John Raitt Movies
Trained as an opera singer, John Raitt signed an MGM stock player contract in 1940, appearing in a series of unmemorable bit roles. He rose to stardom in the mid-'40s as Curley in the touring company of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Broadway smash Oklahoma. This led to his being cast in his most famous stage role, reckless carnival barker Billy Bigelow in the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic Carousel (1945). The highlight of this production was Billy's eight-minute "Soliloquy," which Raitt would later claim was not as difficult as pretending to be dead for five minutes in the second act. In 1954 he starred with Janis Paige in the Ross-Adler Broadway musical The Pajama Game, introducing the Top 40 favorite "Hey There." He went on to co-star opposite Doris Day in the film version of Pajama Game in 1957, but didn't care for the experience and returned to his first love, the stage. For the rest of his lengthy career he would appear in straw hat and road show productions of Oklahoma, Carousel, Pajama Game, 1776, Show Boat, and Man of La Mancha, not to mention his countless one-man concerts and occasional TV appearances. John Raitt is the father of recording artist Bonnie Raitt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
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Containing some famous singers and musicians performing the compositions of one of America's great songwriters, Cole Porter: An All-Star Tribute aired originally on television in January of 1964. Among the celebrities who perform are Ethel Merman, Gretchen Wyler, Peter Nero, and John Raitt. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1958
The second edition of the famous fairy tale anthology Shirley Temple's Storybook (and the second to be telecast live), was this semi-musical version of the Grimm brothers' "Rumpelstiltskin." Because miller Hanz Franz (Kurt Kasznar) has bragged to one and all that his daughter, Elsa (Phyllis Love), can spin straw into gold, the poor girl is spirited away by royal tax collector Lord Karsch (a decidedly pre-Lost in Space Jonathan Harris) and locked in a room in the palace of the king (John Raitt). Here, Elsa is given an ultimatum: spin gold and win the king's hand in marriage, or suffer a terrible fate. Coming to the girl's rescue is an odd little man from the Black Forest named Rumpelstiltskin, who offers his magical assistance -- but his price is Elsa's first-born child. The title character is played by celebrated Israeli pantomimist Shai K. Ophir, an ironic bit of casting in that the Grimms' original Rumpelstiltskin was obviously intended as an anti-Semitic stereotype (though not, of course, in this production). John Raitt sings "A Lonely Heart and a Friendly Face"," specially written for this program by veteran Hollywood tunesmiths Mack David and Jerry Livingston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Raitt, Phyllis Love, (more)
The Broadway musical Pajama Game was based on Seven and a Half Cents. a comic novel about labor relations written by Richard Bissell. Doris Day stars as an employee at a pajama factory who becomes the spokesperson for her fellow workers when management refuses to give them a 7 1/2 cent raise. Complicating matters is the fact that Management is represented by handsome John Raitt, who happens to be in love with Day. A subplot involves Day's freewheeling co-worker Carol Haney and her insanely jealous boyfriend, factory-manager Eddie Foy Jr. Many of the cast members from the original Broadway production (Raitt, Haney, Foy, Reta Shaw, Peter Gennaro etc.) are retained for the film version, as are most of the Richard Adler/Jerry Ross songs: highlights include "Hey There", "Steam Heat", "Hernando's Hideaway", "There Once Was a Man". and the title song. The choreography is in the capable hands (and feet) of Bob Fosse. Pajama Game performed so well at the box-office that Warners immediately went to work on the filmization of the second (and last) Adler/Ross Broadway collaboration, Damn Yankees. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doris Day, John Raitt, (more)
- 1957
Eleven years after scoring one of the biggest hits on the Broadway stage, Irving Berlin's musical comedy Annie Get Your Gun was brought to television in a lavish, live two-hour color presentation. Mary Martin, who ironically had been offered the role before Ethel Merman made it her own back in 1946, stars as sharpshooter Annie Oakley, the rag-tag backwoods gal who became the toast of two continents as the main attraction of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show. The libretto, by Herbert and Dorothy Fields, naturally takes many liberties with the facts, focusing on the tempestuous romance between the level-headed Annie and the arrogant, bombastic marksman Frank Butler (John Raitt). Most of the laughs are provided by the wheeling and dealing of Annie's PR man, Charlie Davenport (Donald Burr), and by another of Buffalo Bill's star performers, Indian medicine man Sitting Bull (Zachary Charles), who has become so "assimilated" by the trappings of showbiz that he can't even remember how to perform a simple scalping (needless to say, much of the humor involving Sitting Bull would considered politically incorrect today). The songs include such Berlin standards as "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly," "The Girl That I Marry," "They Say It's Wonderful," "Sun in the Morning," "Anything You Can Do," and, of course, "There's No Business Like Show Business." This production of Annie Get Your Gun currently exists in black-and-white kinescope form, but though pictorial quality is rough, the entertainment value is unquestionable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Martin, John Raitt, (more)
- 1944
Unusually elaborate for a PRC film, Minstrel Man is a lively musical drama built around the talents of veteran vaudevillian Benny Fields. The star is cast as Dixie Boy Johnson, who rises from the ranks of minstrel shows to become a top Broadway attraction. On the opening night of his greatest stage triumph, Dixie Boy's wife dies in childbirth. Profoundly shaken, he walks out of the show, leaving the baby to be raised by his showbiz pals Mae and Lasses White (Gladys George, Roscoe Karns). The kid grows up to be an attractive young woman named Caroline (Judy Clark), who follows in her dad's footsteps by billing herself as-that's right-Dixie Girl Johnson. This leads to a tearful reunion between Caroline and the father she'd long assumed to be dead. If Minstrel Man seems at times to be a dress rehearsal for Columbia's The Jolson Story (1946), it shouldn't surprising: the PRC film was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, who went on to helm Jolson Story's musical highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Benny Fields, Gladys George, (more)
- 1941
MGM was doing so well in 1941 that it could afford the occasional "prestige" film with little box-office appeal. Based on the novel by J.P. Marquand, H.M. Pulham, Esq., stars Robert Young as a successful but stuffy Boston businessman. The glimmer of sadness in Young's eyes indicates that his ascension to the top was not without its cost. In flashbacks, we see how Young considered changing the track his life was on in order to marry Hedy Lamarr. After marrying his wife, however, the man never strays. The film utilizes the Strange Interlude approach of interior monologues heard on the soundtrack, and anticipates Citizen Kane (which hadn't yet been released when Pulham was filmed) by building its entire narrative on the flashback structure. H.M. Pulham, Esq. contains what may well be Robert Young's best performance, though few filmgoers in 1941 were interested enough to see it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hedy Lamarr, Robert Young, (more)
- 1940
MGM had a tendency to overglamorize the sort of rough-hewn film fare that Warner Bros. offered to its public without adornments. Such was the case of Flight Command. Instead of Warners' streetwise James Cagney, the MGM film stars pretty-boy Robert Taylor as the obligatory hotshot cadet who chafes at the authority and discipline of a naval flight squadron. While Warners might have done without a romantic subplot, MGM contrives to have Taylor fall for the wife (Ruth Hussey) of squad commander Walter Pidgeon. And whereas Warners would have told this story compactly in 90 minutes, MGM lolls around for nearly two hours before Taylor's anticipated redemption and "make good" scene. MGM newcomer Red Skelton shows up in Flight Command for comedy relief, which turns out to be neither. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey, (more)
- 1940
Judy Garland performs her only on-screen death scene early in the proceedings of Little Nellie Kelly. But despair not! Garland soon reappears as the daughter of the character she was playing in the film's first reels. Now a girl of 20, Garland has fallen in love with Douglas McPhail, much to the dismay of her father George Murphy and grandfather Charles Winninger. However, Murphy and Winninger are too much at odds with each other to give proper attention to Garland. Going into her Miss Fixit act, Garland patches up the differences between pop and grandpop, and gets to keep her beau in the bargain. Based on the play by George M. Cohan, Little Nellie Kelly affords Judy Garland ample opportunity to sing a swing version of "Singin' in the Rain", as well as several newer songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Garland, George Murphy, (more)
The Ed Sullivan Show was the definitive variety show on television for over two decades. This video consists of performances of songs by some of the most famous Broadway performers of the day. Among the stars that can be seen and heard are Julie Andrews doing a number from My Fair Lady, Carol Channing delivering a memorable tune from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Pearl Bailey with a showstopping turn from Hello, Dolly! ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
