My Blue Heaven (1950)

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Claude Binyon (writer)
S.K. Lauren (story)

Release Date:

18 December 1950 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Musical

Plot:

Betty Grable and Dan Dailey are a married song and dance team who cannot have children. The movie follows the travails as they try and adopt and keep the kids they adopt while performing on their TV show.

Plot Keywords:

Pregnant | Radio | Title Based On Song | Pregnant Wife | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Betty Grable	...	Kitty Moran
Dan Dailey	...	Jack Moran
David Wayne	...	Walter Pringle
Jane Wyatt	...	Janet Pringle
Mitzi Gaynor	...	Gloria Adams
Una Merkel	...	Miss Irma Gilbert
Don Hicks	...	Young man
Louise Beavers	...	Selma
Laura Pierpont	...	Mrs. Johnston

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The reason that Dan Dailey sings "Friendly Island" in such an odd voice is that he is making fun of Ezio Pinza the basso profundo opera star who was starring in the then current stage show "South Pacific".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the Cosmo Cosmetics number, all of the monitors in the television control room are in color. Expensive color sets would never have been used in a real TV control room, and in fact weren't even available in 1950.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Mother Wore Tights (1947)

Soundtrack:

What a Man

Interesting plot topics scuttled in the wake of too many musical numbers...

Popular radio-program duo in New York City, a chummy married couple about to make that transition to television, have troubles adopting a baby. Colorful Betty Grable vehicle weighted down with musical chaos. Granted, "My Blue Heaven" is a 20th Century-Fox musical--and anyone going into it should rightfully expect lots of singing and hoofing--but here the story is far more substantial than the song numbers, which simply get in the way. Screenwriters Claude Binyon and Lamar Trotti, working from S.K. Lauren's story "Stork Don't Bring Babies", tentatively touch upon several topical issues (both satiric and dramatic) which are not explored with any depth. The sudden boom in television (and its impact on radio), the perils of a working mother who leaves her job to be with her child, and the reluctance of adoption agencies to assign babies with those "constantly divorcing" show-biz couples are all products for a satisfying comedy-drama. Grable and Dan Dailey are a lot of fun on the dance-floor, but this glossy product could actually use less pussyfooting around and more narrative heart. It's a feel-good movie, all right, but a picture for its time and not for the ages. **1/2 from ****