Cover Girl (1944)

Rusty Parker wins a contest and becomes a celebrated cover girl; this endangers her romance with dancing mentor Danny.

Director:

Charles Vidor

Writers:

Virginia Van Upp (screenplay), Marion Parsonnet (adaptation)

Stars:

Rita Hayworth, Gene Kelly, Lee Bowman

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rita Hayworth	...	Rusty Parker / Maribelle Hicks
Gene Kelly	...	Danny McGuire
Lee Bowman	...	Noel Wheaton
Phil Silvers	...	Genius
Jinx Falkenburg	...	Jinx Falkenburg
Leslie Brooks	...	Maurine Martin
Eve Arden	...	Cornelia Jackson
Otto Kruger	...	John Coudair
Jess Barker	...	John Coudair as a Young Man
Anita Colby	...	Miss Colby
Curt Bois	...	Chef at Danny McGuire's
Jean Colleran	...	Cover Girl: American Magazine
Francine Counihan	...	Cover Girl: American Home
Helen Mueller	...	Cover Girl: Collier's Magazine
Cecilia Meagher	...	Cover Girl: Coronet

Storyline

Rusty Parker, a red-headed leggy dancer at Danny McGuire's Night Club in Brooklyn, wants to be a successful Broadway star. She enters a contest to be a 'Cover Girl' as a stepping-stone in her career. She reminds the publisher, John Coudair, of his lost love, showgirl Maribelle Hicks. He was engaged to Maribelle, although his wealthy society mother made fun of her. Maribelle left John at the altar when she saw the piano at her wedding. It reminded her of the piano-player she truly loved. Rusty is Maribelle's granddaughter and there are musical sequences with Maribelle dancing to songs from the beginning of the 20th century. Rusty lands on the cover of her grandmother's former fiancé's magazine (as a bride). She is pursued by Coudair's pal, the wealthy theatrical producer, Noel Wheaton. He produces a lavish musical to star Rusty, surrounded by real cover girls of the mid 1940's. Rusty runs down a huge spiral into the arms of dozens of men who seem clumsy next to her ethereal dancing. ...

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Plot Keywords:

stage show | alter ego | fashion magazine | guilty feelings | pearl in an oyster | 

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Taglines:

A Mirthful, Magical Musical !

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 April 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Las modelos

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song "Long Ago And Far Away" has been recorded by more than 80 singers and orchestras, the last time was in 2010. The 1944 recording by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes remained on the charts for 11 weeks.

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Goofs

Danny dances with the mirror image of himself yet the "image" is not reversed, right to left, as a real image would be.

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Quotes

Rusty Parker: I get so tired, Danny. This way it takes so long before you get anywhere. If you can get there quicker, why shouldn't you?
Danny McGuire: Look, Chicken, when you get there quick, you're out quick. Easy get, easy lose. I've never seen it fail. You gotta work for what you get. You're gonna be a great star, Rusty. But, you're gonna get there on your feet, not your face. Oh, Shortcut Susie!
Rusty Parker: Oh, Hardway McGuire!

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood and the Stars: The Odyssey of Rita Hayworth (1964)

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Soundtracks

MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW
(uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg
Sung and Danced by Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears); Phil Silvers

User Reviews

Beautiful Rita, Kern score and Phil Silvers dancing!!!

Two of these things are to be expected, the third is a complete surprise (that would be Phil Silvers dancing).

This is a delightful, if longer than it needs to be musical. A sub-plot with flashbacks and probably the worst Jerome Kern number ever written (Poor John), do not contribute enough to make them worthwhile. It's as if they wrote the movie, realized they didn't have enough material to produce a full-length picture, and added these other scenes to "fill it out". They don't work.

It's funny to see a 1940's musical with Gene Kelly (on loan from M-G-M)clearly taking a backseat to his leading lady. His second act number where he dances with himself is one highlight of the film. Other strong points are "Make Way For Tomorrow" and the lovely, "Long Ago And Far Away" (although I thought it odd that the latter number did not have a dance sequence attached to it). "Put Me To The Test", a number where Rita and Gene get to dance together, is a very good number, but the title song does nothing for me, although it is staged wonderfully.

Rita Hayworth is absolutely breath-taking. Her dancing is excellent, and this is clearly a role that suits her. Some of her hair pieces, however are awful. In a few scenes, the color of them do not match the color of her natural hair. Very distracting.

Phil Silvers is wonderful as Genius, Gene and Rita's friend and co-worker. Seeing him dance, especially as well as he did, was a wonderful surprise.

The major problem I had with this movie was that I never believed the relationship between the three leads. I didn't believe that Kelly and Hayworth were in love, or that Kelly and Silvers were real friends. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I didn't buy it.

Excellent supporting work by Eve Arden, Otto Kruger, Edward Brophy and Leslie Brooks.

6 out of 10