Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Roy Del Ruth

Writers:

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

Release Date:

13 August 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

The musical extravaganza that tops great Ziegfeld glory!

Plot:

Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is love with a poor dancer...

Plot Keywords:

Sweepstakes | Nightclub | Dream | Dancer | King Louis XV

Cast

Red Skelton	...	Louis Blore / King Louis XV
Lucille Ball	...	May Daly / Madame Du Barry
Gene Kelly	...	Alec Howe / Black Arrow
Virginia O'Brien	...	Ginny
Rags Ragland	...	Charlie / Dauphin (as 'Rags' Ragland)
Zero Mostel	...	Rami - the Swami / Taliostra
Donald Meek	...	Mr. Jones / Duc de Choiseul
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Willie / Duc de Rigor
George Givot	...	Cheezy / Count de Roquefort
Louise Beavers	...	Niagara
Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra	...	Themselves
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tommy Dorsey	...	Himself - Leader of Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra

Also Known As:

Gentleman's Choice (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #9019) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

MGM hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff dyed Lucille Ball's hair flame red for this film, the color that she kept for the rest of her life and became her trademark.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the scene in Madame Du Barry's boudoir when King Louis XV is chasing Du Barry around the dressing table, a man sitting in a chair can be seen reflected in the mirror.

Quotes:

King Louis XV: We'll give him a fair trial. Then we'll hang him.

Movie Connections:

Featured in That's Entertainment! III (1994)

Soundtrack:

Friendship

A Feast for the Eyes

Well, there's not that many laughs despite Skelton and Mostel, while the music and dance numbers are pretty spotty despite Dorsey and Kelly, and even the queen of slapstick Lucille Ball seems a tad on the stiff side. No, the material is not up to the level of talent involved. Even the screenplay comes across like a series of hasty compromises. Now, if any other studio were in charge, I would say the results are only for hardcore fans of any of the above.

But this is big-budget MGM, and this is a musical, so the production values are simply superb even when all the rest falters. In short, the color is lavish, the costuming exquisite, and the dream-sequence sets ornate down to the smallest detail. Thus, whatever other shortcomings, the movie amounts to a literal feast for the eyes. Now, I'm no particular fan of that famously detached studio, but this is precisely the kind of production where MGM's dream-factory values excelled. So there are real compensations to the general mediocrity of the material.

In passing—I expect wartime audiences really enjoyed this lavish brand of escapism. However, I worry about it's being shown to our troops abroad—all those full-color close-ups of ravishing girls spreading the glamour on a mile thick. One of two results is going to happen—either the boys are going to win the war in short order, or there'll be more guys swimming the oceans than you can count. Fortunately, it looks like the boys decided to win the war first.