While this is bright and colorful with some wonderful music this MGM musical is most assuredly not a top of the line production.Based on a successful Broadway show, Very Warm for May, that the producers chose to cut to ribbons taking many of the songs out and turning into an ordinary backstage story of a brash blow-hard trying to put on a show.A big indicator of the lower expectations that befell the property is the cast. None of the top line Metro stars are on board. While originally intended for Judy Garland the lead is now filled by lesser light Ginny Simms. Simms had a beautiful voice and a lovely face but knowing the part was meant for Judy allows the viewer to consider star quality and the impact one performer makes on screen over another. Whereas Judy was always relaxed, natural and alive when the cameras were trained on her Ginny comes across as stiff and uneasy. You can almost see her counting down until the other person in the scene finishes talking so she can say her lines. However when she sings she's more at ease and accessible. This was to be her big chance at above the title screen stardom but the movie was an under performer and after a few more supporting roles, one in Night and Day showed her to good advantage, she went back to the bandstand. She doesn't ruin the film but she doesn't help it much.The next performer that indicates the lower expectations of the picture is George Murphy in the lead. A top star in 30's musicals and a fine dancer he had moved down to second leads and B's by this point so his casting in this as opposed to Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire shows the studio didn't firmly believe in the material.It's not all bad, the supporting cast has a few saving graces, although Gloria De Haven is arch and annoying. Charles Winninger and Rochester are there with their stock but amusing characters and blessedly Nancy Walker adds spice whenever she shows up on the scene, to bad her part wasn't bigger. As was the custom at the time the film has several specialty numbers and they are a very mixed bag. The bad: impressionist Dean Murphy while not untalented tries way too hard in his bit. Contortionist sister act The Ross Sisters are remarkably limber but their routine is downright creepy.The good: Although I'm not a fan Lena Horne comes across well in her two numbers and the great Hazel Scott tears it up at the piano working her special magic.Filmed in rich eye popping Technicolor this is a pleasant diversion but nowhere near the peak of what MGM was capable of at this point. For that see the same year's Meet Me in St. Louis.

Another typical Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland like film with a family rehearsing for a show in the barnyard. How many times has this theme been used in Hollywood musicals?That being said, the film is long on entertainment. Song and dance man George Murphy is wonderful as the son who feuds with his dad (an excellent Charles Winninger) over which show to produce. The supporting cast is great with Ginnie Simms just wonderful in a lead role. Too bad that her career was short circuited by Louis Mayer.I just loved Nancy Walker with her long hair and devilish looks. She with Ben Blue dance up a storm in "The Milkman" song-dance segment.The guy who did those fabulous imitations of James Stewart, Clark Gable, Ronald Colman and Bette Davis was phenomenal. How can I forget his take-off on FDR as well?This is a high entertaining musical even if the theme has been repeated.

I've always enjoyed this movie and consider it one of the better musicals of the 1940's. There has been quite a bit of interest in the Ross Sisters as they have popped up all over the internet due to their performance in Broadway Rhythm. They were billed as Aggie, Maggie, and Elmira but their real names were Vicki, Dixie, and Betsy. They hailed from Colorado City, Texas and were daughters of dirt farmers during the dust bowl days. They trained on their own and began working theaters and fairs in the Midwest. Pooling their money, they bought a trailer and moved to New Jersey to a trailer park about a mile from the George Washington bridge on Route 6. They earned minor roles in a George Kaufman play, Count Me In, and went on to Broadway Rhythm then Pickadilly Hayride at the Prince of Wales Theater in London. They were summoned before the King and Queen for a command performance on Nov. 4, 1946.

A pleasing enough entertainment, working primarily as a pageant of various MGM specialty acts - impressionists, contortionists, nightclub acts, tap-dancers, as well as the standard musical theatrical numbers. The film isn't a musical in the traditional sense, as all the musical numbers are in the contest of an actual performance (some done toward the camera). It's much more in the tradition of a 1960s-70s variety TV show.There is a connecting plot, though only the slimmest possible. For me, the movie dragged whenever it stopped the music for a little story updating. George Murphy doesn't really dance much here - just briefly toward the beginning and end - and he does an OK piano medley in the middle. Ginny Simms isn't much of a screen presence, but has a great voice used to advantage. Close your eyes while she's singing and you won't miss much onscreen, other than the costumes.The highlights are in the supporting cast; great numbers from Lena Horne, Tommy Dorsey, Hazel Scott, and Nancy Walker (though you really have to wait for hers; she's a bit underused here). Really nice work from Gloria DeHaven and Kenny Bowers in their couple of tunes, as well as Walter Long's tap-dancing. The singing-contortionist Ross Sisters are something to see, but the impressionist got on my nerves after a while. (Some of his subjects will not register with viewers unfamiliar with the era; there's a couple of topical jokes elsewhere in the film also.)And Charles Winninger is a pleasure to watch in a diversion for him; I've rarely seen him in musical roles.In short, worth seeing for most of the musical segments; the rest is unremarkable.7 of 10