Hello Frisco, Hello (1943)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

H. Bruce Humberstone

Writers:

Robert Ellis (writer)
Helen Logan (writer)

Release Date:

26 March 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Place Name In Title | Remake | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Alice Faye	...	Gertrude 'Trudy' Evans
John Payne	...	Johnny Cornell
Jack Oakie	...	Dan Daley
Lynn Bari	...	Bernice Croft
Laird Cregar	...	Sam Weaver
June Havoc	...	Beulah Clancy
Ward Bond	...	Sharkey
Aubrey Mather	...	Douglas Dawson
John Archer	...	Ned Clark
Frank Orth	...	Lou, Bartender at Sharkey's
George Lloyd	...	Foghorn Ryan - Proprietor
Frank Darien	...	Missionary
Harry Hayden	...	Burkham
Eddie Dunn	...	Forman of renovation crew
Charles Cane	...	O'Riley, Policeman

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Memo to the exchange managers and exhibitors and also sniped to the pressbook from 20th Century-Fox: CORRECTION! Please eliminate the following credits on "Hello, Frisco, Hello": George Barbier... from the cast. Hermes Pan... as co-stager of the dance sequences.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

Soundtrack:

The Sailor's Hornpipe

Expect entertainment only

Unlike many musicals from Warners and MGM, the scenes of stage performance in those from 20th Century Fox look as though they could actually be performed on a stage, with straight front shooting, and relatively little camera movement, except for close-ups. This approach works, if you have actors who can draw you in simply by their talent, Talent is abundant here, and the musical numbers are believably staged. Fortunately, there are many of these: enough to carry the hackneyed plot. After more than twelve years in films, Jack Oakie could still do comic dance and joke routines far superior to those of most; and is helped wonderfully by June Havoc, who should have received one of the co-star billings in the titles, instead of being listed second in the supporting cast. John Payne was the studio's dependable leading man, in both musicals and light drama. The beautiful Lynn Bari, who never broke through to star status, shines in the thankless role of the selfish society girl.

But Alice Faye is at her best in her last major musical for Fox. It's easy to see why Archie Bunker occasionally referred to her as his feminine ideal. She is gorgeous in Technicolor close-ups. Here, as in other films she wears period costumes more convincingly than most other actresses, who seem to be dressing up for a costume party. Her voice was unique, and her delivery understated; unlike many of her contemporaries, she can still be heard on CDs. I didn't count, but she must have sung ten or more numbers, alone or with Payne. Oakie and Havoc, including an opening and closing rendition of her signature "You'll Never Know". In a years later TV interview, she commented that toward the end of her Fox career she was being replaced by Betty Grable, whose more overt sex appeal made her famous during the war years, but whose career as a top attraction did not last as many years as Faye's (about ten) What impressed me was that she made that comment without any tone of bitterness. Incidentally, this is not a criticism of Grable, who had a winning, self-deprecating personality in later years. In another TV interview, when she was asked how she became a star, she responded: I could sing a little, dance a little, and act a little, but I had great-looking legs. I can't help comparing these two ladies, both of whom had long-lasting show business marriages, and both of whom seemed to be nice persons, with some contemporary "stars".