Something to Shout About (1943)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Gregory Ratoff

Writers:

Lou Breslow (writer)
Edward Eliscu (writer)

Release Date:

25 February 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

Following three flops in a row, Broadway stage producer Willard Samson (William Gaxton)is told by wealthy divorcee Donna Davis (Cobina Wright...

Plot Keywords:

Broadway | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Don Ameche	...	Ken Douglas
Janet Blair	...	Jeanie Maxwell
Jack Oakie	...	Larry Martin
William Gaxton	...	Willard Samson
Cobina Wright	...	Donna Davis (as Cobina Wright Jr.)
Veda Ann Borg	...	Flo Bentley
Jaye Martin	...	Dan Howard
Cyd Charisse	...	Lily (as Lily Norwood)
The Bricklayers	...	Themselves
Teddy Wilson	...	Himself (as Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra)
Hazel Scott	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Judels

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Cyd Charisse got her start in Hollywood when Ballet Russe star David Lichine was hired by Columbia for a ballet sequence in the musical film Something to Shout About (1943). Cyd, who was then billed as Lily Norwood, appeared in the scene and attracted attention. Movie offers, including a dancing role opposite Fred Astaire in Ziegfeld Follies (1946), led to a seven-year contract offer by MGM.

Soundtrack:

I Always Knew

Ameche and Oakie crackle on Gower Street!

Forget the plot (which is a pretty nifty screwball scenario, by the way). What matters here is the pacing, the music and the crackerjack performances of Don Ameche and Jack Oakie. Oakie is an absolute fireball and Ameche is alternately acerbic and romantic. Great specialty numbers (including the phenomenal Hazel Scott) and those Conga rhythms really send me! I'm still not sure if Janet Blair did her own singing in this picture (she sang for herself later on, of course, but Columbia loved to dub in the early 40's). William Gaxton, a Broadway juvenile from the early days and star of pictures as FIFTY MILLION FRENCHMAN in the early Vitaphone Days does a very nice character job here. Cobina Wright is tops as the nouveau riche "star" with talent that is perfectly Wrong! Gregory Ratoff's pictures are usually pretty Seiterly in their pacing. This one snaps, crackles and pops. And there's one in-joke that is delivered with perfection. As Ameche goes to use the telephone, he is asked "you sure you know how to use that thing?" He replies, "you kidding - I INVENTED it!" Catch this one if you can.