Panama Hattie (1942)

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Herbert Fields (play) and
Buddy G. DeSylva (play) ...

Release Date:

September 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Swing as Ann Sings - Laugh as Red Clowns - Thrill to the Navy Stirring Battle-cry

Plot Keywords:

Alligator | Dog | Fistfight | Riot | Singer

Cast

Red Skelton	...	Red
Ann Sothern	...	Hattie Maloney
Rags Ragland	...	Rags (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Ben Blue	...	Rowdy
Marsha Hunt	...	Leila Tree
Virginia O'Brien	...	Flo Foster
Alan Mowbray	...	Jay Jerkins, Dick's Butler
Dan Dailey	...	Dick Bulliard (as Dan Dailey Jr.)
Jackie Horner	...	Geraldine 'Gerry' Bulliet
Lena Horne	...	Herself - Singer in Phil's Place
The Berry Brothers	...	Themselves, Performers

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7829) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Joe Yule, who appears uncredited as a waiter, is the father of cast member Mickey Rooney, whose real name is Joe Yule, Jr.

Movie Connections:

References The Invisible Man (1933)

Soundtrack:

The Son of a Gun Who Picks on Uncle Sam

Better Than Expected

I felt it my patriotic duty to write a comment, since this movie was commentless. So... A little background: I'm a big fan of Cole Porter, Ann Sothern, musicals, and 40's movies, and had been wanting to see this film for a while before I actually saw it this afternoon. Coming into it, though, I had my qualms. I saw another 30's Cole Porter musical turned into 40's movie, Dubarry Was a Lady. It was so horrible that I almost cried. Most of Porter's original songs had been scrapped for non-Porter crap songs. Lucille Ball's voice was dubbed. Red Skelton was an idiot. But... this is not a forum for how horrible Dubarry Was a Lady was. So, I entered with trepidation the world of Panama Hattie to realise that the script was quite witty, full of sight gags, yes, but tasteful sight gags, the non-Porter songs were not crap, Ann Sothern is a competent vocalist(Nothing compared to Merman, who originated the part, but really, who is anything compared to Merman?), and Lena Horne's in it. Any movie with two Lena Horne numbers is worth watching simply for Lena Horne. But, I suggest watching this movie for more than just Lena Horne. While she is the best songstress of the bunch, Virginia O'Brian is rather fun to watch with her deadpan singing. She was quite famous for that, as I vaguely recall watching a short of her doing a lavish production number with Jimmy Durante or someone similar. I found Red Skelton, whom I so loathed in Dubarry Was a Lady, to be extremely likeable, along with his sailor buddies. Rags Ragland was the funniest of the three, but I came away wanting to marry Ben Blue. Dan Dailey was also fun to see, but I thought it was very odd that he didn't get a musical number. Anyway, the plot is slim to none, but the movie really wasn't about plot, it was about fun and peddling war bonds.