Burton Lane Movies
Distinguished American songwriter/composer Burton Lane has written many memorable songs for stage and screen. Born in New York City, he began his long career at age 15 in the 1920s writing songs for Remick Music. Lane became well known in 1933 after penning the memorable "Everything I Have Is Yours" for the Joan Crawford, Clark Gable film Dancing Lady. Over his career, Lane wrote songs for over 30 feature films. His best known musicals are Finian's Rainbow, which he wrote in collaboration with E.Y. Harburg, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever with Alan Jay Lerner. Both were later made into films. The latter musical earned Lane and Lerner a Grammy. He has also won two Academy Award nominations for the songs "How About You" and "Too Late Now". Between 1985 he was on the board of ASCAP; earlier (1957-1966) he had served as the president of the Songwriters Guild (formerly the American Guild of Authors and Composers). Lane passed away on January 5, 1997 in New York at age 84. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2003
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This two-part documentary pays tribute to some of the great songwriters of the Broadway stage and Hollywood musicals. Alan Jay Lerner, whose credits as a lyricist include My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Gigi, and Camelot, sings songs and shares stories of his life in show business. Later, the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb take center stage and discuss their working methods as they helped create such classic shows as Cabaret and Chicago. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Singing her way through life as life sings back at her, little orphaned Heidi (voice by Margery Gray) is bounced around from her aunt's house, to her grouchy grandfather's place, to a wealthy family in the big city, and never do the vocals subside nor does her spirit droop to anything lower than high "C," probably a fitting classification for this animated film from the Hanna-Barbera studio. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Sammy Davis, Jr., (more)
- 1970
- G
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Vincente Minnelli directed, and Alan Jay Lerner adapted the stage musical he had written with Burton Lane, for this this feature film version. Barbra Streisand stars as Daisy Gamble, a chain smoker who, at the urging of her uptight fiance Warren (Larry Blyden), seeks help in kicking the habit from a psychiatrist, Dr. Marc Chabot (Yves Montand). While undergoing hypnosis, however, Daisy and Dr. Chabot discover that she is clairvoyant and can remember a past life as a 19th century heiress named Melinda. As their sessions continue, Dr. Chabot falls in love not with Daisy, but Melinda, while Daisy begins to fall for Chabot and decides she's had enough of Warren. Excised from the final cut of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) was a musical number performed by Jack Nicholson, who costars as Daisy's stepbrother. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbra Streisand, Yves Montand, (more)
Nearly 20 years after it opened on Broadway, the E.Y. Harburg/Fred Saidy musical Finian's Rainbow was committed to film. Set in the mythical southern state of Missitucky, the story involves the whimsical Irishman Finian (Fred Astaire) and his daughter Sharon (Petula Clark) arriving in the community carrying a crock of gold, which they've stolen in the Auld Sod from Ogg the Leprechaun (Tommy Steele). Finian believes that if he buries the crock on American soil, it will grow into an even larger treasure--just as Fort Knox did (or so he thinks). Sharon falls in love with sharecropper Woody Mahoney (Don Francks), who like everyone else in the community is being threatened by the perfidy of Senator Rawkins (Keenan Wynn). While Finian haggles over three wishes with the tricky Ogg, Sharon runs afoul of the racially bigoted Rawkins. She wishes that Rawkins would turn black so that he could walk in someone else's shoes for a change--and this, thanks to Ogg, is exactly what happens. To rescue Sharon and Woody from being burned as witches, Ogg grants a last wish, which turns him into a human being; this is not an altogether bad thing, for Ogg has fallen in love with mysterious mountain gal Susan the Silent (Barbara Hancock). The racial tolerance subtext of Finian's Rainbow, considered radical in 1948, seemed rather antiquated in 1969, though it did allow for a hilarious scene in which a white associate of Judge Rawkins attempts to instruct young black botanist Al Freeman Jr. on the proper way to "act Negro". As Finian, Fred Astaire requested that the role be expanded to allow him to dance a little (as written, the character barely even sings). Most of the original score remains intact, including the hit song "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" Francis Ford Coppola seemed a curious choice to direct a musical, and indeed the production was a troubled one due to Coppola's inexperience in the genre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, (more)
- 1963
In this collection of clips from The Judy Garland Show, which ran for 26 episodes on CBS television in 1963 and 1964, the legendary singer and actress performs a number of songs, several of them collaborations with up-and-comer Barbra Streisand, grand dame Ethel Merman, and Garland's own daughter, the then-teenaged Liza Minnelli. Garland's solos include several of her signature numbers, from "I'm Nobody's Baby," which she performed as a fresh-faced MGM star in 1940's Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, to "The Man That Got Away," written especially for 1954's comeback vehicle A Star Is Born. Garland and Streisand alternate friendly banter about hating each other's talent with solo renditions and two extended medleys. The most famous of these pairings is their show-stopping combination of the standards "Get Happy" and "Happy Days Are Here Again"; Garland had performed the former in 1950's Summer Stock, while Streisand recorded the latter the same year the program aired. In another segment, Merman appears in the middle of the audience and joins Streisand and Garland for a leather-lunged rendition of "There's No Business Like Show Business." The Merman and Streisand footage was taped on October 4, 1963, for episode nine of Garland's eponymous program. A sequence featuring three duets and lots of clowning with Minnelli was taped a few months earlier, on July 16, for episode three. Several years after her program was cancelled, Garland was set to play Helen Lawson, a character based on Merman, for the film version of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls; she was replaced, however, by Susan Hayward. Streisand would go on to star in her own remake of A Star Is Born, while Minnelli would mine her mother's legacy in her own repertoire. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Although the talented cast in this uninspired comedy do the best they can with their lines, nothing quite brings The Horizontal Lieutenant to an upright, stand-up-and-take-notice presence. Paula Prentiss as Lt. Molly Blue and Jim Hutton as Lt. Merle Wye are once again paired, this time as officers in action in the Pacific at the end of World War II. Lt. Wye is given the challenge of bringing in a lone Japanese hold-out on an island that was taken by the American forces many months earlier. Though the situation has great potential, pratfalls and the most obvious gags take the place of a more sophisticated humor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, (more)
- 1957
In this suspenseful crime drama the trouble begins when the healthy wife of a crippled plantation owner prepares to leave with her handsome lover. Just before she does, her ailing husband tells her that he will only live a few months more, and if she remains with him she will inherit $20 million. She then dumps her lover and returns to her husband. Time passes and he is still alive. She grows impatiant and pushes her husband and his wheelchair into the swimming pool and gets her money. Afterward, she murders a snoopy servant, but in the end one of her late husbands' servants avenges his death and kills the conniving wife. Meanwhile, the lover returns to the piano bar where he met the woman. The film was shot in oppulent Havana, Cuba before Castro came to power. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Raymond Burr, (more)
- 1955
Esther Williams' long association with MGM came to an abrupt end with Jupiter's Darling, which even she will admit was her silliest film. Based on Robert Sherwood's satirical play The Road to Rome, the film cast as Williams as Amytis, fiancee of vacillating Roman statesman Fabius Maximus (George Sanders). When it appears as though the forces of Hannibal (Howard Keel) will conquer Rome, Amytis takes it upon herself to halt the invasion. In the process, she and Hannibal embark upon a tempestuous romance, much to the consternation of the barbarian general's aide-de-camp Mago (William Demarest) and the bemusement of Hannibal's official chronicler Horatio (Richard Haydn). A subplot concerns the romance between Varius (Gower Champion), who tends Hannibal's fabled elephants, and spunky slave girl Meta (Marge Champion). Somewhere along the line Williams performs a water ballet with "living statues", and Varius and Meta come up with a herd of pink elephants. The Burton Lane-Harold Adamson songs are as forgettable as the film itself. Curiously, Jupiter's Darling opened to good reviews, but the film was killed by word of mouth. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Esther Williams, Howard Keel, (more)
- 1953
After providing excellent support in previous MGM musicals, the singing-dancing team of Marge and Gower Champion were rewarded with their own starring vehicle, Give a Girl a Break. Marge plays one of three actresses competing for the leading role in a Broadway show directed by Gower. The other two girls are Debbie Reynolds and Helen Wood, so Marge is hardly a shoe-in. Another topnotch dancer/choreographer, Bob Fosse, co-stars as the show's leading man. Highlights include the aptly named "Challenge Dance" and the grand finale "Applause, Applause." Kurt Kasner provides a few chuckles as the show's neurotic composer. Several real composers collaborated on the score of Give a Girl a Break, among them Burton Lane, Ira Gershwin, Andre Previn and Saul Chaplin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marge Champion, Gower Champion, (more)
Two real-life events were incorporated into the plot of the 1951 MGM musical Royal Wedding. One, the marriage of Fred Astaire's sister Adele to a British nobleman had occurred years earlier; the other, the wedding of England's Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip was only four years in the past. MGM would probably have gotten Royal Wedding out closer to the Elizabeth-Philip nuptials, but the picture had leading-lady problems; every girl who was cast either became pregnant, ill, or otherwise unavailable. Finally, Jane Powell was cast as the sister and partner of American-entertainer Fred Astaire. The plot has Astaire and Powell heading to Merrie Olde England to perform at the palace. Once they've arrived, Powell breaks up the act when she falls in love with blueblooded Peter Lawford. Astaire himself finds romance in the form of Sarah Churchill (daughter of Sir Winston), and the four happy campers gleefully attend the titular Windsor Castle wedding. Also in the cast is Albert Sharpe, fresh from his Broadway triumph in Finian's Rainbow, and Keenan Wynn, hilarious as twin cousins. The plot is so light that it threatens to float away at times, but Royal Wedding sticks in the memory thanks to its first-rate musical numbers. The Astaire/Powell duets are entertaining enough; the real magic, however, occurs in Astaire's two solos: the hat-rack duet and the now-legendary tap-dance on the ceiling (even knowing how this cinematic legerdemain was accomplished does not detract from its brilliance and virtuosity). Because it has slipped into public domain, Royal Wedding is one of the most easily accessible of all the Fred Astaire musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Astaire, Jane Powell, (more)
- 1942
This MGM musical lifts the premise of Pride and Prejudice and plunks it down into the early 1900s. S.Z. Sakall is a restaurateur who has decreed that his seven daughters must marry in order of age -- the oldest one first. Kathryn Grayson isn't the oldest, but she has the sweetest singing voice, and it is she who bags the first husband (Van Heflin). For the record, the remaining six sisters are played by Marsha Hunt, Frances Rafferty, Cecilia Parker, Peggy Moran, Dorothy Morris and Frances Raeburn. Seven Sweethearts was produced by Joe Pasternak, who'd been doing much the same material when in charge of Universal's Deanna Durbin vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Grayson, Van Heflin, (more)
- 1942
No one will ever know what possessed MGM's reigning screen queen Norma Shearer to select the tired old stage farce Her Cardboard Lover as her final film. Set in Florida, the creaky plotline finds Consuelo Croyden (Shearer) attempting to make her disinterested sweetheart Tony Barling (George Sanders) jealous. To this end, Consuelo orders her personal secretary, Terry Trindale (Robert Taylor) to pretend to be her lover. This suits Terry fine, since he's always been crazy about Consuelo. And on and on it goes, with the three stars trying to make this wearisome old yarn worth watching. Of the three film versions of Her Cardboard Lover, this one isn't anywhere near as entertaining as the 1932 Buster Keaton vehicle The Passionate Plumber (which was no great shakes itself!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, (more)
- 1941
Advertised as a sort of sequel to MGM's Babes in Arms (1939), Babes on Broadway reunites the two stars of the earlier film: Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. Rooney is the guiding force of a group of young showbiz hopefuls who are trying to make it on Broadway. When things look darkest, he goes into his "Say, kids!" routine, rousing his companions to put on their own show. Highlights include a sequence in which Rooney and Garland go through a series of imitations of past theatrical greats. As cute and perky as Garland is, she has nothing on the "Carmen Miranda" takeoff performed--in full makeup and platform shoes--by the ubiquitous Rooney. Babes on Broadway ends with a typically overproduced production number stage by the film's director, the immortal Busby Berkeley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, (more)
- 1939
Paramount's Café Society applies a glossy new coat of paint to a wheezy old plotline. Madeleine Carroll plays a debutante named Christopher, who after a whirlwind courtship marries newspaper photographer Crick O'Banion (Fred MacMurray). But when Crick finds out that he's been rushed to the altar so that Christoper can win a bet with society columnist Sonny DeWitt (Allyn Joslyn) he vows to teach her a good lesson. With the sub rosa help of Christopher's wealthy uncle (Claude Gillingwater Sr.), Crick contrives a latter-day "Taming of the Shrew" scenario. It's all been done before and would all be done again, but the stars are attractive and the production values top-rank. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Madeleine Carroll, Fred MacMurray, (more)
- 1939
In this high-flying drama, a foolhardy, free-spirited pilot throws his responsibilities as a mail pilot to the wind when he begins aggressively courting a beautiful flight attendant. Unfortunately, he pays so much attention to her, that he neglects his plane, resulting in the senseless death of his friend, a mechanic. Suddenly he becomes a pariah in the airline industry and no one will help him until the end of the film when he proves himself to be selfless and brave. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phil Regan, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1939
This comedy is set in New York and centers upon a singing Irish cop who causes quite a sensation among two producers when he sings at the annual Policeman's Ball. For a long time, they have been looking for a voice for their new cartoon feature, "Paddy the Pig," and the cop is just perfect. The policeman is tickled pink at the prospect of being a star and begins telling all his friends about his good fortune (he has no idea what they plan to do with his voice). Eventually he ends up marrying one of the producers, who still hasn't told him the truth. Suddenly the night of the big premiere finally arrives and all of the policeman's old friends and colleagues are there. As it begins, the policeman is appalled and humiliated to see that he has been mocked and has become a laughing stock. He immediately spurns his new wife and goes back to the police force. Time passes, and fortunately, the two reunite and settle their differences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phil Regan, Jean Parker, (more)
- 1938
Unusually adult in tone, this excellent Hopalong Cassidy Western features Gwen Gaze as Lorna Drake, an aristocratic British girl and Hoppy's new employer. When Cassidy (William Boyd) refuses to be ordered about by the supercilious lady, Lorna has him arrested for horse stealing. The dumbfounded sheriff (Earl Hodgins) is even more puzzled when Miss Drake turns right around and demands that Hoppy be released into her custody. Although obviously smitten with the strapping foreman, Lorna cannot curb her ingrained haughtiness, and the two come to verbal blows more than once. Meanwhile, the girl's former fiancé, the foppish Ronald Harwood (John Warburton), becomes an easy target for Hoppy's nemesis, former prison inmate Scar Lewis (Al Bridge). With Harwood's help, the latter concocts a plan to ambush the man who sent him up the river. Based on Clarence E. Mulford's 1918 The Man from Bar-20: A Story of the Cow-Country, Partners of the Plains came complete with a song, Ralph Freed and Burton Lane's "Moonlight on the Sunset Trail," performed by leading lady Gwen Gaze. The Western was filmed on location in the San Jacinto National Forest. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Clark, Russell Hayden, (more)
- 1938
It's hard to go wrong with such stars as Bob Hope, Burns & Allen, Martha Raye and Edward Everett Horton, and College Swing doesn't-go wrong, that is. The film begins in 1738, when a pact is drawn up between the Alden family and a highly respected Colonial college: If any female member of the family can pass her college exams within a 200-year period, ownership of the institution will be turned over to her. Comes 1938, and the last of the Alden girls, giddy Gracie Alden (Gracie Allen, of course) hires glib-tongued tutor Bud Brady (Bob Hope) to help her pass her exams. She also tries to win over no-nonsense professor Hubert Dash (Edward Everett Horton), who has no intention of handing his college over to a blithering idiot like Gracie. Once she has inherited the place, however, Gracie turns it into a jumpin'-jivin' joint, complete with jitterbugging students, swing bands and remote radio broadcasts. Though George Burns' role is nearly nonexistent, he does get to indulge in his patented cross-talk with Allen. Others contributing to the fun are Ben Blue, Jerry Colonna, Betty Grable, and Grable's then-husband Jackie Coogan. Highlights include Allen's spirited Irish jig and her endearing song duet with Edward Everett Horton. College Swing is the sort of high-powered, all-star entertainment that is virtually impossible to reproduce today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Burns, Gracie Allen, (more)
- 1938
When mild-mannered bank clerk Wilbur Meely (Joe Penner) finds himself stuck in a speeding trailer after a bank robbery gone wrong, he doesn't think the situation could get much worse than it already is. Unbeknownst to him, however, both the police department and his domineering wife Carol (Lucille Ball) think he's the the one who initiated the robbery. Oblivious to the fact that Wilbur has actually been captured by the true theives, Carol (Ball) and the cops head off in hot pursuit. Go Chase Yourself was directed by Edward F. Cline and also features actors June Travis, Richard Lane, Fritz Feld, Tom Kennedy, Granville Bates, and Bradley Page. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Penner, Lucille Ball, (more)
- 1937
Two brothers exchange lifestyles in this drama. The older brother, a gambler, wants to lead a clean, crime-free life while his wiseacre younger brother wants to become a professional gambler. With great hesitation, the older teaches the younger all he knows. The younger brother is a quick study and ends up playing so well that he aces a group of veteran gamblers out of their money. They become convinced that anyone who is that good, must be a cheat. Meanwhile his older brother begins to see that he is too old to change and returns to gambling in time to save his brother. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gail Patrick, Ricardo Cortez, (more)
- 1937
Johnny Downs takes a break from his usual campus musicals to play a small-town songsmith in Blonde Trouble. Attempting to make it big in New York, Downs falls victim to con artists, back-stabbing agents and vainglorious "artistes." But with the help of down-to-earth Eleanor Whitney, Downs pens a hit song that plants him firmly on Easy Street. The best lines go to seasoned comedy pros Lynne Overman and William Demarest. The music in Blonde Trouble was co-written by Burton Lane, several years removed from his Broadway hit Finian's Rainbow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleanore Whitney, Johnny Downs, (more)
- 1937
The third of Paramount's "deluxe" westerns of the 1930s (following The Texas Rangers and The Plainsman) was Wells Fargo, filmed on a Cecil B. DeMille scale by producer-director Frank Lloyd. In his first western appearance, Joel McCrea plays Ramsey McCay, troubleshooter for the newly formed partnership of Henry Wells (Henry O'Neill) and William Fargo (Jack Clark). Dedicated to maintaining a safe and speedy overland mail and freight service to the West, Wells-Fargo is at the forefront of several important historical events, including the California Gold Rush, the formation of the Pony Express and the Civil War. Hero McCay is briefly separated from his wife Justine (played by McCrea's real-life spouse Frances Dee) during the last-named conflict, but the two are reunited late in life as Wells-Fargo celebrates its 20th year of service. Constructed in a rather pedantic "tableau" fashion (a frequent shortcoming in Frank Lloyd's films), Wells Fargo nevertheless contains several thrill-packed highlights, most of which would do service as stock footage in such later Paramount westerns as Geronimo. Originally released at 115 minutes, Wells Fargo was radically shortened in subsequent re-issues, almost completely eliminating the semi-villainous character played by fourth-billed Lloyd Nolan (if asked, audiences would probably have preferred to see far less of comedy-relief Bob "Bazooka" Burns). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joel McCrea, Frances Dee, (more)
- 1937
In this lively musical, an eccentric philanthropist's will dictates that four people receive $5,000 with the stipulation that the first one who can double the amount-- without dishonesty-- will win a cool million. Hindering the four are the avaricious relatives of the late millionaire. Songs include: "It's On, It's Off," "Double or Nothing," "Listen My Children," "Smarty," "The Moon Got in My Eyes" and "After You." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bing Crosby, Martha Raye, (more)
- 1937
Akim Tamiroff, Paramount Pictures' resident crime lord, runs all illegal gambling activities in a major city. Reporter Lloyd Nolan struggles to get the goods on Tamiroff, but runs up against a stone wall until he meets nightclub singer Claire Trevor. Trevor is anxious to avenge the death of her sister (Helen Burgess), who was done in by Tamiroff's minions. Though only a "B" picture, King of Gamblers was given "A" treatment by director Robert Florey. The film was part of an unofficial Paramount series based on the J. Edgar Hoover book Persons in Hiding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claire Trevor, Lloyd Nolan, (more)
Virtually everybody except President Roosevelt was in the lavish MGM backstage musical Dancing Lady. Joan Crawford stars as Janie Barlow, an impoverished dancer reduced to working in a seedy Manhattan burlesque house. While on a slumming party with his society friend, wealthy young Tod Newton (Franchot Tone) spots Janie in the burleycue chorus line and immediately falls in love with her. When the joint is raided, Tod pays Janie's bail, but she resists his entreaties to become his mistress, promising instead to pay back every cent she owes him "honestly." With Tod's help, Janie is able to secure work in a big-time Broadway musical being staged by Patch Gallegher (Clark Gable), who is certain that the girl is an untalented opportunist and does everything he can to sabotage her audition. When he realizes that the girl "has something," he refuses to admit it but does, grudgingly, hire her for the show. Through a combination of skill and damned hard work, Janie ends up as the star of the show, whereupon Tod, worried that he'll lose the girl to the Great White Way, buys the show and promptly closes it. But Janie, who's fallen in love with Patch, teams with her new sweetheart to restage the show with their own meager savings -- and surprise of surprises, it's a smash hit. Truly an embarrassment of riches, Dancing Lady introduced Fred Astaire to the movie-going public, solidified the popularity of MGM's new tenor Nelson Eddy, and offered a wide berth for the comedy antics of Ted Healy and his Three Stooges -- Moe Howard, Curly Howard and Larry Fine (Larry, performing his role in a Jewish dialect, has a wonderful double-take bit with a jigsaw puzzle which turns out to be a portrait of Adolf Hitler). As a bonus, the film offers spectacular musical production numbers, not to mention the enduring song hit "Everything I Have is Yours." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, (more)
