Second Chorus (1940)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

H.C. Potter

Writers:

Frank Cavett (story)
Elaine Ryan (writer) ...

Release Date:

3 January 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Musical

Plot:

When perennial college students Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are forced to make it on their own, the competitive pair get jobs with Artie Shaw's band and reunite with ex-manager Ellen Miller.

Plot Keywords:

College Student | Rivalry | Audition | Beautiful Woman | Musician

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Danny O'Neill
Paulette Goddard	...	Ellen Miller
Artie Shaw	...	Himself
Charles Butterworth	...	J. Lester Chisholm
Burgess Meredith	...	Hank Taylor
Frank Melton	...	Stu
Jimmy Conlin	...	Mr. Dunn (as Jimmy Conlon)
Don Brodie	...	Apartment Desk Clerk
Marjorie Kane	...	Whiteman's secretary
Joan Barclay	...	Whiteman's receptionist
Willa Pearl Curtis	...	Scrubwoman

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #6708)

Filming Locations:

Occidental College -1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Cut from the movie was "Me and the Ghost Upstairs" (music by Bernard Hanighen, lyrics by Johnny Mercer), sung by Fred Astaire and danced by him with the film's dance director, Hermes Pan, who was covered by a sheet. The prerecording and rehearsal footage still exist. Mr. Astaire's commercial waxing, initially released by Columbia Records on a single, has been reissued on two import CD box sets: "The Centenary Collection" from by the British label Castle Pulse, and "Songs & Pictures 1928-1944" on EPM Music, a French company.

Quotes:

Ellen Miller: [in a fake Russian accent] Vas good?
Danny O'Neill: Vas per-fect.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got (1985)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Sue Just You

Astaire and Goddard Dance Together

In this 1941 Paramount film Fred Astaire has a new dancing partner in Paulette Goddard. They actually dance a number together. The ads read, "Fred's Best Yet! 'Cause He's Got Paulette!" Mostly Astaire dances solo in this story about two musicians, Astaire and Burgess Meredith, who try vainly to get jobs in Artie Shaw's band. With the help of Paulette, they get hired. This is a trendy "swing" musical with Shaw's band and Astaire's dancing taking the spotlight.

The Astaire-Goddard production number was called, "I Ain't Hep to That Step but I'll Dig It." Astaire had to teach Goddard to dance. He worked "like a dog" from the beginning saying, "She's a lovely girl, with a breathtaking figure, who couldn't dance and somehow resisted every attempt to break down her handicap."

They filmed it just once. Just one take. Goddard said she could never go through it again. Unusual, also, for Astaire to do only one take to any number he was in. He was always a task master at perfecting his dances. The number, viewed today, is not only totally professional; it's good.

Interesting note that Goddard's other male lead was Burgess Meredith, whom she went on to marry years later as she was still married at the time to Charlie Chaplin.