I watched this because it had a middling rating on IMDb and yet was nominated for at least one Oscar because it was on Turner Classic Movies' 31 Days of Oscar. I always watch these and then look afterwards at what nominations the film got to see if I correctly guessed. This time I came up empty.It's a good film to watch if you are recovering from a nervous breakdown because there is little to no real conflict of consequence going on. Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson - the Hope and Crosby of Warner Brothers - are going to open up a club next door to the home of opera singer Victoria Cassel and symphonic conductor Ladislaus Cassel, granddaughter and grandfather, played by Martha Vickers and S.Z. Sakall, respectively. I guess we can talk about the bizarre zoning that would allow a nightclub next to a mansion another time. Their manager (Donald Woods sporting a ridiculous looking mustache) tells Morgan and Carson that he will have them shut down because they are hindering his clients' ability to practice their kind of music in peace.So Morgan and Carson invite Victoria and her grandfather over to listen to "their kind of music" and they admit there is nothing wrong with it. The real instigators of the trouble are the manager and the grandfather's wife, an ex opera singer herself, so the club is still shut down over the ignored protests of grandfather and Victoria.The rest of the film is about Morgan and Carson attempting to "put on a show" instead of opening their club. Of course there are complications. Vicki and Morgan's character begin a romance of sorts, but Morgan tells her he is not the marrying kind. That issue is never settled by the way. There is a gold digging woman who is the image of Scarlet Johansson who is either helping or hindering the show financially depending on whether or not she thinks Morgan's character is sweet on her versus her desire take a Texas oilman (Alan Hale) for all he is worth. The eternal struggle of muscles versus money. So the main issues are will the show ever get enough financial backing to open and how will that happen, and will the trouble-making manager, who seems to be doubly threatened since he seems to have a thing for Vicki, thwart Vicki's involvement in the show and her involvement with Morgan. One weird thing about the music - it turns out the film was nominated for best song for a very forgettable number. In fact, all of the numbers are pretty forgettable with the exception of the very hummable "Rainy Night in Rio". Also, all through this film, there is supposed to be a running argument about swing/jazz music versus symphonic music, with the swing music being what the show is supposed to be about and why the original nightclub was closed in the first place. The "show" that is the creation of Carson's and Morgan's characters consists of what I would call pseudo-symphonic music and production numbers tame enough for any garden variety MGM musical at the time.Summarizing - I wasn't at all impressed by the music, although Dennis Morgan's voice is always pleasant to listen to. So it's both Morgan and Carson doing their usual comic schtick with Morgan being the smooth one and Carson being the cruder and more forward of the two that is the draw along with the well intentioned S.Z. Sakall also being pretty amusing.

A two hour technicolor musical featuring romantic comedy storyboard cultural preferences the dialogue and storyline seem among the weaker of those surviving. Cuddles Szakall and the less known today Florence Bates play their familiar comic shtick of the busybody older gent and his controlling wife with perfect coming timing, one of the best aspects of the film. Dennis Morgan who often poses and croons and Jack Carson, who often gets into trouble and clowns around play familiar roles when co-cast though this time in one of the weaker plots. The formula puttin' on a show plot of the era does not work as smoothly as it does in other films with the three female leads none today remembered each playing stock characters in the formula plot. Well technically crafted in technicolor it lacks the direction or interest maintaining format of its competitors.

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.Nice costumes. In the large group dance scenes on stage, there is quite a beautiful rainbow of costuming. The Latin theme is apropos to the period, right after World War Two when audiences liked South American-type dance pastiches.The stereotypes avail. I like Jack and Dennis films. This is one of the typical ones. Jack is the buffoon and sidekick, and Dennis is the ladies' man. As cowboys on stage, Jack carries the heavy equipment while Dennis croons on endlessly.I don't like those stereotypes, but they happen a lot with Jack and Dennis.Broke guys want to put on a show, and they find wealthy people to foot the bill. The wealthy people all of a sudden get thrifty, and trouble ensues. $30,000. Oh, my! That might be $300,000 today.Classical music loving people get introduced to swing and jazz. They are having a hard time. Imagine in the mid nineteen fifties, ten years later, that their beloved swing and jazz get upended by that nasty little rock and roll.Sakall is cute in his jammies. He gets all the best lines. Double-jointed checking account, indeed.Lambie Pie has got some money. He is from the real Texas, not the fake one. He shows up during the theatrics of the phone call, to much hmmmmpf and hilarity. Lamb Chop even offers more money. Take it!

A boilerplate Warners mid-'40s musical, but a triumph for the Great American Songbook, this backstager has some gorgeous Arthur Schwartz melodies married to Leo Robin lyrics wittier than anything in the script. The Oscar-nominated "Oh, But I Do" is one of Schwartz' loveliest melodies ever, and the little-known "A Thousand Dreams" isn't far behind. There's "A Gal in Calico," which once it gets in your head simply won't leave (it's been in mine for days) and "A Rainy Night in Rio," part of the South American craze then hitting the Hit Parade. There's "A Solid Citizen of the Solid South," done in grimace-inspiring blackface, but actually a pretty good number if you can get past that. All are "diegetic" numbers, meaning they're part of the stage entertainment in the film rather than related to plot or character, and they're backed by luscious Warners orchestrations, which were brassier and jazzier than what the arrangers turned out at Paramount or 20th or MGM. To get to these goodies you have to sit through a lot of inconsequential backstage plot, not to mention the tiresome jowl-shaking of S.Z. Sakall and the badly dated comedy of Jack Carson. But there's Martha Vickers, pretty and appealing, and Janis Paige, always reliable for sex appeal and a tart way with a good line. And Dennis Morgan, a Warners staple in the '40s, who had more presence and testosterone than most of the singing-capon tenors movie musicals of the day typically turned out. Carson and Morgan were sort of Warners' Hope and Crosby and were teamed many times. This is one of their more tolerable efforts, thanks almost exclusively to the efforts of Messrs. Schwartz and Robin.