Las Vegas Nights (1941)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Ralph Murphy

Writers:

Harry Clork (writer)
Ernest Pagano (writer)

Release Date:

28 March 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

A vaudeville act inherits an old, beat-up building and decides to try to turn it into a hip new nightclub. |

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Constance Moore	...	Norma Jennings
Bert Wheeler	...	Stu Grant
Phil Regan	...	Bill Stevens
Lillian Cornell	...	Mildred Jennings
Virginia Dale	...	Patsy Grant
Hank Ladd	...	Hank Bevis
Betty Brewer	...	Katy
Henry Kolker	...	William Stevens Sr.
Francetta Malloy	...	Gloria Stafford
William 'Red' Donahue	...	Himself, Red Donahue (as Red Donahue and His Mule Uno)
Tommy Dorsey	...	Himself, Tommy Dorsey (as Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra)
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	...	Themselves
The Pied Pipers	...	Themselves, The Pied Pipers

Also Known As:

The Gay City (UK)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

This musical was Frank Sinatra's movie debut. His appearance, singing "I'll Never Smile Again" with Tommy Dorsey's band, was uncredited.

Soundtrack:

The Lamp on the Corner

Sinatra's (very brief) debut

Back in the days when the twenty-something Sinatra was a vocalist with the Tommy Dorsey Band, he made a brief appearance in this musical comedy, singing one of his best-known numbers from the era, 'I'll Never Smile Again'. The song largely is in the background though and Sinatra himself is only on camera for a blink, although historically the appearance is interesting.

Tommy Dorsey's band play several numbers in this fairly entertaining feature, which deals with a vaudeville act who inherit a run-down shack and try to transform it into a night-spot, while fending off the creditors (the oily Hank Ladd). The three girls in the act all have their chance to shine and all have well-defined roles in the back story (perhaps the best known of the three was the popular 1940s singer, Constance Moore, who plays 'lucky' Norma, who snares the rich ranger in a night of gambling). Virginia Dale dances with the pigeons (!) while Lillian Cornell does her high-pitched trilling as Mildred.

Best of all though is Bert Wheeler as Dale's husband and the comic of the act, who gets to sing 'Dolores', that song which rhymes Dolores with Doris, and generally be funny in the rest of the film. I read that he regarded the film as pretty poor, but that could be because it still required him to cavort about like a big kid when he was well into his forties. Still, it is always a pleasure to see him in a movie.

'Las Vegas Nights'/'The Gay City' doesn't get shown much and is rarely mentioned even in connection with Dorsey, but it worth a look if you get the chance.