Customer Reviews

The Dolly Sisters

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The movie shows that Fox was often right up there with MGM when it came to musicals! Surely one of the most brilliantly designed, staged and costumed backstage musicals ever made. The two stars strut their stuff in enough feathers to eradicate several endangered species - and then get it on with a zest and verve that make you instantly fall in love with them. The Dolly Sisters were a vaudeville phenomenon that took the world by storm and although this is merely a typical romanticized Hollywood version of a show business bio it is well worth watching just to get the flavor of what they might have been like. Warning: the "Darktown Strutter's Ball" Follies Bergere number will seem racist by today's standards, but it is beautifully put together, and is one of the first instances of Hollywood even hinting that black women might take their place with the most gorgeous showgirls in the world (though they used white girls in dark makeup to make the point). Color, Music, Style- A+: Story, performances - OK See it for the still-amazing production numbers.

The Dolly Sisters (1945) may be a big, sappy, Technicolor musical, loosely based on the life and loves of the International stars, Rosie and Jennie Dolly, but it is one of my favorite Betty Grable movies. It is filled with eye-popping musical numbers and has a great score including, "I Can't Begin To Tell You", "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", "Carolina In The Morning" and "Darktown Strutter's Ball". John Payne, June Haver and S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall co-star in this highly entertaining musical from 20th Century Fox.

The dangerous casting of established Betty Grable with newcomer June Haver set columnists hearts beating wildly when Fox produced this nostalgic musical. No need to worry. Betty and June performed delightfully in this highly fictionalised biopic of the fame Dolly's. It is almost a rerun of 'Tin Pan Alley' in Technicolor! Fantastic production numbers - especially the 'Darktown Strutters Ball' - elevated this musical into the top class of the genre. Grable and Haver, practically lookalikes, played their parts to perfection. Grable showed some nice dramatic touches in her romantic scenes with the darkly handsome John Payne in this cavalcade of music which encompassed World War One. Trivia note: Noel Coward, on viewing the film, said: "It's all done by mirrors. No girl on this earth could look like Betty Grable!" but June Haver more than held her own alongside her well-seasoned 'sister.' A riot of color, fun and some great music, makes this a must for all Hollywood Musical fans.

The opening scene with turn of the century New York, the 2 little girls playing the Dolly sisters as youngsters breaking into an "impromptu" dance in the Hungarian cafe, dancing to Gypsy music, the cut to the adult June Haver and Betty Grable doing the same thing in more filled out peasant dresses and showing a lot of "million dollar legs"...Not too many actesses would want to be in an immediate comparison for cuteness with pretty little blond girls, but these two carry it off flawlessly.

The other songs, the scenes in Paris, the story of the romance with John Payne, how they showed the conflict (albiet a bit corny, but believable) of how both of them wanted to assert their individuality and still be together...

This is one of the best musicals I've ever seen. Family values and an adult story tastefully done.

In the "forgotten" old musicals category, I'd also recommend The Perils of Pauline with Betty Hutton, Cover Girl with Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth.

If you are a student of film, costume, or design, you'll find this romantic musical a delightful and inspiring composition. Imagine the Hollywood revues of the 1930's with overwhelming color and style which must have been a shock at the end of WWII. If you think Betty Grable's legs were worth a million GI smiles, wait til you see her dancing in feathers, ruffles, and split skirts.The Make Up Kit scene with Lady Lipstick, Powder and Powderpuff, Rouge and Mascara personalities is a classic not to be missed.

Top-notch musical. Both Grable and Haver sing and dance beautifully in this one! June Haver, who looks like an exact replica of Betty, only shorter is absolutely a joy to watch. Betty Grable is gorgeous in it. I hope FOX keeps making more Betty Grable movies available on video, especially Sweet Rosie O'Grady.

Essentially a lavish technicolor remake of the B&W 1940 film "Tin Pan Alley", including 2 of the stars of the original: John Payne and Betty Grable. Both films have their relative pluses and minuses. I enjoyed the many outlandish costumes of the female stars and various extras, a common feature of many 1940s musicals. Grable and Haver are much more of a sister act than Alice Faye and Grable were in the original, where they mostly performed their own numbers. The troubled on again off again romances in the present film, which fill in between the musical shows, get awfully tedious, more so than in the original. If Alice Faye had taken the part of June Haver, as originally planned, it would have been interesting to see if she were again cast as the dominant sister(I doubt it). To me, Faye has more charisma than Haver, but the latter makes a more look alike sister for Grable. I really missed Jack Oakie in this one. Frank Latimore was simply not an adequate substitute for Oakie's cheerful comic relief from Payne's serious demeanor. Payne's character is much more of a heel than in the original. That poor gorgeous woman he led on to believe he cared more for than Grable, left alone in the audience in the final scene, when he was reunited with Grable on the stage!

Its no secret that Twentieth Century Fox stuck to proven formulas when it came to movie musicals and "The Dolly Sisters" pretty much recycles every element of their previous box-office hits: sexy singing blondes (charming pin-up girl Betty Grable and the pretty but lame June Haver), eye-popping Technicolor, a backstage love affair between a talented showgirl and a less successful musician, attractive but bland leading man (John Payne), a love song that gets repeated over and over again ("I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"), lavish but only so-so musical numbers, etc. If this is what you like, you'll really enjoy this movie, since Fox musicals, though formulaic, were the best of their kind. If you don't, the film will seems endless.

Despite the biopic title, the film is essentially "Tin Pan Alley" (the superior 1940 black-and-white film that famously featured Fox's top musical leading ladies Alice Faye and Betty Grable together for the first and only time) in Technicolor, with Betty Grable taking over the Alice Faye role as the long suffering girlfriend/wife. Betty Grable does an okay job with the "dramatic" scenes, but she is clearly in Alice Faye territory. (Alice Faye smartly turned down this movie to do the excellent film noir "Fallen Angel.") Grable was really in her element when she played lively, sassy girls, as in "Down Argentine Way" or "Moon Over Miami," so this role isn't the finest showcase for her talents. Still, Grable's as charming as ever, and she looks great in all her Technicolor glory on the excellent DVD transfer.

One of the top musicals of the 1940s so what's taking so long to get it released on DVD format! More of Grable's films should be made available to enjoy, films like Mother Wore Tights, The Diamond Horse Shoe, Coney Island, I Wake Up Screaming (DVD).

20th Century Fox had an impressive track record with musicals during the 1930s and 1940s, turning out one box office smash after another--but for all their great popularity at the time they were not usually liked by the critics and most film historians tend to be dismissive of them even to this day. There is a reason for that: although they were well designed and well crafted, they were seldom innovative and they existed as star vehicles plain and simple, flyweight creations shot through with lots of American boosterism and jingoism and designed to show off a female star. And in the 1940s that star was Betty Grable.

Grable (1916-1973) knocked around Hollywood for a decade without gaining much attention--but after a stint on Broadway led to the popular 1940 movie DOWN ARGENTINE WAY she was suddenly 20th Century Fox's hottest property. It seems unlikely: she wasn't classically pretty, had a pleasant but not outstanding voice, and was a good rather than excellent dancer--and her acting chops were very limited. But she had that sparkle that can only be described as "star quality," and the public adored her. She became the single most bankable motion picture star of the 1940s.

The 1945 THE DOLLY SISTERS is typical of 20th Century Fox musicals. The story and script are merely serviceable; the production values are expert rather than innovative; the music and choreography are pleasant but not inspired. But absolutely everything about the film works to show case Grable at every possible turn. Everything revolves around the star from start to finish, and although she shares the screen with either June Haver or John Payne in every musical number, neither of them even come close to the status of co-stars. There is only one star in this movie, at that is Betty Grable. Everyone else is merely there for support.

The musical numbers are fun, but this is partly due to the way we look at them today as opposed to how they were received by audiences in 1945; seen today the two major production numbers, "Old Fashioned Girl" and "The Darktown Strutters Ball," are nothing short of screaming high camp, the former featuring a vanity case come to life and the latter a truly jaw-dropping minstrel show with showgirls in blackface and some of the most "do what?" costumes imaginable. Brace yourself for the girl with the watermelon muff and the woman with a stuffed cat on her head!

The musical numbers are fun, and when they come onto the stage the rather prefunctory lighting suddenly surges into brillance, setting off the wild array of color and shape to absolute perfection. But in truth, the musical numbers are only reason to watch THE DOLLY SISTERS, which is so incredibly flyweight that most viewers will find it hard to supress a yawn during the film's so-called "dramatic" moments. The DVD offers a very handsome print of the film, and a few extras--most notably an audio commentary by Drew Casper, whose comments are entertaining if a shade too uncritical for complete acceptance. Yes, I do recommend the movie, but only for 1940s musical fans and Grable fans in particular.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer