Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)

A Paramount Studios security guard who was a major actor during the silent film era must carry out the illusion that he is still a big deal when his sailor son comes to visit.

Directors:

George Marshall, A. Edward Sutherland (uncredited)

Writers:

Harry Tugend (original screenplay), George S. Kaufman (sketches) (as George Kaufman)

Stars:

Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bing Crosby	...	Bing Crosby - 'Old Glory' Number
Bob Hope	...	Bob Hope - Master of Ceremonies
Fred MacMurray	...	Frank in Card-Playing Skit
Franchot Tone	...	John in Card-Playing Skit
Ray Milland	...	Joe in Card-Playing Skit
Victor Moore	...	William 'Bronco Billy' Webster
Dorothy Lamour	...	Dorothy Lamour- 'Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang' Number
Paulette Goddard	...	Paulette Goddard- 'Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang' Number
Vera Zorina	...	Vera Zorina- 'That Old Black Magic' Number
Mary Martin	...	Mary Martin- 'Hit the Road to Dreamland' Number
Dick Powell	...	Dick Powell-' Hit the Road to Dreamland' Number
Betty Hutton	...	Polly Judson
Eddie Bracken	...	Johnny Webster
Veronica Lake	...	Veronica Lake- 'Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang' Number
Alan Ladd	...	Alan Ladd- Scarface Skit

Storyline

Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players.

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Plot Keywords:

guard | navy | hollywood | fictional variety show | reference to will rogers | 

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Taglines:

Paramount's Big Musical

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Au pays du rythme

Filming Locations:

Naval Training Center, San Diego, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$602,500

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"B.G. DeSoto" and "Y. Frank Freemont" were caricatures of actual Paramount executives Buddy G. DeSylva and Y. Frank Freeman. Additionally, "Freemont" is shown in one scene drinking a Coca-Cola, the preferred beverage of true-blue Southerners like Freeman.

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Goofs

During the jeep ride, one of the sailors is thrown out when the vehicle hits a bump and jumps onto a dirt road. The sailor is then shown back in the jeep in the next shot.

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Quotes

[In front of Old Glory and a plaster Mt. Rushmore]
Bing Crosby: [singing] Germans, Italians, and Japs / Can't kick us off our Rand-McNally maps.

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer (1990)

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Soundtracks

Sharp as a Tack
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Performed by Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Katherine Dunham, Slim Gaillard (as Slim and Slam),
Slam Stewart (as Slim and Slam) and Woody Strode

User Reviews

Mobilized

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US mobilized unlike any society before or since.

A large part of that was because of a very cooperative media, especially the new medium of movies. The White House asked them to rush some feel-good films into production and this was paramount's first response. It is a collection of skits wrapped in a thin story. Most of the skit material is in the form of a "show" for sailors, but many of them inexplicably use cinematic conventions that couldn't be staged.

Because this was stitched together so quickly, it is of widely varying tone and quality. I suppose the parts you like will depend on who you are.

There's a pretty big, lush production number (ostensibly a movie being shot that some sailors visit) that has atypically svelte and acrobatic girls. Later, there's a number where black straight man Rochester dances pretty well.

So far as comedy, there are two classic scenes here that made this enjoyable for me: This was Betty Hutton's first big role and she does Lucy better than Lucy I think. One scene is a hilarious attempt to climb over a wall with the aid of two men. It's amazingly physical, worthy of Keaton. Check her out in "Perils of Pauline," also directed by Marshall, who seems to have understood her.

The other comic bit worth seeing is Bob Hope trapped in a shower with William Bendix, and avoiding being discovered. Hope's not a great comic, in fact he falls flat elsewhere in this project. But this one skit is perfect for him.

Preston Sturges is one of the main figures in folded films (films about film), and he plays himself here, screening a film.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.