Shine on Harvest Moon (1944)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Richard Weil (story)
Sam Hellman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 April 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Musical

Plot:

Biographical movie about the early 20th century Broadway stars Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. |

Plot Keywords:

Nora Bayes | Jack Norworth | Beautiful Woman | Seal | Magician

Cast

Ann Sheridan	...	Nora Bayes
Dennis Morgan	...	Jack Norworth
Jack Carson	...	The Great Georgetti
Irene Manning	...	Blanche Mallory
S.Z. Sakall	...	Poppa Carl
Marie Wilson	...	Margie
Robert Shayne	...	Dan Costello
Bob Murphy	...	Police Sergeant
The Four Step Brothers	...	Dance Team

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #9520) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Film debut of Merv Griffin.

Quotes:

Nora Bayes: [sings] Shine on, shine on, Harvest Moon, up in the sky / I ain't had no loving since January, February, March, April, May, June or July / Snow time, ain't no time to stay outdoors and spoon / So, shine on, shine on, Harvest Moon, for me and my pal.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Let's Sing a Song About the Moonlight (1948)

Soundtrack:

What's the Matter with Father

Pleasant For Sheridan or Morgan Fans

Too bad the entire film wasn't photographed in Technicolor. The story is very fictionalized, as were all Hollywood musical biographies. Would it be a spoiler to mention that historically Bayes and Norworth didn't live happily ever after? Norworth was #3 of Bayes's five husbands.

Interesting to note that in the earlier Warner's musical "Yankee Doodle Dandy", that Bayes is portrayed as a "heavy", taking Mary Cohan's song away from her.

Insofar as voice dubbing is concerned, all actors are ultimately dubbed, whether with their own singing voice or someone else's. Nobody sings "live" on camera. Not much different than today's music videos where the performer is only doing a lip-sync to the recording (and you thought they had all those electronic instruments and back-up singers hidden in the bushes, right?).

This film is still enjoyable for the music and the performances of the actors. I think it's well worth the time to view it.