Jerome Kern Movies

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a remake of the 1964 film farce Bedtime Story. Steve Martin and Michael Caine take over the roles originally played by Marlon Brando and David Niven: two international con artists, plying their trade on gullible wealthy women up and down the Riviera. Martin and Caine vie over the honor of fleecing ingenuous heiress Glenne Headly (in a role originated by Shirley Jones). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Orson Welles made his final screen appearance as, appropriately enough, Orson Welles (or "Danny's Friend") in Henry Jaglom's "emotional vérité" comedy Someone to Love. The film begins as filmmaker Danny (Henry Jaglom) prepares to spend the night at his girlfriend Helen (Andrea Marcovicci)'s apartment. Helen has just adjusted to sleeping alone after the breakup of her previous relationship and tells Danny that if he stays with her, she won't be able to go to sleep. Fascinated by the explanation, Danny sends out telegrams to a bunch of his Hollywood friends to meet on Valentine's Day at a Santa Monica theater, the Mayfair, that is about to be torn down to make way for a shopping mall. Danny figures that he will throw a party for his lonely celebrity friends. He also reasons that he could introduce his brother, real estate developer Mickey (Michael Emil, Jaglom's real-life brother), to some romantic companions. The party would also be a handy way to get some film footage. The day of the party, Danny's friends arrive --a famous movie star (Sally Kellerman); a pop singer named Blue (Stephen Bishop); a jazz pianist (David Frishberg); a sophisticated continental woman named Yelena (Oja Kodar); and, bringing up the rear and ensconced in the back of the theater, Danny's Friend (Orson Welles). With his camera crew in tow, Danny takes to filming his guests as they answer questions about love and loneliness. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this 1957 psychological action drama, Robert Taylor plays Lloyd Tredman, a WWII American airman plagued by guilt over the war deaths of comrades in failed missions. Living in Spain, Tredman is despondent after losing all his money betting on a horse which ends up throwing its jockey and killing him. In order to get money and help a former comrade, Jimmy Heldon (Jack Lord), who is also broke, Tredman agreeds to a currency smuggling plot proposed by Bert Smith (Martin Gabel). In on the scheme is a Madrid native, Toto del Aro (Marcel Dalio). They smuggle the money and elude authorities after a long chase, but when they discover that their booty includes narcotics, they turn themselves in and implicate Smith. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The third and (to date) last film version of the Edna Ferber/Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Show Boat falls just short of greatness but is still a whale of a show. Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson are in fine fettle as irresponsible gambler Gaylord Ravenal and showboat ingenue Magnolia Hawks. The plot adheres closely to the Broadway original making several welcome improvements in the final act (which was always a bit shaky). Magnolia, daughter of showboat impresario Captain Andy (Joe E. Brown) and Parthy Hawkes (Agnes Moorehead), falls head over heels in love with the raffish Ravenal. When the show's leading lady, Julie (Ava Gardner), and leading man, Steve (Robert Sterling), are forced to leave when Julie's mulatto heritage is revealed by disgruntled suitor Pete (Leif Erickson), Magnolia and Gaylord step into the vacant stage roles and score a hit. Eventually, the two are married and for several months are quite happy. After incurring serious gambling losses, however, Gaylord walks out of Magnolia's life never realizing that his wife is expecting a baby. With the help of her former showboat colleagues Ellie and Frank Schultz (Marge and Gower Champion) and a behind-the-scenes assist from the tragic Julie, Magnolia secures work as a Cabaret singer in Chicago. Her new year's eve debut threatens to be a bust until her father Captain Andy quells the rowdy crowd and guides his daughter through a lovely rendition of After the Ball (a Charles K. Harris tune that pops up in every stage version of Show Boat). Magnolia returns to her family, with her daughter Kim in tow. Upon learning from Julie that he has a daughter, Gaylord returns to Magnolia and Kim, setting the stage for a joyous ending.

Virtually all of the Kern-Hammerstein songs are retained for this version of Show Boat (though none of the songs specially written for the 1936 film version are heard). These cannot be faulted, nor can MGM's sumptuous production values. Still, the 1951 Show Boat leaves one a bit cold. Perhaps it was the removal of the racial themes that gave the original so much substance (as black stevedore Joe, William Warfield exists only to sing a toned-down version Ol' Man River while Joe's wife Queenie is virtually written out of the proceedings). Also, MGM reneged on its original decision to cast Lena Horne as Julie; the role was recast with Ava Gardner and rewritten with an excess of gooey sentiment). Or perhaps it was the production's factory-like slickness; typical of the film's smoothing out of the original property's rough edges was the casting of Marge and Gower Champion, who are just too darn good to be convincing as the doggedly mediocre entertainers Frank and Ellie. Even so, Show Boat does have Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson at their peak, not to mention the peerless Joe E. Brown as Captain Andy. And the film was a financial success, enabling MGM to bankroll such future musical triumphs as Singin' in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ida "Don't mess with me" Lupino takes a job as a singer in Robert Alda's seedy Santa Monica nitery. Lupino ignores Alda's advances to cultivate a romance with pianist Bruce Bennett. Alda uses his connections with the Mob to break up the relationship--and also, hopefully, to break up Bennett into little pieces. Logic is not the film's strong suit, but it scores on atmosphere and tension. Man I Love served as the inspiration for Martin Scorcese's much-later New York, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thanks to its Jerome Kern/Ira Gershwin/Yip Harburg score and the luminescence of stars Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly, Cover Girl has taken on a legendary status in recent years. In truth, the film has a banal and predictable premise: a chorus girl (Hayworth) is given a chance for stardom by a wealthy magazine editor (Otto Kruger), who years earlier had been in love with the girl's mother. Offered an opportunity to be a highly-paid cover girl, our heroine would faithfully remain with her tacky nightclub act if only the club manager (Kelly), whom she pines for, would ask her. He loves her too, but doesn't want to stand in her way, so he fakes an argument to send her packing. You don't need a crystal ball to known that the girl and her guy will be reunited for the finale. Phil Silvers, everybody's best friend, and Eve Arden, Kruger's acid-tongued assistant, provide comic relief. The story sags badly at times, but the fans went home happy thanks to the powerhouse musical numbers, including Long Ago and Far Away and Kelly's famous "alter-ego" dance. The film skyrocketed both Hayworth and Kelly to superstardom, and didn't do Silvers any harm, either. Cover Girl is an extraordinarily lavish Technicolor production from the usually parsimonious Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One can only imagine the reaction of arch-conservative MGM head Louis B. Mayer when Song of Russia first tumbled over the spools in the studio projection room. It must be remembered, however, that back in 1944 it was politically expedient for Hollywood to offer hosannas to America's Russian allies, and to gloss over the less-attractive aspects of the Stalin regime. Based on Scorched Earth, a story by Leo Mittler, the film stars Robert Taylor as John Meredith, a famous American symphony conductor who is touring Russia just before the war. Meredith falls in love with Russian lass Nadya Stepanova (Susan Peters), who impresses him with her conviviality and charm: why, she's almost like a typical American girl! In the course of their romance, Meredith and Nadya visit a collective farm, where the peasants sing, dance and smile all day. The lovers marry, only to have their honeymoon abruptly halted when the Nazis invade the Soviet Union. Nadya promptly joins the Resistance, solemnly assembling molotov cocktails and shooting down Germans with her comrades. Just before the Nazis swarm into Nadya's village, the peasants set fire to the place so that Hitlers minions will not be able to plunder its resources. All of this is played out against the music of Tschiakovsky and other Russian composers. During the HUAC investigations in the early 1950s, several of the personnel involved in Song of Russia were required to explain why they'd been involved in so blatantly "pro-communist" a project. Louis B. Mayer blithely explained that he "just wanted to make a picture about Russians, not communists," while star Robert Taylor -- likewise a staunch anti-Red -- insisted that he'd been forced to make the film, and that he'd demanded script deletions throughout productions. In the end, the losers were screenwriters Richard Collins and Paul Jarrico, both of whom ended up on the egregious Hollywood Blacklist, simply for adhering to America's wartime pro-Soviet sentiments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sunny was one of three RKO Radio Broadway-musical adaptations tailored to the talents of British favorite Anna Neagle by her soon-to-be-husband Herbert Wilcox (the other two were No No Nanette and Irene). The story has been updated a bit and transposed to New Orleans' Mardi Gras, but remains at base a "Cinderella" yarn, replete with a poor girl/rich boy romance. Circus entertainer Sunny Sullivan (Neagle) falls in love with Larry Warren (John Carroll), wealthy scion of an auto-manufacturing family. Accepting his invitation to meet his family at a fancy weekend party, Sunny elects to hide the fact that she's in (horrors!) show business. Just as she's won over the entire family, who should arrive but her circus cohorts, immediately blowing her cover. The shamefaced Sunny returns to the big top, but Larry will not be dissuaded from his intention to make her his bride. The film is at its best when the talented Anna Neagle trades steps with loose-limbed dancer Ray Bolger. A more faithful (but less enjoyable) version of this Otto Harbach-Oscar Hammerstein II-Jerome Kern musical was made in 1930, with the original "Sunny" Marilyn Miller repeating her Broadway role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Given the talent involved, The Joy of Living should have been far better than it is. Irene Dunne plays Maggie, a popular musical-comedy star saddled with a possessive, spendthrift family. Maggie would like to leave the house once in a while and experience "real life," but her parents (Alice Brady, Guy Kibbee), worried that they'll lose their meal ticket, refuse to allow her to do so. The Prince Charming who rescues Maggie from her folks is ship-owner Dan (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) As a bonus, the footloose and fancy-free Dan teaches the repressed Maggie that "it's fun to be foolish." Apparently director Tay Garnett couldn't keep the production under control, and the cost ballooned to a then-staggering $1.1 million, resulting in a huge loss for RKO Radio. Some of the film's brighter moments are provided by Lucille Ball, Billy Gilbert, Jean Dixon and Franklin Pangborn, who like Dunne and Fairbanks all deserved funnier material than this. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The sixth of RKO's Fred Astaire -Ginger Rogers pairings of the 1930s, Swing Time starts off with bandleader Astaire getting cold feet on his wedding day. Astaire's bride-to-be Betty Furness will give him a second chance, providing he proves himself responsible enough to earn $25,000. Astaire naturally tries to avoid earning that amount once he falls in love with dance instructor Ginger Rogers. Numerous complications ensue, leading to the "second time's the charm" climax, with Ginger escaping her own wedding to wealthy Georges Metaxa in order to be reunited with Astaire. The film's most indelible image is that of Fred Astaire, immaculately attired in top hat and tails, hopping a freight car--a perfect encapsulation of the film's Depression-era cheekiness. The Jerome Kern-Dorothy Fields score includes such standards-to-be as "Pick Yourself Up," "A Fine Romance," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Never Gonna Dance" and "Bojangles of Harlem." The peerless supporting cast of Swing Time includes Helen Broderick, Victor Moore, Eric Blore, and Landers Stevens, the actor-father of the film's director, George Stevens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This second film version of the Edna Ferber/Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Show Boat is considered by many film buffs to be the best of the three. Covering nearly four decades (was there ever an Edna Ferber novel that didn't?), the film stars Irene Dunne as Magnolia Hawks, a role she'd previously played on stage, though not in the Broadway version. The daughter of showboat impresario Captain Andy (Charles Winninger, who was in the Broadway original), Magnolia is swept off her feet by dashing gambler Gaylord Ravenal (Allan Jones). Yearning to appear on the showboat stage, Magnolia gets her chance when Captain Andy's leading lady, the tragic Julie (Helen Morgan, likewise a holdover from Broadway), is ordered not to perform by a small-town sheriff because she is Mulatto. Julie's husband Steve (Donald Cook) loyally walks out with his wife, thereby leaving the leading-man position open--but not for long, since Gaylord Ravenal agrees to take over for Steve, the better to stay close to Magnolia. Despite the disapproval of Magnolia's mother Parthy Hawks (Helen Westley), Magnolia and Ravenal are married. Later on, the couple has a baby girl named Kim. At first, the young family is blissfully happy, but as Ravenal's gambling debts begin to mount, things turn sour. Unable to support Magnolia and Kim, Ravenal walks out on them both. Desperately, Magnolia tries to get a job as a singer in Chicago. She auditions at a night spot where, fortuitously, Julie is the featured attraction. Hoping to give Magnolia a break, Julie gets drunk, forcing the manager to hire Magnolia as a replacement. During her New Years' Eve debut, Magnolia "chokes up" in front of the raucous audience--and then, who should emerge from the crowd but lovable Captain Andy, who gives Magnolia the encouragement she needs. Magnolia goes on to become a famous musical comedy star, as does her grown-up daughter Kim (played as an adult by Sunnie O'Dea). On the eve of Magnolia's retirement from the theater, she is reunited with her now-contrite husband Gaylord Ravenal. While the second half of Show Boat departs radically from both the novel (in which Ravenal never returns ) and the Broadway show, the film manages to capture the spirit of its literary and theatrical ancestors. Of the original score, "Cotton Blossom," "Ol' Man River," "Where's the Mate for Me?" "Make Believe," "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," You are Love" and "Bill" are retained, while most of the other songs are heard as background accompaniment. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II penned three new tunes for the film version: "Ah Still Suits Me," "Gallavantin' Around" and "I Have the Room Above." As in all stage and screen versions of Show Boat, the Charles K. Harris standard "After the Ball" is heard in the New Year sequence. In addition to the aforementioned Dunne, Jones, Winninger, Westley, Morgan, and O'Dea, the Show Boat cast includes the magnificent Paul Robeson as Joe (his rendition of "Ol' Man River" can still induce goosebumps), Hattie McDaniel as Queenie and Sammy White and Queenie Smith as the engagingly second-rate vaudeville team of Frank and Ellie Schultz. Though James Whale of Frankenstein fame seems an odd choice for director, he brings a vibrant theatricality to the proceedings that is lacking in other versions. Show Boat literally saved the financially strapped Universal Pictures from receivership--but not soon enough to prevent the ousters of Carl Laemmle Sr. and Jr. in favor of a new administration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The 1929 Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein Broadway musical Sweet Adeline has generally been credited as the vanguard for the "Gay 90s" nostalgia fad of the early 1930s. By the time the film was adapted to the screen in 1935, that fad had pretty much played itself out, making the property seem more old-fashioned than ever. Irene Dunne takes over from Broadway's Helen Morgan as beer-hall entertainer Adeline Schmidt, whose romance with songwriter Sid Barnett (Donald Woods) undergoes an inordinate number of setbacks in the course of the film's 85 minutes. Much of the play's libretto has been scrapped in favor of an espionage angle, as Adeline tries to avoid assassination at the hands of a Spanish spy named Elysia (Wini Shaw). Contemporary critics carped that Irene Dunne was unable to match Helen Morgan's delivery of such torch songs as "Why Was I Born"; this is true enough, but Warner Bros. deserves credit for endeavoring to cast Dunne against type. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide