mark.waltz The still lovely Jane Powell stars as a musical student whose older sister (Constance Moore) is a burlesque star unbeknownst to Ms. Powell. After discovering the truth, Jane decides to help make her sister legit with the help of Broadway producer (Ralph Bellamy). The rest is predictable, yet entertaining, and features a top-notch cast of supporting players including Arthur Treacher and Louise Beavers, plus the usual group of rowdy, boy-crazy teenage girls. (Has nothing changed?) The musical numbers are rather second rate, but there are a lot of amusing bits of comedy. After this, Ms. Powell went over to MGM, and the rest, as they say, is history.

lepoisson-1 OK, I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for dance movies (I'm a mediocre male dancer). I've sat through some horrendous movies in spite of bad reviews just to see the dance scenes (i.e I saw Center Stage on the big screen). I was bored the other night, and this came on the public access channel, so I gave it a shot.The opening dream sequence sets the initial height (high? low?) of the schlock bar, properly preparing you for the predictable and atrocious plot and screen writing. I really didn't care for any of the characters (except Arthur Treacher and Louise Beavers as butler and maid: they were adorable, especially with the ice cream). There was a unique dance number with "mechanical" dancers, and the final "climatic" dance-singing routine (oops! Was that a spoiler?). The music was downright mediocre (that was supposed to be the point of this movie, right?).There's not really much to recommend. If you see it on DVD, catch the dances.

rhoda-9 It's a treat to see the majestic, golden-haired, golden-voiced Constance Moore, but what a shame she is in something so cheap and lame. From the first shots we know this movie isn't going to bother with coherence. We see an orchestra leader conducting a symphony, then Jane Powell in her boarding-school bedroom. She falls asleep and we see her dream of joining the orchestra at Carnegie Hall and singing with them. Huh? Who is she? Why should we care about her? Why show us a character's DREAM before showing us anything about who they ARE? The whole thing is slipshod like that. Moore is supposed to be the love interest for Ralph Bellamy, but we never see them do anything but argue. Then, near the end, they are reconciled, but nothing more romantic happens. No love words, no kiss. Then, right at the end, Moore whispers to Powell that Bellamy has asked her to marry him and she will say yes! It's as if the movie makers suddenly woke up and realised, uh-oh, we forgot the love stuff! The movie also has its distasteful aspects--the 15-year-old character (Powell's real age at the time) puts her hair up, wears lots of makeup and a sexy dress to show that she can pass for eighteen and be in a Broadway show. As a result, dozens of soldiers and sailors flock to her eagerly, and she encourages them. It gives the viewer an uncomfortable feeling that she is being taken advantage of.There is also the weird elevation to star status of the mediocrity Morton Gould. He is the conductor at the beginning, playing Carnegie Hall, and throughout the film we are told, ooh, they are putting on an original Morton Gould show, ooh, that's Morton Gould!, ooh, Morton Gould wants me for his radio show! Gould himself, as we see from his appearance in the movie, is as dull as his unmemorable music.And the burlesque! The typical embarrassment of Hays-code burlesque theatre, with men roaring and stamping at girls who wear more clothes than real girls of the time did at the beach. The little sister burns with shame at seeing Moore display a leg (horrors!) to the audience, but in the Broadway show at the end, in which they both star, Moore is wearing a costume that shows BOTH her legs! Ridiculous.It is very nice to see such likable performers as Arthur Treacher and Louise Beavers (there is a sweet moment when he stops making ice-cream sundaes for Powell and instead makes one for himself and one for Beavers, and they dig in). But both have been much, much funnier with better material.

Snow Leopard This light musical is solid if nothing special, with a story, characters, and production that are all about average overall. The cast is probably the strongest part if it, with a young Jane Powell in the lead role.The story concerns two sisters and their dreams of a career in show business. As the younger of the two, Powell's character wants to be a singer, and Powell is given several opportunities to perform. As her sister, Constance Moore has a simpler role, but she fulfills it adequately. Ralph Bellamy probably gives the best performance, and he is well-cast as a well-meaning, slightly befuddled Broadway producer. Arthur Treacher also pitches in playing Bellamy's butler.Most of the rest of it is rather plain, although there are no real flaws. The story is purely lightweight, but it has enough to keep you watching, and the characters are just believable enough to make you care about them.