timothymcclenaghan This film wastes the talents of Vivian Blaine and Carmen Miranda. Evidently produced right after the end of World War II, Fox didn't care to spend the money on Technicolor, and "cherry blonde" Blaine and flamboyant Miranda should have never been photographed in black and white.The score is ho-hum. The composers did a much better job on the previous film "Nob Hill" also produced in 1945 in Technicolor and also starring Blaine, with two superb ballads, even though the songs are nearly forgotten today.Miranda is given only one performance, with the typical tropical theme, a boring song, again losing a lot without Technicolor.So why did Fox bother? I suppose when you have people under contract, one has to use them somehow in something. Perhaps if the burlesque subject matter had been played up and more burlesque comedy used this film might have ended up a better product.

MartinHafer "Women are like rugs---you gotta take 'em out and beat 'em every once in a while"--Dennis O'Keefe from DOLL FACE.In many ways, this film reminded me of BORN YESTERDAY--though this film came out a year before Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon's hit play debuted on Broadway--and five years before the movie version of BORN YESTERDAY debuted. Both feature an uncouth couple with an abusive and indifferent boyfriend and both feature a cultured writer who educates and enlightens the tacky leading lady. However, BORN YESTERDAY was a comedy and DOLL FACE was an unconvincing musical...and I can see why it has sunk into the public domain--it just isn't that good a film. Part of this is the poor script, part of it is too much dull musical numbers and part of it is because the male love interest, Dennis O'Keefe, is a rather abusive and neglectful man--and seeing him getting the girl (Vivian Blaine) in the end was a bit disturbing. After all, this is the same character who uttered the charming quote above!! Perhaps my feelings are colored by a more modern sensibility that does NOT condone jerk boyfriends, but I am pretty sure audiences of the day also might have felt unsatisfied with this as well. Regardless, it's a very forgettable film that started off well enough but really bogged down as the film progressed.If you care, Perry Como and Carmen Miranda also starred in the film but their talents (particularly Como's) were rather wasted. Como just sang a lot but had the personality of saw dust.

tpanebia I came across this movie only as an inclusion in the Carmen Miranda Collection, and I am commenting here for those in the same situation, who are wondering if this is worth having.As for Carmen: she sings one number, "Chico Chico (from Porto Rico!)", which features a lot of dancing with the chorus. The main drawback as far as Carmen is concerned is that the film is in black and white, and we are deprived of some of the gaudiness and festiveness that we expect from her participation in a movie. I know that Technicolor was expensive, but it seems bizarre for Fox to have made black and white musicals after the public came to expect color, and to cast the colorful Carmen Miranda in them! A better number was excised from the movie, but included in the Special Features --- Carmen wears her famous outfit with the phallic lighthouse atop her head (which lights up on the downbeats at the end of the song), and the number is done in a burlesque style on a runway. Carmen gets quite a bit of dialogue in this movie, and is actually integrated into the plot, not just a nightclub performer as in some films (like "Down Argentine Way"). I wish she were given more musical numbers to do, though. One funny bit (five seconds long) has Carmen's character, "Chita," disparagingly mimic Carmen Miranda! The movie itself is watchable and has some fun moments, but on the whole suffers from a bland cast. Vivian Blaine lacked the spark of an Alice Faye or Betty Grable, the other Fox stars of the day, and came across as brittle and not particularly likable. The leading men, including Perry Como, were also uninteresting, and there is even a misogynistic undertone to the movie, with male characters bragging about beating their girlfriends to keep them in line. There is something wince-inducing about seeing bland Perry Como threaten to beat his girlfriend, who gets turned on by it! As for the music, there are a couple of serviceable numbers, but they are reprised to death -- I found myself muttering "oh no, not this one again" by the middle of the movie. Como and Blaine's "Hubba Hubba" duet was the only number which for me was fresh and fun, and not overdone.In general, this is not a terrible or unpleasant film, but is not one many would want to rewatch. As another commenter noted, the melodrama seems to take over at times, and for me, the characters are not sympathetic or likable enough for me to get drawn in by the non-musical aspects of the plot. If you are wondering whether this adds anything of value to the Carmen Miranda collection --- in my opinion, it is only a very minor addition.

rsoonsa A wartime soufflé from a play by Gypsy Rose Lee (as Louise Hovick), DOLL FACE features a lightweight plot with some snappy dialogue and delivery among the clichés, while director Lewis Seiler's vision is properly focused upon contemporary swing music, highlighting the vocal skill of Vivian Blaine, Perry Como, Carmen Miranda and Martha Stewart (no, not that one). The scenario has as its primary business a rocky romance between Doll Face Carroll (Blaine), a burlesque queen, and her manager, Mike Hannegan (the stalwart Dennis O'Keefe), along with the latter's efforts to boost his proletarian protégé into the realm of operetta. Seiler manages to remain faithful to the story line while seamlessly blending in the many musical numbers which, interestingly enough, prove more of a showcase for the perky Stewart and smooth Como than for the top-billed and certainly very pleasant Blaine; the production number for Miranda is a wild one, indeed.