And the Angels Sing (1944)

Apparently folks at Paramount held off releasing "And the Angels Sing" for a year...sure sign that they probably thought the film would bomb. Much of this might have been because Fred MacMurray played a real jerk...not the sort of guy he played in "Double Indemnity" but more of a cad who thinks nothing of stealing or sexually harassing ladies. I don't understand the studio making such a picture...and a few other things didn't help it either.The Angel Sisters (Dorothy Lamour, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn and Mimi Chandler) don't really like each other very much. In particular, Nancy (Lamour) is angry with Bobby (Hutton) because she won't get a job and the family could really use the money. Surprisingly, Bobby finally tells her family that she DOES have a job. She volunteered her sisters to sing with her on Saturday night at some club.At the club, the bandleader, Happy Marshall (MacMurray) horribly sexually harasses Nancy the second he meets her. Well, it turns out this isn't the worst thing about Happy. Later, he promises Bobby a high paying job traveling with the band as their singer...and instead he steals her money and uses it to get his band to Brooklyn!! If this doesn't sound like a very good plot for a film...well, this sure had me thinking the same! So what's next when the four sisters set out for Brooklyn to confront Happy?In addition to MacMurray's character who continues to be a total pig throughout the movie, it also loses points from me simply because I can't stand Betty Hutton. Her shtick is SCREAMING songs and occasionally screaming her dialog...and I have no idea how she ever became popular. Despite all that, I must admit that I liked some of the music (NOT Hutton's solo...good grief, no!). As for the story...well, it's simply horrible. On balance, I can EASILY understand why they shelved this movie. With a few script changes (and gagging Hutton), it could have easily been better.

AND THE ANGELS SING is a utterly entertaining comedy/musical starring Dorothy Lamour and Fred MacMurray with rising young actresses Betty Hutton and Diana Lynn in featured roles. This movie doesn't have much of a reputation thanks to the fact it curiously has been seldom seen in recent decades. It has never aired on any major national cable channel to my knowledge yet it was a major Paramount film and a big hit at the time.Lamour and Hutton are the main attractions in a sister singing quartet who get the shaft from sneaky band leader Fred MacMurray. Eventually Betty pursues Fred - and Fred pursues Dorothy. The songs in this film are sensational - Lamour croons the lovely "It Could Happen to You", Hutton stops the show with the outrageous "My Rocking Horse Ran Away", and the sister act sings a lot of songs in best Andrew Sisters harmony including the very charming "The First Hundred Years" and the sassy "Knocking On Your Own Front Door".Too bad TCM didn't get this for their retrospective on Hutton films a few years ago - it's one of her best even if she does play second fiddle to Lamour (though she holds her own). And Dorothy Lamour gives one of her best performances, she can handle comedy and music with equal ease and of course is one of the best lookers ever in movies as icing on the cake.

Movies like this raised the spirits of war weary citizens during the 1940's. Well guess what? It will still lift your spirits today! You've probably read the plot and already know the story. Nevertheless, in a nutshell – The four Angel sisters (Lamour, Hutton, Lynn and Chandler) are chiseled out of $190 by band leader Happy Marshall (Fred MacMurray), pushed into doing it by his friend Fuzzy (Eddie Foy, Jr.). Happy and the band go to Brooklyn, with the girls following to retrieve their money – and some funny and musical things happen along the way. Lamour and Hutton both get goofy over MacMurray with resultant pandemonium. The story line was not meant to be deep, just fun and entertaining, and it met those goals. Dorothy Lamour and Betty Hutton dominate the talent in the movie and not necessarily in that order. Although Lamour, with fine acting and a wonderful voice had the lead, it was Betty Hutton's talent that stole the show hands down. Before Hollywood stardom, Dorothy Lamour was Miss New Orleans in 1931, and then she set out to be a singer. In one part of the movie she tries to gain entry to the Copacabana club in Brooklyn, but is turned away by the ticket seller because she does not have an escort. This type of scene interests me because, when I see a familiar face I like to do some checking, then report the findings here (which saves the reader from doing so). Notice the ticket lady was Louise La Planche who was Miss North America 1940. In 1996 she was the last surviving cast member of Lon Chaney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame". In this scene, as Dorothy is walking away, she meets a fellow in a zoot suit. He had a familiar face and his name was Frank Faylen. Familiar because he played the father of Dobie Gillis in the TV show and the cab driver in "It's a Wonderful Life". Frank and Dorothy did a great routine with an exaggerated Brooklyn-ese style conversation. Betty Hutton's energy and pizazz was evident from the start. When the Angel sisters walked down the street in the beginning of the film and as they came out on the stage singing they just walked calmly – except for Betty. She had that natural bounce to her step that is as much a part of her personality as rolling and blinking those expressive eyes. I don't know how else to put it – in a group of talented entertainers – she is the one you notice. Some might say she has an extraordinary talent that only comes along once in a lifetime. Ha! Try multiple generations! The third Angel sister was Diana Lynn, and when you saw her playing the piano in the movie it was apparently not a fake. In real life, she was a child prodigy who played piano for the Los Angeles Junior Symphony at the age of 12. The fourth sister was played by Mimi Chandler whom I don't recognize at all, so she is a mystery to me. Dorothy's boyfriend Oliver was played by Frank Albertson, brother of Jack Albertson (from Chico and the Man and Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka). The male lead was Fred MacMurray and I hate it when he plays a cad. He was great as a Scout leader in "Follow Me Boys" and as the father on TV's "My Three Sons", but when he plays a low life, I guess he does it too well as you just don't like him. Real life meets movie, as he plays a band leader in this movie and he started out playing and singing with bands early in his career. Eddie Foy, Jr. is his friend Fuzzy. Eddie played his father Eddie Sr. (famous as Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys) several times as in "Yankee Doodle Dandy". His parents actually had eleven children, but only seven survived and Eddie Sr. incorporated them into his act when their mother died. Eddie Jr. acted well in this movie and reminded me of a younger Harry Morgan. Those with a sharp ear will notice during the conversation between Eddie Jr, MacMurray and Hutton some name-dropping. Eddie says he has tried to get several singers and mentions Diana Shore, Harriet Hilliard and a name sounding like Boswell. As we know, Harriet Hilliard became the model for 1950's mothers in TV's Ozzie & Harriet with Dave and Ricky Nelson. An interesting person popped up when Fred and Dorothy go out night clubbing and end up at a Polish wedding. Notice the bride played by Hillary Brooke. Although a small part here, she became that "tall blonde with the British accent" who played opposite Basil Rathbone in a couple Sherlock Holmes movies and with Red Skelton in "The Fuller Brush Man" to name just a couple. The father of the Angel sisters was Raymond Walburn who usually played a comical stuff shirt official. He is described as a look alike for the caricature of Mr. Monopoly. In this movie, his favorite daughter is Betty Hutton, as demonstrated when she is the only one who appreciates his lamb stew cooking and he defends her for not finding a job. There were several such character actors in the film. All long time professionals such as Jack Norton who made a career out of playing staggering drunks even though he was a teetotaler in real life. As you can see, the movie had a wealth of acting talent to supplement the harmonious singing of the sister act with Betty Hutton and Dorothy Lamour in particular. As written on the screen at the start – the Angels did not have halos, harps nor wings, what they didn't have they didn't need! Although the story line is somewhat predictable, don't waste time analyzing it. Just relax and enjoy the laughs and music of "And the Angels Sing".

Even though she is billed third behind Lamour and MacMurray, Betty Hutton walks away with the picture. The plot is as old as the hills but the by play of the four Angel sisters is very amusing.But the reason to watch the film is Betty Hutton. She is adorable in this film, has a couple of funny novelty musical numbers in addition to the ones she sings with her "sisters" and does a drunk scene that is one of the most hilarious that I have ever seen. Lamour had to do one later in the film and I felt sorry for her having to follow Hutton's performance.