Best Foot Forward (1943)

Lucille Ball accepts a cadet's invitation to a military academy's senior prom in order to boost her career.

Director:

Edward Buzzell

Writers:

Irving Brecher (screenplay), Fred F. Finklehoffe (screenplay) (as Fred Finklehoffe)

Stars:

Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lucille Ball	...	Lucille Ball
William Gaxton	...	Jack O'Riley
Virginia Weidler	...	Helen Schlesinger
Tommy Dix	...	Bud Hooper
Nancy Walker	...	Nancy - Blind Date
June Allyson	...	Ethel
Kenny Bowers	...	Dutch Miller
Gloria DeHaven	...	Minerva
Jack Jordan	...	Hunk
Beverly Tyler	...	Miss Delaware Water Gap, Vocalist
Chill Wills	...	Chester Short
Henry O'Neill	...	Maj. Reeber
Sara Haden	...	Miss Talbert
Donald MacBride	...	Capt. Bradd
Bob Stebbins	...	Greenie (as Bobby Stebbins)

Storyline

Bud Hooper, a cadet at Winsocki Military Academy, sends an invitation to movie star Lucille Ball to come to Winsocki's big dance. Ball's publicity-hungry agent convinces her to go in order to boost her career. Complications arise when Bud's girlfriend Helen Schlesinger unexpectedly shows up, too.

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Plot Keywords:

military academy | prom | redheaded woman | actress playing herself | teenage boy | 

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Taglines:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Honey of a Musical

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Genres:

Musical | Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Rainha dos Corações

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,162,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 100 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

MGM bought the rights to the musical from Columbia Pictures for $150,000 and the services of Gene Kelly for one one picture. Columbia studio head Harry Cohn hoped to star Rita Hayworth and Shirley Temple in the roles eventually played by Lucille Ball and Virginia Weidler. Kelly was cast opposite Hayworth in "Cover Girl."

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Goofs

As Lucille Ball and her agent get off the train at the Winsocki station, there's a small dog sniffing the ground. Seconds later the dog is sitting and barking.

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Quotes

Lucille Ball: [as she steps off the train at Winsocki, encounteirng nobody but a barking dog] My public!

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Alternate Versions

The DVD release of the movie includes a 4 minute Overture and a 2 minute Exit Music.

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Connections

Featured in Private Screenings: Stanley Donen (2006)

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Soundtracks

My First Promise {The Ring Waltz}
(1943)
Music and Lyrics by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane
Performed by Beverly Tyler and chorus
With Harry James and His Orchestra

User Reviews

The movie kinda grows on you.

I usually don't like movies wherein stars "play themselves" but cable TV plays this movie so often I've seen it like a million times and each time I catch something different. The story is somewhat contrived and, true-to-form, movie star (as opposed to TV star) Lucille has a hard time getting rid of her somewhat brassy edge. She herself has commented that this trait held her back in films. Toward the end, however, she does soften up, especially in the hilarious Marx Brothersesque scene in the dormitory when everybody has to hide in closets to keep from getting busted by the general. I can envision this picture playing during the war as the second feature. It's one of those movies that, in the days when you could stay at the movies all day, you wouldn't mind coming in in the middle of it and then staying later to catch just the beginning. Harry James is a surprisingly good dancer and his scene with little Nancy Walker is good. All-in-all a good movie to watch on a rainy day or when you're home sick with the flu.