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Rita Hayworth sings and dances like an angel
Review date: 2007-10-31 Rating: 8 out of 10
Rita Hayworth sings and dances like an angel while playing the Greek Love Goddess, Terpsichore, in this musical/fantasy/romantic comedy (1947). Director Alexander Hall known for hits such as; Once Upon a Time (1944; Cary Grant and Janet Blair) and Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941; Robert Montgomery and Evelyn Keyes), recreated his 1941 movie with new stars and a musical theme. For many Rita Hayworth fans, this is simply fantastic as Hayworth rewrote her name as love goddess in the history of Hollywood. This is a perfect film which exploits the dancing/singing skills Hayworth; combined with sheer beauty, adorned in lovely costumes, extravagant décor in the company of charming chorus girls, Terpsichore comes down to earth from heaven as Kitty Pendleton to a play in a musical. The premise being Terpsichore becomes upset over the way her character is presented in the show, and therefore with the approval of Mr. Jordan (Roland Culver) and messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton), she stars and tries to correct the show with the help of producer Danny Miller (Larry Parks.) Kitty and Danny have constant arguments over the way the musical is being presented; when the show fails to impress the critics and spectators, Kitty decides to quit and go back to heaven, but Mr. Jordan convince her to stay and help Danny to resurrect the show. When the show becomes successful, Kitty learns that she is love with Danny and that there is not much fun returning to heaven. The dance and signing routines are not as good as her movie with Gene Kelly (Cover Girl), but satisfactory. Larry Parks is not the best choice for the leading man in a romantic comedy, but Rita Hayworth steals the show: This movie is highly recommended to all fans of Rita Hayworth.
The real Terpsichore (Rita Hayworth) is upset over being portrayed as a swinging man hungry goddess. She will recruits Mr. Jordan (Roland Culver) and his Messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) to help her go to earth and correct Danny's pretrial of Terpsichore.
Will she succeed? If so at what cost?
The characters are based upon the ones in "Here comes Mister Jordan" (1941). They even tie Rita Hayworth's name in as Kitty Pendleton. The same director is Alexander Hall.
Pure Hollywood escapist hokum. But it works! Not unforgettably so, or even particularly memorably, but during the film you won't be bored. The songs are decent, so is the choreography, production values are terrific, and this is the kind of movie that Technicolor was made for. That, and Rita Hayworth who is stunning to look at in every frame with her flaming red hair, red lips and peachy skin! And she moves so sensually and performs so seductively and intelligently that you won't mind the occasional silly plot twist, or the fact that Larry Parks in the male lead is no Gene Kelly. He has charm, though, and a pleasant baritone.
No extras on this DVD, but a warm, nice transfer. Not a huge hit in anyone's book, but a nice way to spend a couple of hours. You might even want to watch it again some day.