Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Irving Cummings

Writers:

Walter Bullock (writer)
Ken Englund (writer)

Release Date:

6 November 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Tagline:

The Time and Place for Romance . . Melody . . and Fun !

Plot:

Broadway partners Vicky Lane and Dan Christy have a tiff over Christy's womanizing. Jealous Vicky takes up with her old flame and former dance partner...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman

Cast

Betty Grable	...	Vicky Lane
Carmen Miranda	...	Rosita Murphy
John Payne	...	Dan Christy
Cesar Romero	...	Victor Prince
Charlotte Greenwood	...	Phoebe Gray
Edward Everett Horton	...	McTavish
Harry James	...	Himself
Harry James and His Music Makers	...	Themselves
Bando da Lua	...	Rosita's Six Brothers / Orchestra
Six Hits and a Miss	...	Themselves - Six Hits and a Miss, Vocal Group

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In Helen Forrest's 1982 autobiography, "I Had the Craziest Dream" (co-written with Bill Liddy), the vocalist with Harry James and His Orchestra recalled being baffled as to why costume designer Earl Luick would dress her in Native American garb for her walking-while-singing entrance midway through the smash ballad, "I Had the Craziest Dream" (music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon).

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Betty Grable: Behind the Pin-up" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Grable

"Springtime in the Rockies" is another delightful 20th Century Fox musical, this time starring Betty Grable, John Payne, Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, Cesar Romero, and Harry James. All of them are wonderful, but Grable really sparkled in this as Vicky Lane, a Broadway actress whose heart is broken by Dan (John Payne). She quits the show they're doing and teams up for a song and dance act with handsome Victor Prince (Romero). The show's producer (Jackie Gleason) is in need of backing for his next show, finds Dan in a bar, and insists that he get Vicky back to New York. She's currently performing at Lake Louise. Payne is drunk out of his mind, so the bartender (Horton) escorts him to the Canadian resort.

Grable looks fantastic and dances with Romero beautifully. Romero was tall, handsome, a beautiful dancer, and could do drama (Captain from Castile) as well as comedy (Julia Misbehaves). He enjoyed a wonderful career but had he not been Cuban, his film work would probably not been limited to supporting roles. Payne is handsome and delightful, and Carmen Miranda as Rosita Murphy is very funny.

The scenery is gorgeous, the music upbeat with lots of great trumpet-playing by Harry James, and the actors marvelous. "Springtime in the Rockies" is a real treat.