The Time, The Place and The Girl (1946)

Simply Perfect

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The most delightful musical with a very funny story-line despite the fact that S.Z. Sakall doesn't fracture the English language that much other than mispronouncing Philadelphia and saying from finish to start. Jack Carson, enjoyable here as always, is less subdued when it comes to comical farce.A maestro with a heart, Sakall, wants to close down the night club next door to his home. His prim and proper daughter, Martha Vickers, wants more of life and invariably she meets up with Dennis Morgan. Morgan and Carson again prove that they were absolutely terrific together.There are some wonderful dancing numbers along with the songs, particularly the opening of various loves on letter-named streets.Donald Woods as Vickers' manager and Florence Bates, wife to Sakall, add to the fun with their stuffiness, though Bates yields at the end. Enjoyable fanfare.

A two hour technicolor musical featuring romantic comedy storyboard cultural preferences the dialogue and storyline seem among the weaker of those surviving. Cuddles Szakall and the less known today Florence Bates play their familiar comic shtick of the busybody older gent and his controlling wife with perfect coming timing, one of the best aspects of the film. Dennis Morgan who often poses and croons and Jack Carson, who often gets into trouble and clowns around play familiar roles when co-cast though this time in one of the weaker plots. The formula puttin' on a show plot of the era does not work as smoothly as it does in other films with the three female leads none today remembered each playing stock characters in the formula plot. Well technically crafted in technicolor it lacks the direction or interest maintaining format of its competitors.

A boilerplate Warners mid-'40s musical, but a triumph for the Great American Songbook, this backstager has some gorgeous Arthur Schwartz melodies married to Leo Robin lyrics wittier than anything in the script. The Oscar-nominated "Oh, But I Do" is one of Schwartz' loveliest melodies ever, and the little-known "A Thousand Dreams" isn't far behind. There's "A Gal in Calico," which once it gets in your head simply won't leave (it's been in mine for days) and "A Rainy Night in Rio," part of the South American craze then hitting the Hit Parade. There's "A Solid Citizen of the Solid South," done in grimace-inspiring blackface, but actually a pretty good number if you can get past that. All are "diegetic" numbers, meaning they're part of the stage entertainment in the film rather than related to plot or character, and they're backed by luscious Warners orchestrations, which were brassier and jazzier than what the arrangers turned out at Paramount or 20th or MGM. To get to these goodies you have to sit through a lot of inconsequential backstage plot, not to mention the tiresome jowl-shaking of S.Z. Sakall and the badly dated comedy of Jack Carson. But there's Martha Vickers, pretty and appealing, and Janis Paige, always reliable for sex appeal and a tart way with a good line. And Dennis Morgan, a Warners staple in the '40s, who had more presence and testosterone than most of the singing-capon tenors movie musicals of the day typically turned out. Carson and Morgan were sort of Warners' Hope and Crosby and were teamed many times. This is one of their more tolerable efforts, thanks almost exclusively to the efforts of Messrs. Schwartz and Robin.

While THE TIME, THE PLACE AND THE GIRL never rises above being a pleasant little "let's put on a show" musical, it does feature a few sprightly song numbers that are easy on the eyes and ears--and all of the performances are genial and appealing.Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson are ideal as show biz guys willing to put something over on Martha Vickers in order to get backing for their enterprise. Vickers comes across as even more appealing than she was in THE BIG SLEEP as the nymphomaniacal daughter. And for good measure, there's the always vivacious Janis Paige doing her standard musical comedy thing with finesse. Donald Woods does a standout job as the stuffy tutor of musical pupil Vickers.Comic relief from Florence Bates and S.Z. Sakall is a big help--especially since the script itself is none too witty. But what really makes the film a special delight are the handsome production values which went into this formula musical and two outstanding songs that are given first-rate treatment: A GIRL FROM CALICO and A RAINY NIGHT IN RIO.If you like backstage musicals, you'll enjoy this minor delight.