Blue Skies (1946)

Jed Potter looks back on a love triangle conducted over the course of years and between musical numbers. Dancer Jed loves showgirl Mary, who loves compulsive nightclub-opener Johnny, who ... See full summary »

Directors:

Stuart Heisler, Mark Sandrich (uncredited)

Writers:

Arthur Sheekman (screenplay), Allan Scott (adaptation)

Stars:

Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Joan Caulfield

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bing Crosby	...	Johnny Adams
Fred Astaire	...	Jed Potter
Joan Caulfield	...	Mary O'Hara
Billy De Wolfe	...	Tony
Olga San Juan	...	Nita Nova
Mikhail Rasumny	...	François
Frank Faylen	...	Mack
Victoria Horne	...	Martha - Mary Elizabeth's Nanny
Karolyn Grimes	...	Mary Elizabeth Adams

Storyline

Jed Potter looks back on a love triangle conducted over the course of years and between musical numbers. Dancer Jed loves showgirl Mary, who loves compulsive nightclub-opener Johnny, who can't stay committed to anything in life for very long.

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Plot Keywords:

color in title | song in title | dancer | love triangle | war bond | 

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Taglines:

32 BERLIN HITS Old and New

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming began with Paul Draper as Jed Potter. Draper was fired over either his impatience with Joan Caulfield, who was not a professional dancer, or his stutter. He was replaced by Fred Astaire.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, which is just after World War I, the Crosby character tells the De Wolfe character to do his Frankenstein routine. The Frankenstein character he does is based on Boris Karloff's 1931 version which some ten years or so in the future. At that time in the movie Frankenstein was just a creature in Mary Shelly's book.

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Quotes

Jed Potter: Song and Dance Man.
Johnny Adams: Song and Dance Man, that's right.
Jed Potter: He didn't remember it then, how could he know it now?
Johnny Adams: Oh, get out, I bet I could do it right now, the whole thing.

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Connections

Featured in Emile Norman: By His Own Design (2007)

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Soundtracks

A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody
Words and Music by Irving Berlin (1919)
Sung by Fred Astaire
Danced by Fred Astaire, Joan Caulfield, chorus

User Reviews

Following the trend of Crosby leading ladies.

For the second and last collaboration of Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, and Irving Berlin, Bing and Fred needed all of their collective charm and talent to make this one work.

Bing and Fred play the same type roles in this as in Holiday Inn. Fred's the ambitious partner of an act who wants to get to the top of the show business ladder. Bing just wants to work at the trade and go through life with the least responsibility possible. Of course they fall for the same girl as in Holiday Inn and at Paramount in the 1940s who do you think winds up with the girl?

But the real star of this film is the music of Irving Berlin. This time Paramount gave Crosby and Astaire technicolor and it's put to good use with some great numbers. Astaire does two classic dance numbers with Putting on the Ritz and Heat Wave. Crosby gets two big budget numbers with Everybody Step and C-U-B-A, the latter nicely paired with Olga San Juan.

Previous reviewers found Joan Caulfield as the object of affections performance weak. Maybe so, but she's following a trend of Crosby leading ladies who are nice girls swept up by the Crosby song and charm. It wasn't until Jane Wyman did those two films with Bing that he got a leading lady with real spirit. Sometimes Bing didn't even get the girl.

The hit song here was You Keep Coming Back Like A Song which was a recurring theme. It got Oscar nominated, but lost to Judy Garland's train excursion On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe.

Billy DeWolfe also does a nice comic turn and we get his famous Mrs. Mergitroid act which he did in nightclubs.

Though the plot is thin who cares when you can see Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire at their very best.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

16 October 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blue Skies

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1