Down to Earth (1947)

Terpsichore comes down from Parnassus to fix a Broadway show in which she is depicted in lowbrow fashion. Presumably after the war they could relax a bit but this really is a dire idea for a musical. The heavenly theme is carried over from "Here Comes Mr Jordan" (1941) - it allows Hayworth to make the transition from goddess to ordinary gal but the fantasy stuff is just too bogus and the putting-on-a-show stuff is dire (all the singing is dubbed). Hayworth looks good but gets better support from her Playtex than from Larry Parks, who is uncharismatic, and Edward Everett Horton who isn't funny - putting Horton in a military uniform was surely some kind of a mistake. Bizarrely bad.

Alright so we know that Down To Earth is no Oscar winner but it has some great dance numbers and memorable songs and is romantic and funny.Starring the wonderful Rita Hayworth it tells the story of the Greek goddess Terpsichore(Rita Hayworth)who's up in heaven and finds out that a practically(in her artistic view)tasteless musical of her and her muses is being produced on stage.She appeals to one of Heavens head men Mr Jordan(Roland Culver)to let her go and help the man behind it Danny Miller(Larry Parkes)to turn it into a masterpiece.Mr Jordan agrees(on the condition that she return to Heaven when her task is completed)and sends with her his trusted friend Heavenly messenger 7013(Edward Everett Horton). Along with an acting agent Max Corkle(James Gleason)her own talent,a name change(Kitty Pendelton)and some other worldly help from the kind Mr Jordan she attempts to turn it into a hit.Will she and Danny be able to have a relationship? as she sees him falling in love with her and what will audiences think of the production when it opens on Broadway?.Well watch this great musical and discover what happens for yourself.Rita is fantastic in this and performs some great dances and lovely costumes and sets really add to the film,this is one to watch when you need cheering up.

It would seem only natural that the greatest of screen goddesses would be cast as one of the residents of Olympus, but Rita Hayworth more than fills the part. Something tells me that if she and Terpsichore were talking now, Terpsichore would be real happy with Rita.I don't think she would be all that happy with the film as a whole, but the Greek Deities are a hard subject for the theater. Rodgers&Hart did well by them in By Jupiter, their last original collaboration. But Cole Porter had a misfire with them in Out Of This World. And the team of Doris Fisher and Allan Roberts aren't quite of the caliber of Porter and Rodgers&Hart. No great songs come out of the score here and that certainly would have helped the film a lot.In Down To Earth, Terpsichore does just that when up in her celestial viewing spot she sees that performer/producer Larry Parks planning a musical comedy that is a satire of the Greek Gods. She's not happy that liberties are being taken with her relations so she comes down and of course gets the dancing lead and the leading man, sort of.Rita Hayworth was dubbed by Anita Ellis who did her songs in a few of her Forties films. But why people were expecting the voice of Larry Parks in his one duet with Hayworth to be Al Jolson's, those Greek Gods only know. Parks was dubbed by a singer named Hal Derwin and I took a look at Mr. Derwin's credits and he dubbed at various times, Lee Bowman, Gene Nelson, and Bob Cummings in various films. It wasn't Jolson by why would anyone expect that.Helping out in Down to Earth are three roles from Here Comes Mr. Jordan, one of Columbia's earlier comedy/fantasy hits. Stepping in for Claude Rains as the all knowing Mr. Jordan is Roland Culver. And repeating their roles from Here Comes Mr. Jordan are Edward Everett Horton as the snippy heavenly messenger and James Gleason as the good hearted, but slightly confused Max Corkle who has quit managing fighters and is now an actor's agent. I suppose the job calls for the same skills.But this film is really Rita Hayworth's show. She's at the height of her screen fame when this was made and one look at her by young fans who might not have been alive when she was will tell you why that woman was the greatest screen sex symbol ever.So in overcoming a mediocre musical score Rita makes this film as personally her own as Gilda in the previous year. Not as good as Gilda, but all Rita.

From the dance fan's perspective this film has one particularly unusual number. The long "Greek Ballet" - end result of Terpsichore's meddling, done in the out-of-town tryout, is a marvelous send-up of Martha Graham and the modern dance movement of the period in general. Very unexpected in a popular star vehicle, particularly because it's fairly long and doesn't really feature Hayworth or Platt very prominently. One wonders how Cole got away with doing it and keeping it in the film. Well worth watching.The contrast with the original "Kiss of the Muse" dance, and the (abbreviated) final show version of the Greek ballet makes an enlightening statement about "highbrow art" vs. entertainment. It's a shame that Adele Jergens didn't get more opportunites to dance in films. She does a marvelous job as the first Terpsichore in the over-the-top "Kiss of the Muse" number. Marc Platt's dance skills were also underutilized - he's in all the numbers, but the choreography don't really make any demands on his skills.