Variety Girl (1947)

Dozens of star and character-actor cameos and a message about the Variety Club (show-business charity) are woven into a framework about two hopeful young ladies who come to Hollywood, ... See full summary »

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Monte Brice, Edmund L. Hartmann,

Stars:

Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, DeForest Kelley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mary Hatcher	...	Catherine Brown / Juliet
Olga San Juan	...	Amber La Vonne
DeForest Kelley	...	Bob Kirby
Frank Ferguson	...	R.J. O'Connell
Glenn Tryon	...	Bill Farris
Nella Walker	...	Mrs. Webster
Torben Meyer	...	Andre - Brown Derby Headwaiter
Jack Norton	...	Busboy at Brown Derby
Elaine Riley	...	Cashier (Brown Derby)
Charles Victor	...	Mr. O'Connell's Assistant
Gus Taute	...	O'Connell's Assistant's Assistant
Harry Hayden	...	Manager - Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Bing Crosby	...	Bing Crosby
Bob Hope	...	Bob Hope
Gary Cooper	...	Gary Cooper

Storyline

Dozens of star and character-actor cameos and a message about the Variety Club (show-business charity) are woven into a framework about two hopeful young ladies who come to Hollywood, exchange identities, and cause comic confusion (with slapstick interludes) throughout the Paramount studio.

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Plot Keywords:

variety club

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 August 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mädchen für Hollywood

Filming Locations:

Grauman's Chinese Theater - 6925 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor) (cartoon sequence) 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

References Going My Way (1944)

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Soundtracks

"TIGER RAG"
Written by Edwin B. Edwards, Nick LaRocca, Tony Sbarbaro, Henry Ragas and Larry Shields
Lyrics by Harry DeCosta
Performed on harmonica by Jimmy Mulcay & Mildred Mulcay with Bob Hope

User Reviews

An all-star tribute to the philanthropic Variety Clubs International

... and that's as flimsy an excuse for a parade of stars as there ever was. This one seems more forced and artificial than such films normally do.

Many of the stars have little or nothing to do in their cameos: Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Diana Lynn, and especially Robert Preston. Perhaps they're the lucky ones, given the limp nature of the script. They might have wound up like Spike Jones -- he and his City Slickers are far more obnoxious here than they were in "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (1943). Or the pitiable Alan Ladd, singing about that greatest of cities, Tallahassee, Florida. Seriously.

The occasional bright spots include Paulette Goddard wearing soapsuds, and Ray Milland hiding his telephone in an overhead light fixture, à la "The Lost Weekend".

I was also keen to see the rarely glimpsed, grey-haired Glenn Tryon, the male lead in 1928's magnificent "Lonesome", one of the final great achievements of the American silent film. "Lonesome" is comparable in some ways to King Vidor's "The Crowd", but is much less frequently discussed.

I think few would argue if I were to say that "Variety Girl" is for completists only.

Caveat emptor: This film's recent video release in the Bob Hope Collection has the George Pal Technicolor sequence in black and white.