolds.'Calendar Girl' is a cheaply-made B picture from Poverty Row but, for all that, it isn't bad, and will keep you entertained.

This is not a well known musical but includes several excellent songs written by Jimmy McHugh. The principal vocalists include Bill Marshall, Jane Frazee, Janet Martin and specially Kenny Baker. The latter's tenor is shown off to good effect and he is capably joined in duets with Janet Martin, one of the several young players under contract to Republic who disappeared with the decline in the studio system. It is a multi-star cast including Victor McLaglen as a Fire Chief, Irene Rich as a Boarding House owner, Gail Patrick as a wealthy Bostononian and James Ellison. The story involves the trials of young hopefuls in the music/dance world, Martin, Frazee, Marshall, etc. and Ellison, a wealthy young artist from Boston. Martin plays a predatory female after Baker a young song plugger while there is a triangular mixup between Frazee and two potential suitors, Marshall and Ellison and Patrick. Highly recommended as a much better than average small musical from Hollywood just before television started to cut into the profits of the movie studios.