Customer Reviews

Sweet Rosie O'Grady

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

 

 

Betty Grable once said that this was one of her two favorite musicals to make. (The other was Mother Wore Tights (1947), which also deserves to be released on DVD). Sweet Rosie O'Grady has a sweet story, lovely costumes, glamorous Technicolor and beautiful songs. Add to that, excellent support from Robert (Father Knows Best) Young, Adolphe Menjou, Reginald Gardiner, and Virginia Grey. But the real/reel reason to watch is that sweet, lovely, glamorous, beautiful star with the million dollar legs---Betty Grable! Much more talented than the critics gave her credit for, Grable can charm the pants off the Police Gazette (where Young and Menjou hang their hats). And when she cuddles up in a bubble bath and sings that scrumptious song, your heart is going to melt. (By the way, the photo is from Wabash Avenue (1950), another Grable musical that needs to be released on DVD!).

I loved this movie from the first time I saw it and thats a few years ago, just after it was released in Australia, and have never forgotten it, the recently a friend lent it to me [a copy from USA]please release more of these.

Ron Wilson

I love Betty Grable musicals and remember seeing several in re-releaes in early childhood with my parents, sometimes twice. (She was my father's favorite actress). I loved the costumes, singing, and dancing and have bought or recorded every film available. I remember asking for and being given Betty Grable paper dolls and coloring books and relished learning to tap dance because of her. Since buying Vol. 1, I've been awaiting a Vol. 2. Why Alice Faye, who I don't remember but whose musicals I now own and do enjoy, and not Betty Grable?

I can't wait for this to come out on DVD. Betty Grable has been my very favorite since the early 40s when I, as a kid, saw every movie she made, I think (movie $.10 + .02 luxury tax). I knew all the words to her songs and much of her dance routines. Rosie O'Grady was top of my list, followed by Coney Island and Springtime in the Rockies. It is so exciting to see the movies being offered now.

I have read that "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" and "Mother Wore Tights" were Miss Grable's favorite movies of all the films that she starred in. I am not sure if that means she thought they were her "best" movies, or easy to film, or perhaps just personal favorites. Nevertheless, I don't think this movie is as enjoyable as "Mother Wore Tights" or several other Grable musicals. I am a Betty Grable fan, and this film was a big success, but I prefer her films with other male co-stars.

This is a well-executed period musical (costumes, sets, songs, etc)built around a typical backstage plot. Sweet Rosie O'Grady is a saloon singer from the US who has managed to achieve theatrical success in London under another name. She returns to the US as a famous London stage success, but her true identity is discovered by a newpaper reporter, Rober Young. The two do battle as Sweet Rosie tries to conceal her identity and the reporter tries to get a scoop for his paper.... and eventually this turns into romance.

Although this film is entertaining and Betty Grable looks and sounds great, the pairing with Robert Young lacks chemistry. Miss Grable was often partnered with leads who had limited singing or dancing abilities like Mr. Young, but usually they had romantic comedy credentials that created some on-screen chemistry. Think of Don Ameche in "Down Argentine Way" and "Moon over Miami". (Interesting that outside of the films with Dan Dailey and Dick Haymes, Miss Grable never had male costars who were primarily singers or dancers)

But Robert Young was a strange choice to partner with Miss Grable in this or any musical.It was the height of WW2 and many of the top actors were in the service, and that probably had a lot to do with the pairing; but it is not a surprise that they were never paired together again. It is not a "bad" performance by Robert Young, it just feels flat and "by the numbers".

A few notes about this movie: Miss Grable does a bathtub singing scene which was somwhat risque for the time. And Miss Grable's famous wartime pinup photo came from a publicity session done for this film. Finally, due to the period when the events take place (late 19th century), the only significant dance number is a waltz with Hermes Pan. There is some light tap sprinkled into a musical number, but the dance is very incidental to the music in that scene. So if you enjoy seeing Miss Grable in dance routines like I do, this is not the best movie for that.

Sweet Rosie O'Grady is a great example of the big-budget Fox musicals of the 1940s: Betty Grable, technicolor, lavish sets, light comedy. If you like musicals it wont disappoint you.