The Merry Monahans (1944)

Director:

Charles Lamont

Writers:

Michael Fessier (writer)
Ernest Pagano (writer)

Release Date:

15 September 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Tagline:

Nothing Tops! Nothing Stops! The Merry Monahans!

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Donald O'Connor	...	Jimmy Monahan
Peggy Ryan	...	Patsy Monahan
Jack Oakie	...	Pete Monahan
Ann Blyth	...	Sheila DeRoyce
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Lillian Miles, aka Lillian DeRoyce
John Miljan	...	Arnold Pembroke, Has-Been Matinee Idol
Gavin Muir	...	Weldon Laydon, Broadway Talent Scout
Isabel Jewell	...	Rose, aka Rose Monahan,unscrupulous Chorus Girl
Ian Wolfe	...	Clerk
Robert Homans	...	Policeman
Marion Martin	...	Soubrette
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Judge

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

This film has 20 song/dance numbers of at least two minutes each. This leaves 31 minutes for plot developments, which is enough.

Quotes:

Patsy Monahan: It's a nice day.
Jimmy Monahan: You said that.
Patsy Monahan: Oh, it's got everything: a great big sun, sky -
Jimmy Monahan: Yes, yes...
Patsy Monahan: Well, I'm just trying to make conversation. I'm in there pitching!
Jimmy Monahan: High and outside.

Soundtrack:

Isle D'Amour

O'Connor steals vaudeville family backstage musical.

Musicals of this era, especially backstage ones, were formulaic, but this had a twist. Monahan (Oakie) is tricked out of marrying his love (DeCamp). Years later, abandoned by his wife, he is a hit act with his two teen-aged children (O'Connor and Ryan). The widowed DeCamp with daughter, Blyth, comes back into his life but another marriage is thwarted. Meanwhile, O'Connor romances Blyth. It is a treat to see Blyth in one of four films she made this year, her first in Hollywood and just before her star turn in MILDRED PIERCE, but the real star is O'Connor. At the ripe old age of 19 (his first film was in 1937 at the age of twelve), he here displays his expert talents as hoofer and crooner and a perfectly honed sense of comic timing. He is the real star of the film, which is homey and entertaining. It was deservedly Oscar nominated for Scoring but the Sound was equally deserving of recognition. This is for all fans of the backstage musical but especially those of Blyth and O'Connor.