Screen favorites try their hand at carrying a tune.
The Archivist — Welcome to the Archive. As home video formats have evolved over the years, a multitude of films have found themselves in danger of being forgotten forever due to their niche appeal. Thankfully, Warner Bros. established the Archive Collection, a Manufacture-On-Demand DVD operation devoted to thousands of idiosyncratic and ephemeral works of cinema. The Archive has expanded to include a streaming service, revivals of out-of-print DVDs, and Blu-ray discs (which, unlike the DVDs, are factory pressed rather than burned). Join us as we explore this treasure trove of cinematic discovery!
It seems like the Hollywood musical will forever be stuck in a cycle. Every time a vibrant, joyous song-filled title like Hairspray comes along, winning over audiences and breathing new life into movies of its kind, an effort such as the misguided remake of Fame comes along to do just the opposite and before you know it, the genre gets put to bed once again.
Yet the movie musical as a genre does have a perseverance and an overall vitality which can never be underestimated. The runaway success of last December’s The Greatest Showman, with its somewhat novel mix of turn of the century trappings and modern pop rhythms, is certainly a testament to this. Still, where the genre really tends to roll the dice in terms of breaking new ground as a genre is in its casting. It seems that every other actor (and in some cases non-actors) has appeared in a musical with decidedly varying degrees of success, showing a willingness to raise their audience profile and challenge themselves as a artists. In this edition of The Archivist, we’ll examine two musical offerings, 1943’s actor-packed Thank Your Lucky Stars and 1971’s The Boy Friend, two musical extravaganzas filled with a bevy of recognizable faces and aims of putting new spins on the traditional movie musical.
Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
Released in 1943 at the height of WWII, Thank Your Lucky Stars is less of a well thought-out musical and more of a novelty with the chance to see a glorious roster of golden age stars sing and dance being the main draw. The movie’s threadbare plot concerns a pair of producers, Farnsworth (Edward Everett Horton) and Schlenna (S.Z. Sakall), with aims of putting on a charity show featuring the majority of Hollywood’s top stars. However the snag in the plan is wannabe showbiz personality Joe Simpson (Eddie Cantor), whose ego and hunger for the spotlight threatens to thwart the whole shebang.
In a perhaps planned case of life imitating art, all of the proceeds from Thank Your Lucky Stars went to support the war effort, hence the appearance of many of the studio’s top contract players. Make no mistake, the plot is as flimsy as can be, and the script reeks of rush job. But the real aim of Thank Your Lucky Stars on an entertainment level was to provide movie fans with a look at some of their favorite actors and actresses in ways they hadn’t before. The movie’s guest list is massive: Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Olivia de Havilland, Ida Lupino, John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and more! While not all who are present sing, the ones that do end up genuinely surprising with the revelation of their hidden talents. The best of these is Davis, who calls on her acting chops (doing some pretty good work on that front in the process) to help bring the terrific, Oscar-nominated “They’re Either Too Young or Too Old” to life. A head-scratcher for some, a beloved treasure for others, Thank Your Lucky Stars represents a time when the concept of star power was rarely better, or more effectively, used. Thank Your Lucky Stars may have gimmick written all over it, but it’s heart and goals were firmly in the right place.
The Boy Friend (1971)
When the leading lady (Glenda Jackson) of a failing West End stage musical breaks her leg, innocent stagehand Polly (Twiggy) is forced to go on in her place. With rumors of an American movie producer in the audience, the pressure is on for Polly as she struggles to sing and dance while dealing with the show’s wacky cast and crew including a song-and-dance man (Tommy Tune), a bitchy co-star (Antonia Ellis), an on-edge director (Max Adrian), and the show’s charismatic male lead (Christopher Gable), whom Polly is secretly in love with.
It’s been said that visionary, yet highly controversial director Ken Russell took on this film to distance himself from the uproar which resulted following his previous effort, The Devils. If there was such a ploy, it worked. The Boy Friend contains one frothy piece of musical escapism after another with the endearing and effervescent Twiggy (who can actually sing) at its very center. What’s interesting to note is how the movie manages to exist on a trio of different levels and then balance them all simultaneously. First there’s the backstage antics of the production’s company, all of whom are trying to hold it together while stabbing each other in the back and watching their show fall apart. Secondly, there’s the show itself, a timeless love story featuring class conflict at the center of it. Finally, there’s the far out, larger-than-life fantasy sequences in which musical numbers are performed against the most imaginative of settings, including the room in a child’s doll house and a large record player. The way Russell introduces each one of the fantasy sequences by squaring in on a character’s face, thereby suggesting what we are about to see is a musical form of their supposed hopes and dreams, is the perfect lead into the surrealness of the numbers themselves, as well as a strong indicator of the kind of glorious experimentation the filmmaker would later bring to Tommy. Needless to say, it’s during these instances where the leading lady shines, the story is at its ripest, and The Boy Friend, as a cinematic experience, truly comes alive.
