Customer Reviews

Panama Hattie [VHS]

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MGM had some of the most talanted musical stars of all time. This musical proves that with out a doubt. Unfortunately is loses a lot in the plot. It is hard to tell what is going on in this movie. I don't know if it is because it is confusing or boring. The music is great and Ann Sothern's voice is beautiful as always. Lena Horne also adds much to any movie. I love Virginia O'Brien's musical numbers, particularly (Did I Get Stinking At The Club Savoy). It is also humorous the way she chases Alan Mobrey around during (Let's Be Buddies).

Ethel Merman was the Broadway Hattie, and her powerhouse personality and laser singing would have helped this lackluster MGM offering. As it is, Ann Sothern is just too low-energy as the dame with the Panama nightclub who loves the blueblood soldier(Dan Dailey). Way too much screen time is devoted to the clowning of Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, and Ben Blue as spy-chasing sailors (although not even the Marx Brothers could have saved that part of the movie). Jackie Horner plays Dailey's daughter with sugar and no spice; Virginia O'Brien is on hand for her fans, and she does as well with "Did I Get Stinkin' at the Savoy" as could be expected. The specialty black numbers -- Lena Horne singing a definitive "Just One of Those Things", and the Nicholas Brothers doing their usual breathtaking routines -- are segmented off from the rest of the movie so that distributors could snip them out for the benefit of Southern viewers, a common practice in the 1940's. In this case, they should have left the specialty numbers alone and snipped out the rest of the movie.