And the Angels Sing (1944)

The singing/dancing Angel sisters, Nancy (Dorothy Lamour), Bobby (Betty Hutton), Josie (Diana Lynn) and Patti (Mimi Chandler), aren't interested in performing together, and this plays havoc... See full summary »

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Claude Binyon (based on a story by), Melvin Frank (screenplay),

Stars:

Dorothy Lamour, Fred MacMurray, Betty Hutton

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dorothy Lamour	...	Nancy Angel
Fred MacMurray	...	Happy Morgan
Betty Hutton	...	Bobby Angel
Diana Lynn	...	Josie Angel
Mimi Chandler	...	Patti Angel
Raymond Walburn	...	Pop Angel
Eddie Foy Jr.	...	Fuzzy Johnson
Frank Albertson	...	Oliver
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Schultz
Frank Faylen	...	Holman
George McKay	...	House Man
Harry Barris	...	Saxy
Donald Kerr	...	Mickey
Perc Launders	...	Miller
Tom Kennedy	...	Potatoes

Storyline

The singing/dancing Angel sisters, Nancy (Dorothy Lamour), Bobby (Betty Hutton), Josie (Diana Lynn) and Patti (Mimi Chandler), aren't interested in performing together, and this plays havoc with the plans of Pop Angel (Raymond Walburn) to buy a soy bean farm. They do accept an offer of ten dollars to sing at a dubious night club on the edge of town where a band led by Happy Marshall (Fred MacMurray) is playing. Bobby takes the ten dollars and runs it up to $190 at the dice table. Happy hits on Nancy but she rebuffs him. He doesn't have the money to pay his band and borrows the gambling winnings from Bobby on the pretext that he will give her a job with his band. Bobby discovers the next day that Happy has hastily departed for New York. The girls follow to a night club where he is working and, after an audition, the manager is willing to give Happy a contract if the girls will sing with his band.

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Plot Keywords:

contract | gambling | proposal | second chance | 1940s | 

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Taglines:

There's nothing but trouble in Paradise when the bandleader tries to make love to a whole sister act - simultaneously!

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 April 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Quatre flirts et un coeur

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Connections

Referenced in Preston Sturges and 'The Miracle of Morgan's Creek' (2005)

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Soundtracks

"BLUEBIRDS IN MY BELFRY"
Written by Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen
Performed by Betty Hutton

User Reviews

Delightful Dorothy Lamour Comedy Musical Waiting For Rediscovery

AND THE ANGELS SING is a utterly entertaining comedy/musical starring Dorothy Lamour and Fred MacMurray with rising young actresses Betty Hutton and Diana Lynn in featured roles. This movie doesn't have much of a reputation thanks to the fact it curiously has been seldom seen in recent decades. It has never aired on any major national cable channel to my knowledge yet it was a major Paramount film and a big hit at the time.

Lamour and Hutton are the main attractions in a sister singing quartet who get the shaft from sneaky band leader Fred MacMurray. Eventually Betty pursues Fred - and Fred pursues Dorothy. The songs in this film are sensational - Lamour croons the lovely "It Could Happen to You", Hutton stops the show with the outrageous "My Rocking Horse Ran Away", and the sister act sings a lot of songs in best Andrew Sisters harmony including the very charming "The First Hundred Years" and the sassy "Knocking On Your Own Front Door".

Too bad TCM didn't get this for their retrospective on Hutton films a few years ago - it's one of her best even if she does play second fiddle to Lamour (though she holds her own). And Dorothy Lamour gives one of her best performances, she can handle comedy and music with equal ease and of course is one of the best lookers ever in movies as icing on the cake.