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Episode cast overview: | |||
Ethel Merman | ... | Reno Sweeney | |
Frank Sinatra | ... | Harry Dane | |
Bert Lahr | ... | Moonface | |
Sheree North | ... | Bonnie | |
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Norman Abbott | ... | Radio Announcer (as Norman Abbot) |
Nestor Paiva | ... | Dr. Henry T. Dobson | |
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Arthur Gould-Porter | ... | Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (as Arthur Gould Porter) |
Barbara Morrison | ... | Mrs. Wentworth | |
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Lou Krugman | ... | Purser |
On an ocean liner, a nightclub singer tries to help a fellow American romance an English heiress who is being forced to return home to marry a man she doesn't love. The American must avoid his boss who is traveling on the same vessel and disguises himself as a gangster traveling with a minister who is, in fact, a disguised gangster on the lam. Written by Anonymous
Having previously seen the 1936 filmed version with Bing Crosby and Ethel Merman and the 1956 version (with different plot but same cruise setting) with Crosby and Donald O'Connor, I've now just seen the live-aired TV version from 1954 with Merman, Frank Sinatra, and Bert Lahr. Running less than an hour without the commercials this show was originally presented with on air, the original Broadway book gets shortened in order to showcase the famous Cole Porter songs like "You're the Top", "Anything Goes", and "Friendship" among other songs. The three leads are mostly good with the material given them with Lahr quite funny with some of his exaggerated readings. Sheree North also has her moments when she's dancing. The kinescope print I saw was clear enough that part of me could imagine it being live. Not a great presentation but pretty good for what it was. So that's a recommendation of this version of "Anything Goes".