Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)

Alice Faye's heyday was from the mid 1930s to the early 1940s when she introduced a myriad of standards in that mellowed, honeyed voice of hers but Fox never seemed to do the right thing by her - maybe she was just too nice. There was always a newer, flashier star she had to share the limelight with - not always but it sure seemed like it!! Initially she served part of her apprenticeship playing second fiddle to Fox's biggest star Shirley Temple, then in the 1940s Betty Grable was getting the studio excited. Even when she did do a movie "On the Avenue" and got to sing a swag of songs she made popular, Madeline Carroll was in it to be paired with Dick Powell and Faye had to be content with a "sugar daddy"!! and when she was coaxed into doing a movie, "Fallen Angel", that she felt would take her career in a new direction suddenly sultry Linda Darnell's part was built up at the expense of her own. "Hello Frisco, Hello" was also a comeback - she was happily married to Phil Harris and had given birth to a daughter the year before - but this time everything worked out in her favour. In the two years she had been absent from the screen she had lost none of her public appeal or the ability to put over a song.With a medley of old time tunes the movie introduces the naughty, bawdy San Francisco of the early 1900s and a slick singing team from Sharkey's Saloon who sing "Lindy Lou", "Hello Frisco, Hello" and "You'll Never Know", hoping the act can push them into the big time but it only gets them fired. They start to put on free street shows ("Ragtime Cowboy Joe", "Sweet Cider Time"). Johnny (John Payne) is the wheeler dealer of the group and is able to put on a legitimate show due to "protection" money he is able to get from the saloons - they pay him and he keeps the street shows away from their premises.If any film was enhanced by Technicolor it was this one. The richness of the decor and the brightness of the costumes will leave you agog!! It would take a whole review to describe Alice Faye's costumes - her "Grizzly Bear" outfit includes a red ostrich feather hat and matching muff. She may not give an Academy Award performance but she looks absolutely gorgeous in these turn of the century gowns. It can't be all fun and games and Lyn Bari, as Bernice Croft, makes a beautiful "other woman" from Nob Hill. This is the crowd Johnny aspires to and of course comes unstuck.One of the highlights (for me) is Faye's "personality" rendition of "They Always Pick on Me". The songs (and beautiful costumes) keep coming - "Bedelia", "Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly" etc. Faye plays Trudy and Bernice's brother Ned takes a special interest in her, bringing a very interested English impresario to listen to her sing and whisk her off to the continent where she becomes the toast of London. Trudy returns to America to find all of Johnny's clubs closed - after marrying Bernice he turns his back on the Barbury Coast and pours all his money into bringing Grand Opera to San Francisco. Needless to say Trudy finds him down and out but with a little wheeling and dealing (involving Laird Cregar as a blustering prospector) he is put on his feet again for the encore of "Hello Frisco, Hello" and "You'll Never Know".Jack Oakie had been making audiences laugh since talkies first came in - his career was given a boost when Chaplin gave him the role of "Il Duce" in "The Great Dictator" but this movie saw him almost at the end of his career.

Alice Faye's reign at 20th Century Fox, which overlapped with Betty Grable's, started earlier than Grable's and ended sooner - and on a sour note. Faye actually came with the old Fox Film Corp. when Zanuck founded 20th Century Fox and was at first a Harlow type, eventually developing into the Alice Faye moviegoers came to love. When she was given a dramatic role, in the 1945 "Dark Angel," the film was re-edited to favor Linda Darnell, and a disgusted Faye left Fox and never returned.Here she's on top in "Hello Frisco, Hello" also starring John Payne, Lynn Bari, Jack Oakie, June Havoc and Laird Cregar, a big, colorful turn of the century musical in the Fox tradition. Alice plays Trudy Evans, the linchpin in a group formed by the ambitious Johnny Cornell. Johnny isn't content with the Barbary Coast - he wants Nob Hill. After opening a series of clubs, he becomes interested in a beautiful widow (Bari) who can give him the respectability he wants. When she goes broke, he tries to buy her house. To the heartbreak of Trudy, who's been in love with him all along, the two eventually marry.There's one song after another in this musical, including Faye's beautiful rendition of "You'll Never Know," which became a smash hit. Faye's voice was so unusual - low, sultry and smooth, and it fits the music here perfectly. She is beautifully photographed and costumed as well. Oakie and Havoc provide comic support, and Bari is excellent as the woman who wins Johnny away from Trudy.The big problem with the film is the character of Johnny (Payne), who is a real louse and a user to boot as he strings Trudy along. Personally, I would have let him stew in his own juice but this is Hollywood after all. And the plot is so secondary to the wonderful music and stars. Highly entertaining.

I don't know what is wrong with Leonard Maltin, giving this 2 stars and calling it a big comedown for the stars. This is one of my favorite musicals starring Alice Faye and she has never been so beautifully filmed in technicolor. Her costumes, hair styles and hats, are gorgeous as is the way she is made up.Jack Oakie and June Havoc are joyous in their comic musical numbers. John Payne plays his ambitious, clueless, social climbing saloon keeper well enough. The opening number "Hello, Frisco, Hello" going right on into "You'll Never Know" is beautifully staged. Forever after this song was introduced in this film, it was Alice Fayes signature song and thousands of WWII couples danced and dreamed to it. Lynn Bari is also gorgeous as the rich femme fatale from Nob Hill that comes between Payne and Faye. But the story is secondary to the songs and stars. A real pleasure that I keep in my permanent collections of films of the Golden Era. 8/10

Strong evidence of why Alice Faye was such a big star in the 40s. Good support from John Payne, Jack Oakie, and femme fatale Lynn Bari. Some critics, including Maltin, are down on this one, but they're wrong. It's a joy from end to end, and as easy on the eyes (in color) as Faye's voice is on the ears (especially in Academy Award winner "You'll Never Know"). Wish they gave Payne more songs to sing, but you can't have everything. Offhand, I don't know of a Fox musical of that era that's as enjoyable.