Monday, July 9, 2012


The West Point Story
(aka Fine and Dandy)
Warner Bros., 1950, B/W, 107 minutes, ***½
Released December, 1950
Yankee Doodle Dandy Academy Award winner James Cagney puts on his dancing shoes again for this merry musical comedy packed with spirited starpower and lively tunes by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.

Cagney's Broadway showman is down on his luck yet full of hotshot ideas. Brought to West Point to stage the cadets' annual musical, he decides to make it a tryout for a Broadway transfer. But first, he must lure the show's talented lead (Gordon MacRae) out of the military. He's got just the right bait: a sweet-natured Hollywood star (Doris Day). Virginia Mayo and Gene Nelson also star alongside the irrepressible Cagney, who's "in rare good form, singing, dancing and wisecracking in his most electrifying style" (Bosley Crowther, The New York Times).

Produced by: Louis F. Edelman
Directed by: Roy Del Ruth
Screen Play by: John Monks Jr., Charles Hoffman and Irving Wallace
From a Story by by Irving Wallace ("Classmates")
Original Songs: Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Musical Direction: Ray Heindorf
Orchestrations: Frank Perkins
Vocal Arrangements: Hugh Martin
Dance Numbers Directed by: LeRoy Prinz
Staged by: Eddie Prinz and Al White
James Cagney's Dances Created by Johnny Boyle, Jr.
Technical Adviser: Col. William G. Proctor
Art Director: Charles H. Clarke
Set Decorator: Armor E. Marlowe
Wardrobe by: Milo Anderson, Marjorie Best
Sound by: Francis J. Scheid
Director of Photography: Sid Hickox
Special Effects by: Edwin DuPar
Film Editor: Owen Marks

Cast: James Cagney [Elwin Bixby], Virginia Mayo [Eve Dillon], Doris Day [Jan Wilson], Gordon MacRae [Tom Fletcher], Gene Nelson [Hal Courtland], Alan Hale, Jr.[Bull Gilbert], Roland Winters [Harry Eberhart], Raymond Roe [Bixby's "Wife"], Wilton Graff [Lt. Col. Martin], Jerome Cowan [Jocelyn], Frank Ferguson [Commandant], Russ Saunders [Acrobat], Jack Kelly [Officer-in-Charge], Glenn Turnbull [Hoofer], Walter Ruick [Piano Player], Luther Crockett [Senator], Victor Desney [French Attache],Wheaton Chambers [Secretary], James DobsonJoel MarstonBob HaydenDeWitt BishopJohn HedloeDon ShartelJames Young [Cadets], Bonnie Lou Williams[singing voice of Virginia Mayo]

Musical Program: [0:00] Hail Alma Mater (sung by Chorus behind titles); [0:01] It's Raining Sundrops (excerpt sung by Chorus; danced by James Cagney, Virginia Mayo and Chorus in rehearsal); [0:13] One Hundred Days 'Til June (sung by Gordon MacRae and Chorus); [0:16] By the Kissing Rock (sung by Gordon MacRae; danced by MacRae, Alan Hale, Jr. and Chorus); [0:18] By the Kissing Rock (sung and danced by James Cagney and Virginia Mayo, Bonnie Lou Williams dubbing for Virginia Mayo); [0:20] Long Before I Knew You (sung by Gordon MacRae, danced by Gene Nelson); [0:36] Long Before I Knew You (instrumental danced by Gene Nelson); [0:44] Ten Thousand Four Hundred Thirty-Two Sheep (sung by Doris Day and Mens' Chorus); [0:54] The Military Polka (sung by Doris Day, Gordon MacRae and Chorus; danced by Doris Day, James Cagney, Virgina Mayo, Gene Nelson and Chorus); [0:59] You Love Me (sung by Gordon MacRae); [1:03] By the Kissing Rock(reprised by Gordon MacRae and Doris Day); [1:10] The Corps (spoken by Gordon MacRae, sung by Chorus); [1:20] The Toy Trumpet (instrumental danced by Gene Nelson and Chorus); [1:31] Semper Fidelis (marched by Cadets); [1:32] The Toy Trumpet (instrumental danced by Chorus); [1:33] You Love Me (reprised by Gordon MacRae, joined by Doris Day); [1:37] B 'Postrohe K No 'Postrophe Lyn (sung and danced by James Cagney and Chorus); [1:39] It Could Only Happen in Brooklyn(sung by James Cagney, danced by James Cagney and Virginia Mayo; sung and danced by Cagney and Chorus); [1:44] This Is the Finale (sung and danced by Cast and Chorus, includes short reprisals of several songs from the score)

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