Variety Girl 1947

Variety Girl


Paramount, 1947, B/W, 93 minutes, ***

Released August, 1947



Practically the entire talent roster of Paramount Pictures lent their services to this all-star musical, made to benefit the Variety Club children's charity. Two young women with dreams of stardom come to Hollywood and work their way onto the studio's lot, running into such stars as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Ray Milland, Alan Ladd, Barbara Stanwyck, Paulette Godard, Dorothy Lamour, Burt Lancaster, William Holden, Pearl Bailey, Sunny Tufts and even Cecil B. DeMille.



Very entertaining film. Fast-paced and funny! Mary Hatcher is wonderful - too bad she didn't make more films! Don't miss this one!



The film opens with the statement, "This picture is dedicated to Variety Clubs, International 'The Heart of Show Business' which beats constantly in behalf of the under-privileged children of the world... regardless of race, creed or color."



Produced by: Daniel Dare

Directed by: George Marshall

Assistant Director: George Templeton

Original Screen Play by: Edmund Hartmann, Frank Tashlin, Robert Welch and Monte Brice

Special Puppetoon Sequence by Thornton Hee and William Cottrell

Music Score and Direction: Joseph J. Lilley

Music Associate: Troy Sanders

Music Score for Puppetoon Sequence: Edward Plumb

Songs: "Harmony" by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen; "Tired" by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher

New Songs by: Frank Loesser

Musical Numbers Staged by: Billy Daniels and Bernard Pearce

Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Robert Clatworthy

Set Decoration: Sam Comer and Ross Dowd

Stars' Gowns: Edith Head

Production Gowns: Dorothy O'Hara

Chorus Costumes: Waldo Angelo

Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore

Sound Recording by: Gene Merritt and John Cope

Special Photographic Effects: Gordon Jennings

Puppetoon Sequence in Technicolor Executed by: George Pal

Directors of Photography: Lionel Lindon and Stuart Thompson

Edited by: LeRoy Stone



Cast: Mary Hatcher [Catherine Brown], Olga San Juan [Amber La Vonne], DeForest Kelley [Bob Kirby], Frank Ferguson [J. R. O'Connell], Glen Tryon [Bill Farris], Nella Walker [Mrs. Webster], Torben Meyer [Andre - Headwaiter at the Brown Derby], Jack Norton [Busboy - Brown Derby], Elaine Riley [Cashier], Charles Victor [Ass't to Mr. O'Connell], Gus Taute [Ass't to Assistant], Harry Hayden [Stage Manager - Grauman's Chinese], Additional Cast: Janet Thomas [First Girl], Roberta Jonay [Second Girl], Wallace Earl [Girl with sheepdog], Dick Keene [Dog Trainer], Ann Doran [Hairdresser], Jerry James [Assistant Director], Eric Alden [Makeup man], Lucille Barkley, Carolyn Butler [Secretaries], Pinto Colvig [Special Voice Impersonation], Edgar Dearing [Cop], Russell Hicks, Crane Whitley, Charles Coleman, Hal K. Dawson, Eddie Fetherston, Len Hendry, Lorin Raker [Men at Steambath], Sammy Stein [Masseur], Douglas Regan, Warren Joslin [Boys], John Stanley, Joel Friend, Al Ruiz [Specialty dancers], Pat Templeton, Larry Badagliacca [Boys at Grauman's], Bob Alden [Autograph Seeker], Pat Moran [Drunken Tumbling Act], Willa Pearl Curtis [Sister Jenkins], Mildred Boyd [Sister Jenkins' Daughter], Lee Emery, Marilyn Gray, Renee Randall [Usherettes], The Six DeWaynes [Themselves], Raymond Largay [Director of the Variety Club], Alma Macrorie [Proprietress], Duke Johnson [Juggler], Catherine Craig [Secretary], As Themselves: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Alan Ladd, Barbara Stanwyck, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, Sonny Tufts, Joan Caulfield, William Holden, Lizabeth Scott, Burt Lancaster, Gail Russell, Diana Lynn, Sterling Hayden, Robert Preston, Veronica Lake, John Lund, William Bendix, Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Da Silva, Macdonald Carey, Cass Daley, Patric Knowles, Mona Freeman, Billy De Wolfe, William Demarest, Cecil Kellaway, Virginia Field, Richard Webb, Frank Faylen, Cecil B. DeMille, Mitchell Leisen, Frank Butler, George Marshall, Pearl Bailey, Jim Mulcay, Mildred Mulcay, Spike Jones, Frank Mayo, Arleen Whelan, Johnny Coy, Stanley Clements, Mikhail Rasumny, Sally Rawlinson, Barney Dean, Mary Edwards, Virginia Welles, George Reeves, Patricia White Barry, Wanda Hendrix, Nanette Parks, Rae Patterson, Andra Verne, Roger Dann



Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:35] Your Heart Calling Mine (comic number sung by Mary Hatcher with Spike Jones and His Orchestra); [0:47] Romeow and Julicat (Puppetoon sequence voiced by Mary Hatcher, Pinto Colvig, sound effects men and Chorus); [1:06] Tallahassee (sung by Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour and Chorus); [1:10] Tired (performed by Pearl Bailey); [1:15] Tiger Rag (played by Jim and Mildred Mulcay on Harmonica with Bob Hope); [1:19] He Can Waltz (sung by Mary Hatcher dubbing for Olga San Juan on-screen); [1:20] He Can Waltz (sung by Mary Hatcher); [1:27] Harmony (finale production number sung and danced by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Company)