BEST FOOT FORWARD

Best Foot Forward
MGM, 1943, Color, 95 minutes, ***
Premiere release June, 1943
General release October, 1943

Watch out! That dizzy, unpredictable redhead, Lucille Ball, is about to invade a military school. With a bright cast of rising young stars and a batch of bouncy tunes, Best Foot Forward is a joyful, light-hearted Technicolor musical.

In this delightful version of the stage hit, Lucy plays a movie queen who, to boost her waning popularity, accepts the invitation of a young cadet (Tommy Dix) at Winsocki Military Institute to be his date at the senior prom. Before long the trouble - and the laughs - are under way as Lucy, the cadets and their eager girlfriends converge on campus for the festivities. Of course, they often stop chasing each other long enough to sing and dance to some lively tunes, including "The Three B's," "Ev'ry Time" and the rousing "Buckle Down, Winsocki," the song that had Broadway audiences cheering for months. June Allyson, Nancy Walker and Gloria DeHaven add to the merriment, and Harry James and His Music Makers keep toes tapping with their exhilerating music.

A giddy, gaudy package of vintage entertainment, Best Foot Forward was hailed by The New York Times as "a rollicking musical film that pops with hilarious situations, sparkling dialogue and the spirit of youth."

The song "Buckle Down Winsockie" was used as the theme for commercials promoting the use of safety belts in cars during the 1960s. The lyric was changed to "Buckle Up for Safety."

Virginia Weidler is all grown up and looking really pretty!

Produced by: Arthur Freed
Directed by: Edward Buzzell
Screen Play by: Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe
Book by: John Cecil Holm
Produced on the Stage by George Abbott
Music and Lyrics by: Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane
Musical Direction: Lennie Hayton
Orchestration: Jack Matthias, Leroy Holmes, Conrad Salinger, George Bassman, Leo Arnaud
Dance Direction: Charles Walters
Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
Associate: Edward Carfagno
Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis
Associate: Mildred Griffiths
Costume Supervision: Irene
Men's Costumes by: Gile Steele
Make-Up Created by: Jack Dawn
Recording Director: Douglas Shearer
Director of Photography: Leonard Smith
Photographed in Technicolor
Technicolor Color Director: Natalie Kalmus
Associate: Henri Jaffa
Film Editor: Blanche Sewell

Cast: Lucille Ball [Herself], William Gaxton [Jack O'Riley], Virginia Weidler [Helen Schlessenger], Tommy Dix [Bud / Elwood C. Hooper], Nancy Walker [Blind Date (Nancy)], June Allyson [Minerva], Kenny Bowers [Dutch], Gloria DeHaven [Ethel], Jack Jordan [Hunk], Beverly Tyler [Miss Delaware Water Gap], Chill Wills [Chester Short], Henry O'Neill [Major Reeber], Sara Haden [Miss Talbert], Donald MacBride [Captain Bradd], Bobby Stebbins [Greenie], Darwood Kaye [Killer], Morris Ankrum [Colonel Harkrider], Nana Bryant [Mrs. Dalyrimple], Harry James and His Music Makers [Themselves], Gloria Grafton [Singing Voice for Lucille Ball], Louanne Hogan [singing voice of Virginia Weidler]

Musical Program: [0:00] Buckle Down, Winsocki (sung by Chorus behind titles); [0:04] Wish I May Wish I Might (sung and danced by Glora De Haven, June Allyson, Kenny Bowers, Jack Jordan, Sara Haden, Donald McBribe and Chorus); [0:15] Three Men on a Date (sung by Tommy Dix, Kenny Bowers and Jack Jordan); [0:29] Two O'Clock Jump (played by Harry James and His Music Makers, danced by prom guests); [0:32] Ev'ry Time (instrumental arrangement played by Harry James and His Music Makers, danced by prom guests); [0:35] Ev'ry Time (sung by Louanne Hogan dubbing for Virginia Weidler); [0:43] Flight of the Bumblebee (played by Harry James and His Music Makers); [0:45] The Three B's (sung and danced by June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, Nancy Walker and Chorus with Harry James and His Music Makers); [1:01] My First Promise (The Ring Waltz) (sung by Beverly Tyler, danced by prom guests); [1:15] Alive and Kickin' (sung by Nancy Walker with Harry James and His Music Makers, danced by Harry James and Nancy Walker); [1:20] You're Lucky (sung by Gloria Grafton dubbing for Lucille Ball); [1:29] Buckle Down, Winsocki (marched by stidents, sung by Tommy Dix and Chorus)