Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Thank Your Lucky Stars starts with two producers trying to get Dinah Shore to appear in their all star benefit. When one producer (Dr. Schlenna played by SA.Z. Sakall) says in his thick German accent he wants Dinah Shore, I think he says dinosaur. Speaking of dinosaurs, Eddie Cantor plays a caricature of himself and also plays a poor schlep who wants to break into show biz, but is thwarted because he looks like Eddie Cantor (what?).Shot during the shortages of WWII, you might think there's a talent shortage, but this film has plenty of talent. Unfortunately, it's used in hammy, half-baked scenes and performances. Just when I thought I couldn't take any more of this 2nd class collection of scenery-chewing and bad lyrics, I started enjoying the show. Yes, I said it. It surprised me, too. The movie is pure corn and I was eating it up. This collection of resurrected vaudeville zingers and minstrel show prancing somehow wormed its way into my heart. Maybe it's the puerile pratfalls or the gee-whiz dialogue or the one-joke skits or the Humphrey Bogart look alike... Hey wait, can that be the real Bogie? Don't fight it. Embrace the film. Get on to enjoying this diversion from the realities of war in 1943.Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie play the two romantic leads.Most of the soundtrack is by by Schwartz and Loesser, but these are some of Loesser's lesser efforts, often sung by B-grade singers. Still, the novelty of seeing Bette Davis singing, for example, is engaging. By the time we get to the actual Cavalcade of Stars, we have an opportunity to see some bona fide stars in some interesting musical numbers.Note the great pas de trois. Great dancing.And my favorite part of the movie: the jive performance of "The Dreamer" by Ida Lupino, Olivia De Havilland and George Tobias. What gum-smacking fun!There are real rewards if you stick with this film.

All-around entertainer Eddie Cantor has a dual role in this Warner Bros. studio revue, playing himself and an aspiring dramatic actor named "Joe Simpson" who can't find work because people laugh when they see him. The plot is initially interesting due to Mr. Cantor's comic situation, but it wears thin quickly. Although he was his studio's biggest star in 1943, Humphrey Bogart is billed first due to the alphabet; he appears only briefly. Cantor is supported mainly by Joan Leslie (as Pat Dixon) and Dennis Morgan (as Tommy Randolph), likable as a songwriter and singer.Of the superstar cameos, Bette Davis is most showcased; she sings "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" (a hit for Kitty Kallen). Another non-singer, Errol Flynn is surprisingly good, singing and dancing an English ditty called "That's What You Jolly Well Get". Then record and radio star Dinah Shore is featured relatively prominently. These variety movies became very popular when sound films became vogue as audiences could see several of their favorite stars singing, dancing, and participating in a variety of skits. During World War II, they had a resurgence in popularity.***** Thank Your Lucky Stars (9/25/43) David Butler ~ Eddie Cantor, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Bette Davis

I'm seeing now that The Warner Brothers mobilized their cavalcade of stars behind their 1944 wartime musical effort, Hollywood Canteen, and that it was because John Garfield originated the idea of importing to the West Coast New York's Stage Door Canteen. Thus Hollywood Canteen exists as more of a documentary, and has more integrity. Here, a year before, with Thank Your Lucky Stars, which I remember as a Frank Loesser musical, the Warners Ensemble of hardboiled urbanites, reacting to MGM's musical cavalcades, transformed themselves into lighthearted singers, and it plays like the first time for them. Warner Brothers already had their Busby Berkley musicals of the thirties, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, but in general, they produced such symphonically scored anti-musicals, that this foray into pop songs is particularly riotous. The impression here is that most of the actors have no business going near a musical, making them that much more beautiful (and vulnerable) when they do. Of course Ida Lupino comes first to mind. She seems especially humourless in her other nearby appearances (The Sea Wolf, The Hard Way). John Gafield, Betty Davis, and Errol Flynn, too, are enthusiastic. So though I haven't seen this movie in many years and when I did it was on good old network television... I recommend it. Thanks to this database and its "fun stuff" I see now that the songs are mostly by Arthur Schwartz with lyrics by Frank Loesser, doing their best to help "keep your love life as sweet as candy bars."

Tnis is at best a very uneven film, with very misleading billing. Humphrey Bogart, who gets first billing, appears for about 3 minutes in a very forgettable and poorly done cameo. (No, he doesn't try to sing.) Olivia de Havilland and Ida Lupino appear together in a rather mediocre dance number. Bette Davis, though she can't sing, puts in a great appearance singing "They're either too young or too old," and Errol Flynn does a remarkably good job with his song and dance number. Alexis Smith looks very elegant and graceful in her dance number, though it is true that she is lifted through the air by various male dance partners as much as she actually dances herself, which helps. Still, she looks very beautiful for her 3 minutes of screen time. Ann Sheridan looks good in her song too, but it is so mediocre that there's not much she can do with it, and since she doesn't get to do any glamorous dancing, the number is forgettable.. The same applies to Jack Carson and Alan Hale, both very talented actors, who get saddled with a truly dead song and dance duo.In fact, the weakest element in this movie is the music, which is almost all forgettable.These various cameo appearances are fitted into a frame: Dennis Morgan is trying to break into show biz as a singer, while EE Horton and SZ Sakall, who are way down on the billing, are trying to put on a charity variety show. The three of them, plus Eddie Cantor, who plays himself and is very funny doing so, are the actual stars of this movie, though you would never guess it from the billing. All four are good.There are other forgettable musical numbers, including several with Dinah Shore, who comes off as having no personality, a rousing if forgettable number for Black singers and dancers in which Hattie McDaniel holds up her own, and a monologue of sorts with John Garfield that's not half bad, but only because he's a good actor.In short, a largely mediocre effort. If you like any of the stars who do the cameos, you will want to see them do their 3-5 minute bits. If you're looking for 2 hours of entertainment - this movie runs just over 2 hours - you won't find it here, though.-----------------------------------I've just watched it again two years later. Perhaps I'm in a more charitable mood, but this time I got more pleasure out of it. It really only works if you know the work of the various actors who appear, as most of them either play against type - like Errol Flynn or his frequent side-kick, Alan Hale - or satirize themselves, like John Garfield, who is really very good playing a highly exaggerated version of his usual tough guy. Ann Sheridan is a knockout in her number, thanks to her dress and the way she moves; you really don't notice that she wasn't a great singer. That's the case for most of these cameo performances: they're done by often very fine actors who didn't normally sing and dance on screen. Most seem to be having a good time doing something they didn't usually get to do, and none of them embarrass themselves. Bette Davis definitely couldn't sing, but she brings off her number through sheer personality. The same goes for many of the others.If you don't know the classic Warner Brothers movies of the 30s and early 40s, this won't hold you. If you know how these stars normally appeared, you may get a kick out of seeing them do something very different, or making fun of what they normally did.