Wabash Avenue (1950)

Director:

Henry Koster

Writers:

Charles Lederer (screenplay)
Charles Lederer (story)

Release Date:

24 May 1950 (Sweden)

Genre:

Musical

Plot:

Andy Clark discovers he was cheated out of a half interest in partner Mike's business, now a thriving dance hall in 1892 Chicago...

Plot Keywords:

Remake | World's Fair | Casino | Chicago Illinois | Face Slap

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Betty Grable	...	Ruby Summers
Victor Mature	...	Andy Clark
Phil Harris	...	Mike Stanley
Reginald Gardiner	...	English Eddie
James Barton	...	Harrigan
Barry Kelley	...	Bouncer
Margaret Hamilton	...	Tillie Hutch
Jacqueline Dalya	...	Cleo
Robin Raymond	...	Jennie
Hal K. Dawson	...	Healy
Dorothy Neumann	...	Reformer
Alexander Pope	...	Charlie Saxe
Henry Kulky	...	Joe Barton
Marie Bryant	...	Elsa
Collette Lyons	...	Beulah

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | West Germany:16 (nf) | Sweden:15

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

By declining to play Ruby Summers, Alice Faye passed up appearing on screen with her husband and then-radio co-star, Phil Harris.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Ruby sings and dances "The Shimmy" (composed in 1917) before attending the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.

Quotes:

Ruby Summers: How did he get in here? Through what rat hole?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Betty Grable: Behind the Pin-up" (1995)

Soundtrack:

I REMEMBER YOU

My kind of town, Chicago

This remake of "Coney Island" has director Henry Koster taking the action to Chicago at the turn of the last century. Perhaps the change of locale was an attempt to mask the fact this was a film already done before with only a few years of difference.

The cast assembled for this film is colorful. Victor Mature is Andy, an enterprising young man who has an eye for the finer things in life. Betty Grable makes the most of her role with Ruby, the star at the center of the action. Both Mr. Mature and Ms. Grable prove to be a winning combination in the way they interact with each other.

Phil Harris is seen as Mike, who is in love with Ruby. There is a hilarious scene in which a poker game is taken place in which is clearly Mike has cheated, but there's no proof of it. He should have six cards in his possession, but when he shows them to everyone in the table there are the allowed five. A moment later we realize what has happened to the sixth one!

Reginald Gardiner, James Barton and Margaret Hamilton make excellent contributions to the film. The songs reflect the period in which the action takes place. It's surprising also the Technicolor used in the film doesn't look faded.