Down to Earth (1947)

Director:

Alexander Hall

Writers:

Harry Segall (play)
Edwin Blum (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 August 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

She Sings And Dances like an Angel!

Plot:

Upset about a new Broadway musical's mockery of Greek mythology, the goddess Terpsichore comes down to earth and lands a part in the show...

Plot Keywords:

Muse | Nightclub | Sequel | Gangster | 1940s

Cast

Rita Hayworth	...	Terpsichore / Kitty Pendleton
Larry Parks	...	Danny Miller
Marc Platt	...	Eddie
Roland Culver	...	Mr. Jordan
James Gleason	...	Max Corkle
Edward Everett Horton	...	Messenger 7013
Adele Jergens	...	Georgia Evans
George Macready	...	Joe Manion
William Frawley	...	Police Lieutenant
Jean Willes	...	Betty (as Jean Donahue)
Kathleen O'Malley	...	Dolly
William Haade	...	Spike
James Burke	...	Detective Kelly
Dorothy Hart	...	The New Terpsichore (as Dorothy Brady)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-G | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #11676)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In the newspaper montage, the third item in the Lyons Den column reads: "Save up your gas money and go over to Danny McGuire's place in Brooklyn. You'll see the current Vanity cover in the flesh." This is the plot for Cover Girl (1944), Rita Hayworth's previous movie for Columbia, so in effect the characters of Kitty Pendleton and Rusty Parker are playing at the same time in different venues, even though they're both played by the same person.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: The same news item about twins getting a two-week tryout keeps appearing in different newspaper columns over the course of several months.

Quotes:

Terpsichore: [singing] There's a law against men beating their wives, which inhibits about a million guys' lives.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Xanadu (1980)

Soundtrack:

The Muses Come To Earth

Leave the musicals to MGM

Danny Miller is producing a musical on Broadway, Swinging the Muses, about two war pilots who end up in the days of Greek mythology romanced by a man hungry Terpsichore, the Greek Goddess of song and dance. This portrayal upsets the real Terpsichore who decides to go down to earth and make the musical accurate. Enter once again Mr. Jordan and messenger 7013, to help her come to the land of mortals and into the play, where she gets the lead role easily (using the name of Kitty Pendleton). Terpsichore/Kitty and Danny have constant arguments over the way the musical is being presented, but Danny becomes so infatuated with Kitty that the musical, in a preview, is presented accurately, which when produced becomes an artistic and symphonic production, but bores the audience to sleep or an early exit. When Danny decides to do the musical the way it was intended to be, Kitty storms off the set and asks Mr. Jordan to return to heaven, but Mr. Jordan informs Kitty that Danny needs this play to succeed, since its being backed by a racketeer, Manion, who Danny owes $20,000 to in gambling losses, and if the show flops, Danny will be "rubbed out". Kitty then decides to return and make the show a success, even though she realizes she will have to return to heaven and lose Danny. The movie is good, but really lacks much of the charm of its predecessor, Here Comes Mr. Jordan. The film is a star vehicle for Hayworth, but she is very enchanting in the role. Parks wasn't romantic leading material, but has the talent to get by (still has his singing voice lip-synced). Culver's Mr. Jordan is less charming and a more serious version than Claude Rains' version, but his performance is still admirable. Horton and Gleason are the only ones reprising their roles from the original. The film's setback is that the musical numbers aren't that good and seem to last forever (the last one from the film is OK, but the two versions of the ancient Greek setting musical drag on for an eternity). Still a good film, but you may be lost or disinterested if you didn't watch Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Rating, 7.