Doll Face (1946)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Harold Buchman (adaptation)
Gypsy Rose Lee (play)

Release Date:

January 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Plot:

Burlesque star (Blaine) makes it in the big time.

Plot Keywords:

Burlesque | Ghost Writer | Audition | Broadway | Book

Cast

Vivian Blaine	...	Mary Elizabeth 'Doll Face' Carroll
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Michael Francis 'Mike' Hannegan
Perry Como	...	Nicky Ricci
Carmen Miranda	...	Chita Chula
Martha Stewart	...	Frankie Porter
Stephen Dunne	...	Frederick Manly Gerard (as Michael Dunne)
Reed Hadley	...	Flo Hartman
Stanley Prager	...	Flo's Aide
Charles Tannen	...	Flo's Aide
George E. Stone	...	Stage Manager
Frank Orth	...	Peters
Donald MacBride	...	Lawyer Ferguson (as Donald McBride)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bando da Lua	...	Themselves, Carmen Miranda's Orchestra

Also Known As:

Come Back to Me (UK)
Here's a Kiss (USA) (working title)
The Naked Genius (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | Finland:S

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Many of the posters and publicity shots for this film prominently feature Carmen Miranda wearing a nautical outfit topped by a lighthouse headdress; even though she never actually wears it in the movie, the hat can be seen on a dressing room counter in one shot.

Quotes:

Chita: You think I'll make good on Broadstreet?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Somebody's Walking in My Dream

Concentrate Upon The Music...

A wartime soufflé from a play by Gypsy Rose Lee (as Louise Hovick), DOLL FACE features a lightweight plot with some snappy dialogue and delivery among the clichés, while director Lewis Seiler's vision is properly focused upon contemporary swing music, highlighting the vocal skill of Vivian Blaine, Perry Como, Carmen Miranda and Martha Stewart (no, not that one). The scenario has as its primary business a rocky romance between Doll Face Carroll (Blaine), a burlesque queen, and her manager, Mike Hannegan (the stalwart Dennis O'Keefe), along with the latter's efforts to boost his proletarian protégé into the realm of operetta. Seiler manages to remain faithful to the story line while seamlessly blending in the many musical numbers which, interestingly enough, prove more of a showcase for the perky Stewart and smooth Como than for the top-billed and certainly very pleasant Blaine; the production number for Miranda is a wild one, indeed.