The Gang’s All Here
Directed by Busby Berkeley
Written by Walter Bullock, Story by Nancy Wintner et al
1943/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] I wonder why does ev’rybody look at me/ And then begin to talk about a Christmas tree?/ I hope that means that ev’ryone is glad to see/ The lady in the tutti-frutti hat. — “The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat”, lyrics by Leo Robin[/box]
Forget the plot, the production numbers in this film transcend high camp and move into the realm of the psychedelic!
Alice Faye plays Edie, a chorus girl in the world’s most elaborate nightclub show starring Carmen Miranda. Andy Mason (James Ellison), son of millionaire Andrew Mason (Eugene Pallette) spots Edie in the line and chats her up at a canteen for servicemen next door to the club, where Benny Goodman and his Orchestra entertain. They fall in love on the Staten Island ferry that night. After their kiss on her doorstep, she promises to write him every single day overseas. Unbeknownst to her, he is expected to marry his childhood sweetheart, the daughter of the Mason’s stockbroker next-door neighbor Peyton Potter (Edward Everett Horton) and his wife (Charlotte Greenwood).
Andy covers himself in glory in his three months in the South Pacific. The Masons and Potters plan a huge benefit for War Bonds on the Potters’ palatial estate to welcome him home. This will be provided by the cast of the nightclub’s next extravaganza, in which Edie is a headliner. Numerous hijinx and heartbreaks follow. But they are mostly there to provide a backdrop for the amazing finale.
After the series of Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland musicals he helmed, Busby Berkeley is back in his most outrageous form for this one. And he has glorious Technicolor on his side! This really must be seen to be believed. The girls, the costumes, the weirdness! I had a hell of a good time. Recommended for its intended audience – you know who you are.
The Gang’s All Here was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color.
Clip – “The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat” – Enjoy!!!!
