Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (film)

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Painting the Clouds with Sunshine
Poster of Painting the Clouds with Sunshine.jpg
Directed by David Butler
Written by Harry Clork
Roland Kibbee
Peter Milne
Avery Hopwood (Play)
Produced byWilliam Jacobs
Starring Dennis Morgan
Virginia Mayo
Gene Nelson
Cinematography Wilfred M. Cline
Edited by Irene Morra
Music by Howard Jackson (uncredited)
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • October 10, 1951 (1951-10-10)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.8 million (US rentals) [1]

Painting the Clouds with Sunshine is a 1951 Technicolor musical film directed by David Butler and starring Dennis Morgan and Virginia Mayo (whose singing voice was dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams). The film is a musical adaptation of the 1919 play The Gold Diggers by Avery Hopwood, the fourth film adaptation of the play following The Gold Diggers (1923), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) and Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933). The film is a jukebox musical, featuring popular songs from the 1910s to 1930s, including two songs from Gold Diggers of Broadway ("Painting the Clouds with Sunshine" and "Tiptoe Through the Tulips") and one song from Gold Diggers of 1933 ("We're in the Money").

Contents

Plot

Three smart Las Vegas theatrical girls seek husbands. Carol wants a millionaire, Abby is in love with baritone Vince Nichols but is upset with his gambling and June has a crush on dancer Ted Lansing. However, Ted is in love with Abby. [2]

Cast

Songs

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Howard Thompson called the film a "feeble excuse for a musical romance" and wrote: "Judging by 'Painting the Clouds with Sunshine,' the latest in the never-ending parade of Technicolor musical romances from Warners, the studio is really scraping the barrel. These films are usually tuneful, pleasant-hued and designed for the sole and harmless purpose of supplying a little escapist relief and there's no point in aiming a sling at the new one. But we'll wager that even the staunchest supporters of Dennis Morgan, Virginia Mayo and Gene Nelson will wince at the banal, wafer-thin goings-on ..." [4]

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References

  1. 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
  2. Picturegoer , 19 January 1952, p. 14
  3. "Music credits for Painting the Clouds with Sunshine". TCM.
  4. Thompson, Howard (1951-09-01). "The Screen". The New York Times . p. 9.