Saturday, September 18, 2010

Pin Up Girl(1944)




Pin Up Girl(1944), Technicolor musical film. Director: H. Bruce Humberstone. Cast: Betty Grable, John Harvey, Martha Raye, and Joe E. Brown. The film used Grable's iconic pin-up status during World War II, even using her famous swimsuit photo in some scenes of the film.

Lorry Jones, is a hostess at the U.S.O canteen in Missoula, Missouri. She entertains the troops by working as a singer. Part of her job is to accept marriage proposals from the men. Lorry accepts Marine George Davis, proposal. He does not realize that is part of the act. Lorry and her best friend Kay Pritchett, want to better themselfs so they have taken jobs as stenographers in Washington, D.C.

When they arrive by train, they are greeted by Navy hero Tommy Dooley. That night, they try to get into the Club Chartreuse, but are not allowed without dates. Lorry doesn't want to leave and says that she is meeting Tommy and his friend Dud Miller.
She does not know Tommy is best friend with the club's owner. When Eddie is told Lorry and Kay are the dates of Tommy and Dud, he treats them like celebrities.. When Tommy and Dud arrive, Tommy thinks the clubs owner has set them up in blind dates. Kay tells them she and Lorry are in the Broadway musical Remember Me. Molly McKay, star singer at the club, doesn't believe Kay, until Lorry performs a song. The men accidentally lose the women's address. After a couple of weeks Lorry and Kay are insulted. Tommy and Dud out of the blue show up in Washington. Lorry's job is to be his stenographer, she decides to disguise herself, so he won't recognize her. Things don't go the way she planned. What happens next?

Grable's sense of comedy and some expert dancing - with Hermes Pan makes this a fun film. Good support from Raye and Joe E Brown.



Soundtracks:
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"You're My Little Pin Up Girl"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Sung by chorus, uncredited players, and Betty Grable
Danced by the Condos Brothers

"Time Alone Will Tell"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Sung by June Hutton and male trio with Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra

"Red Robins, Bobwhites and Bluebirds"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Martha Raye
Danced by Skating Vanities

"Don't Carry Tales out of School"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Betty Grable and chorus with Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra

"Yankee Doodle Hayride"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Martha Raye with Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra
Danced by the Condos Brothers

"Once Too Often"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Sung by Betty Grable
Danced by Betty Grable, Hermes Pan and Angela Blue with Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra

"The Story of the Very Merry Widow"
(uncredited)
Music by James V. Monaco
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Performed by Betty Grable with chorus

"The Caisson Song"
(uncredited)
Music by Edmund L. Gruber
Played briefly during the opening credits

"Anchors Aweigh"
(uncredited)
Music by Charles A. Zimmerman
Played briefly during the opening credits

"The Marine Hymn"
(uncredited)
Music by Jacques Offenbach from "Geneviève de Brabant"
Played briefly during the opening credits

"You'll Never Know"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played on the trumpet after the "Yankee Doodle Hayride" number

"The Army Air Corps Song"
(uncredited)
Music by Robert Crawford
Played briefly during the opening credits


"Minnie's in the Money"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played when the protest proclamation is read to Lorry

"Goin' to the County Fair"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played when Eddie Hall stops by Lorry and Kay's table

14 comments:

  1. Pin Up Girl is one of my favorite Betty Grable movies, Dawn. Awesome post.

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