Star Spangled Rhythm

Pop Webster is a former silent movie star once known as "Bronco Billy" who now works as the guard on the main gate at Paramount Pictures. However, he's told his son Johnny, who's in the Navy, that he's the studio's Executive Vice President in Charge of Production. When Johnny shows up in Hollywood on shore leave, Pop and the studio's switchboard operator, Johnny's sweetheart Polly Judson, go all-out to maintain the illusion for Johnny and his sailor friends that Pop's a studio big-wig. Things get a bit complicated when Pop offers to put on a variety show for the Navy, featuring all of Paramount's stars, but Polly convinces Bob Hope and Bing Crosby to do the show, and they convince the rest of the stars on the lot.Erickson, Hal [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:111627~T0 Plot synopsis (Allmovie)]TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91295/star-spangled-rhythm Full synopsis]

{{Cast listing|

• Victor Moore as William "Pop" Webster
• Betty Hutton as Polly Judson
• Eddie Bracken as Johnny Webster
• Walter Abel as B.G. DeSoto
• Cass Daley as Mimi
• Gil Lamb as High Pockets
• Gladys Blake as Liz
• Cecil B. DeMille as himself
• Preston Sturges as himself
• Edward Fielding as Y. Frank Freemont
• Boyd Davis as Captain Kingsley
• Anne Revere as Sarah (uncredited)
• Paul Newlan as Stage Door Guard (uncredited)
• William Haade as Marine Sergeant (uncredited)

}}

Performers:

{{Cast listing|

• Bob Hope – Master of Ceremonies
• Bing Crosby – "Old Glory" number
• Fred MacMurray – Frank in "If Men Played Cards as Women Do"
• Franchot Tone – John in "If Men Played Cards as Women Do"
• Ray Milland – Joe in "If Men Played Cards as Women Do"
• Lynne Overman – in "If Men Played Cards as Women Do"
• Dorothy Lamour – "Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang" number
• Paulette Goddard – "Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang" number
• Veronica Lake – "Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang" number
• Arthur Treacher – "Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang" number
• Sterling Holloway – "Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang" number
• Walter Catlett – "Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang" number
• Vera Zorina – "That Old Black Magic" number
• Mary Martin – "Hit the Road to Dreamland" number
• Dick Powell – "Hit the Road to Dreamland" number
• Alan Ladd – Scarface skit
• Macdonald Carey – Louie the Lug in Scarface skit
• Marjorie Reynolds – Swing Shift skit
• Susan Hayward – Genevieve in Priorities skit
• Eddie "Rochester" Anderson – "Sharp as a Tack" number
• Katherine Dunham – dancer in "Sharp as a Tack" number
• Chester Clute – Air Raid Warden in Bob Hope skit
• Maxine Ardell – Wife in Bob Hope skit
• William Bendix – Herman the Husband in Bob Hope skit
• Jerry Colonna – Bob Hope skit

}}

Cast notes:

• The character "B.G. Desoto" is modeled after Paramount executive producer Buddy DeSylva, and "Y. Frank Freemont" after vice-president Y. Frank Freeman. When pretending to be "Mr Freemont"'s secretary, Betty Hutton speaks in an affected Southern accent; the real Y. Frank Freeman was a Southerner who was intensely loyal to Dixie.
• Others who appear in the film include Rod Cameron, Eva Gabor, Cecil Kellaway, Matt McHugh, Frank Faylen, Robert Preston and Woody Strode. Strode is seen only very briefly as Eddie Anderson's chauffeur in the "Sharp As a Tack" number.
• Star Spangled Rhythm marked the feature film debut of Bing Crosby's son, Gary Crosby, who was 9 years old at the time.{{IMDb name|0188986|Gary Crosby}}
• Although "Benito Mussolini", "Hirohito" and "Adolf Hitler" are listed as characters in this film, the actors cast in those roles are not actually portraying the dictators themselves; they are merely impersonators showing up for a brief sight gag at the end of the novelty number "A Sweater, a Sarong and a Peekaboo Bang". Tom Dugan, a veteran character actor who appeared as "Adolf Hitler", also played "Bronski", an actor who plays the part of "Adolf Hitler", in Ernst Lubitsch's comedy To Be or Not To Be.TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91295/star-spangled-rhythm#notes Notes]

The songs in Star Spangled Rhythm were written by Harold Arlen (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics):TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91295/star-spangled-rhythm Music]

• "Hit the Road to Dreamland" – sung by Mary Martin, Dick Powell and the Golden Gate Quartette
• "I'm Doing It for Defense" – sung by Betty Hutton
• "Old Glory" – sung by Bing Crosby and chorus
• "He Loved Me Till the All-Clear Came"
• "On the Swing Shift" – sung and danced by Marjorie Reynolds, Betty Jane Rhodes and Dona Drake
• "Sharp as a Tack" – sung by Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Katherine Dunham, Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart, and Woody Strode
• "A Sweater, Sarong and a Peek-A-Boo Bang" – sung by Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, and Veronica Lake (dubbed by Martha Mears), and by Arthur Treacher, Walter Catlett and Sterling Holloway, in drag
• "That Old Black Magic" – sung by Johnny Johnston and danced by Vera ZorinaMotion Picture Production Encyclopedia. p. 789. 1952 Best Original Song : "Black Magic," from "Star Spangled Rhythm," Paramount

The working title of Star Spangled Rhythm was Thumbs Up. Paramount paid Arthur Ross and Fred Saidy for the rights to two sketches from their musical revue Rally Round the Girls, which were used in the film. The "That Old Black Magic" sequence, which was directed by A. Edward Sutherland, was intended to be directed by René Clair, who was unavailable at the time of shooting.

The film was in production from 11 June to 23 July 1942TCM [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91295/star-spangled-rhythm Overview] at Paramount's studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Location shooting took place at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California.IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035379/locations Filming locations] The final cost of the film was $1,127,989. The film premiered in New York City on December 30, 1942 and opened nationwide on February 12, 1943.

In 1943, Broncho Billy Anderson (real name:Maxwell Henry Aronson) sued Paramount for using the "Broncho Billy" name without permission. He objected to the "Bronco Billy" character in Star Spangled Rhythm being a "washed-up and broken-down actor", which he felt reflected badly on himself. Aronson asked for $900,000, but the outcome of the lawsuit is unknown.

Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd both appear - and they would team in two other all star films.{{cite magazine|url=https://diaboliquemagazine.com/the-cinema-of-veronica-lake/|magazine=Diabolique Magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=The Cinema of Veronica Lake|date=11 February 2020}}

Star Spangled Rhythm received two 1944 Academy Award nominations: Harold Arlen (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) were nominated for "Best Original Song" for "That Old Black Magic", and Robert Emmett Dolan was nominated for "Best Score".IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035379/awards Awards]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/musicals_ballot.pdf |title= AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees |access-date=2016-08-13}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• This Is the Army
• Thousands Cheer
• Stage Door Canteen
• Hollywood Canteen
• Cowboy Canteen
• Thank Your Lucky Stars
• Private Buckaroo
• The Yanks Are Coming
• Reveille with Beverly

{{div col end}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0035379}}
• {{AFI film|687|Star Spangled Rhythm}}
• {{rotten-tomatoes|star_spangled_rhythm}}
• {{TCMDb title|91295}}

{{George Marshall}}

{{Preston Sturges}}

Category:1942 musical films

Category:1942 films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:Films directed by George Marshall

Category:Films scored by Robert Emmett Dolan

Category:Paramount Pictures films

Category:American musical films

Category:1940s English-language films

Category:1940s American films

Category:English-language musical films