Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941)

Director:

Victor Schertzinger

Writers:

Clare Boothe Luce (play), Dwight Taylor,

Stars:

Don Ameche, Mary Martin, Oscar Levant

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don Ameche	...	Lloyd Lloyd
Mary Martin	...	Cindy Lou Bethany
Oscar Levant	...	Dick Rayburn aka Oscar
Virginia Dale	...	Gwendolyn Abbott
Barbara Jo Allen	...	Myra Stanhope
Raymond Walburn	...	Top Rumson
Elizabeth Patterson	...	Aunt Lily Lou Bethany
Jerome Cowan	...	Bert Fisher
Connee Boswell	...	Polly
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	George
John Scott Trotter	...	John Scott Trotter
Minor Watson	...	Uncle Jefferson Davis Bethany
Harry Barris	...	Fisher's publicity agent
George Reed	...	George, House Servant
Thelma Long	...	Cleo

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

theater | based on play

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Genres:

Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beija os Rapazes e Adeus

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Soundtracks

"My Start"
Music by Victor Schertzinger
Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Sung by Mary Martin

User Reviews

This is really good.

No really. I was expecting it to be watchable but tepid. In fact, it's funny and charming and surprising. The scene in which Cindy Lou 'performs' in front of the New York crowd for the first time could be said to have influenced the scene in Pal Joey where Kim Novak agrees to strip for Sinatra. It has a lot of jokes that have been stolen by later movies, and the whole cast is terrific.

The story is about the search for an unknown Scarlett O'Hara-ish authentic southern belle to replace a leading diva in a musical. Cindy Lou arranges for Lloyd Lloyd, the producer, to see her perform before he gets to the real auditions. Everyone else who works for the show loves her, but Lloyd Lloyd has promised the famous diva that the role will still be hers after the farce of the auditioning. She has to win him round too. I also screwed up my VCR timer and didn't get the last 2 minutes. I can hardly wait until it's on again.