Star Spangled Rhythm | |
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Directed by | Credited director: George Marshall Co-director: Ralph Murphy "Old Black Magic": A. Edward Sutherland Contributing: Frank Tuttle Lewis Allen Paul Weatherwax (all uncredited) |
Written by | Sketches: Melvin Frank George S. Kaufman Norman Panama Arthur A. Ross Fred Saidy (uncredited) Arthur Phillips (uncredited) Writer: Harry Tugend |
Produced by | Joseph Sistrom |
Starring | The Stars of Paramount Pictures |
Cinematography | Theodor Sparkuhl Leo Tover |
Edited by | Paul Weatherwax |
Music by | Score: Robert Emmett Dolan Songs: Harold Arlen (music) Johnny Mercer (lyrics) |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1,127,989 |
Box office | $3.85 million (U.S. and Canada rentals) [2] |
Star Spangled Rhythm is a 1942 American all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, with the intent of entertaining the troops overseas and civilians back home and to encourage fundraising – as well as to show the studios' patriotism. This film was also the first released by Paramount to be shown for 8 weeks.
Star Spangled Rhythm was directed by George Marshall and others, [3] and written by Harry Tugend with sketches by Melvin Frank, George S. Kaufman and others. The film has music by Robert Emmett Dolan and songs by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, and the cast consisted of most of the stars on the Paramount roster.
Pop Webster is a former silent movie star once known as "Bronco Billy" who now works as the guard on the main gate at Paramount Pictures. However, he's told his son Johnny, who's in the Navy, that he's the studio's Executive Vice President in Charge of Production. When Johnny shows up in Hollywood on shore leave, Pop and the studio's switchboard operator, Johnny's sweetheart Polly Judson, go all-out to maintain the illusion for Johnny and his sailor friends that Pop's a studio big-wig. Things get a bit complicated when Pop offers to put on a variety show for the Navy, featuring all of Paramount's stars, but Polly convinces Bob Hope and Bing Crosby to do the show, and they convince the rest of the stars on the lot. [4] [5]
Performers:
Cast notes:
The songs in Star Spangled Rhythm were written by Harold Arlen (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics): [8]
The working title of Star Spangled Rhythm was Thumbs Up. Paramount paid Arthur Ross and Fred Saidy for the rights to two sketches from their musical revue Rally Round the Girls, which were used in the film. The "That Old Black Magic" sequence, which was directed by A. Edward Sutherland, was intended to be directed by René Clair, who was unavailable at the time of shooting. [6]
The film was in production from 11 June to 23 July 1942 [10] at Paramount's studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Location shooting took place at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. [11] The final cost of the film was $1,127,989. [6] The film premiered in New York City on December 30, 1942 and opened nationwide on February 12, 1943. [1]
In 1943, Broncho Billy Anderson (real name:Maxwell Henry Aronson) sued Paramount for using the "Broncho Billy" name without permission. He objected to the "Bronco Billy" character in Star Spangled Rhythm being a "washed-up and broken-down actor", which he felt reflected badly on himself. Aronson asked for $900,000, but the outcome of the lawsuit is unknown. [6]
Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd both appear - and they would team in two other all star films. [12]
Star Spangled Rhythm received two 1944 Academy Award nominations: Harold Arlen (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) were nominated for "Best Original Song" for "That Old Black Magic", and Robert Emmett Dolan was nominated for "Best Score". [13]
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
Dorothy Lamour was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.
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Variety Girl is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, DeForest Kelley, Frank Ferguson, Glenn Tryon, Nella Walker, Torben Meyer, Jack Norton, and William Demarest. It was produced by Paramount Pictures. Numerous Paramount contract players and directors make cameos or perform songs, with particularly large amounts of screen time featuring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Among many others, the studio contract players include Gary Cooper, Alan Ladd, Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland, William Holden, Burt Lancaster, Robert Preston, Veronica Lake, William Bendix, Barbara Stanwyck and Paula Raymond.
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"I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)" is a comic song written by Johnny Mercer for the Paramount Pictures release Rhythm on the Range and sung by its star, Bing Crosby. The Crosby commercial recording was made on July 17, 1936, with Jimmy Dorsey & his Orchestra for Decca Records. It was a huge hit in 1936, reaching the No. 2 spot in the charts of the day, and it greatly furthered Mercer's career. Crosby recorded the song again in 1954 for his album Bing: A Musical Autobiography.
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