EDGE Boston

Betty Grable was the biggest Hollywood film star of the 1940s and the highest paid female in show biz for over a decade. Sadly her legacy has been reduced to that famous WWII pinup photograph and her appearance in the 1950s comedy classic How To Marry a Millionaire which costars Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe. Although Grable made dozens of other films for Fox her movies have been largely unavailable for decades and are rarely ever shown on TV. 20th Century Fox has just started releasing The Betty Grable Collection on DVDs and, if they treat the rest of the series with the same loving care as they have treated the first four, then this will truly be a set of DVDs worthy of Grable’s talent and stature. The DVDs all come in deluxe packages with slipcases and postcard portfolio reprints of lobby cards that were used by theatres to promote the films.

Grable’s early career as teenager in Hollywood was a roller coaster ride of hits, misses and notable guest appearances in films. Despite her talent and abilities Grable was unable to get a starring role in Hollywood so she left and worked on the nightclub circuit. Considering herself washed up at age 21 she kept working in live theatre performances and ended up making a big hit on Broadway, which once again got her the attention of Hollywood. Down Argentine Way (1940), the first movie in this collection, was Grable’s first film for Fox and also contains Carmen Miranda’s first Fox appearance. The film is a beautifully designed and photographed tribute to the then exotic lands south of the border. Carmen Miranda starts out the movie with a funny song and then after a beautiful portfolio of images of Argentine the story begins to unfold. This beginning setup is typical of a lot of Fox’s musical films of the early 40s and although it may seem odd by today’s standards, we have to remember that in the days before TV these movies provided the only way most people got to see performers and to see what the rest of the world looked like - and all in beautiful Technicolor!

Like many of Grable’s Fox musicals the story is a piece of silly romantic fluff but what makes it worth watching is Grable’s dazzling screen presence. Grable was made for Technicolor and with her flawless beauty, girl-next-door sweetness, spunky humor, and innocent sexuality it’s easy to see how Grable became the biggest star of the era. Oh yea, and she was a hell of a dancer and singer too! Grable’s first big Hollywood film appearance was in the Fred Astair /Ginger Rogers movie Follow The Fleet where her solo dance number stole the spotlight. In this movie, and in all her Fox musicals, she gets to strut her stuff in several big production numbers that rivaled anything MGM or the other studios were producing. Betty was a knockout performer and her sense of fun and joy at performing comes across loud and clear. She is a delight to watch.

Down Argentine Way costars Don Ameche as a South American horse breeder who meets Grable at an auction only to find that she is the daughter of his father’s sworn enemy. Despite the circumstances the two fall in love when they meet up in Buenos Aires and get involved with a star race horse owned by Ameche’s father. Filled with typically G-rated 1940’s witty humor the movie is interrupted regularly with musical numbers to show off Grable talents and provide a launch pad for Miranda’s iconic and exotic comic-musical act. Miranda was already a huge star in South American when she came to Hollywood and her featured appearances in many Fox’s musical in the 1940s made her global star. Only a year later, in 1941, she co-starred with Alice Faye in Weekend in Havana which has also just recently been released on DVD. All’s well the ends well as Grable and Ameche become a couple, the horse wins the race and everyone goes dancing and singing into the sunset. The other notable cast member in this, and several other Grable films, is Charlotte Greenwood a leggy comedian whose acrobatic dance numbers are always a highlight of her film appearances. This DVD comes with an audio commentary from film historian Sylvia Stoddard whose appreciation and admiration for Grable and Miranda makes her commentary well worth a listen. Also included is a must-see Arts & Entertainment Channel Biography of Grable narrated by Peter Graves. Grable was Hollywood’s biggest star but, despite her fame and glamour, she was also one it’s most down-to-earth and beloved performers. Hollywood notables from Alice Faye and Debbie Reynolds to Carol Burnett recount their friendships with Grable and openly gush about their love and admiration for her. Faye, also a huge film star in the 1940s reveals that the supposed rivalry between her and Grable was a P.R. stunt and that the two women remained best of friends until Grable’s death in 1973. The DVD also contains a photo gallery of images from the movie.

Moon Over Miami (1941) again costars Ameche and Greenwood along with Carol Landis and Robert Cummings in a story of three girls who leave their Texas waitress jobs and head to Miami to land rich husbands. The girls pool their money to stay at a luxury hotel where they mingle with the rich playboys in hopes of finding a millionaire. Grable poses as an heiress with Greenwood and Landis posing as her maid and secretary. Amece and Cummings both court Grable while Jack Haley makes an appearance as the hotel waiter who uncovers the fact that that the girls are gold diggers. The movie plays like a dry run for How To Marry a Millionaire as the girls try to figure out who’s rich and who’s just pretending and of course everything concludes in a happy ending. The film is another Fox Technicolor extravaganza with great musical numbers and eye-popping art deco sets that defy belief. The DVD does not feature any audio commentary but does feature a portfolio gallery of still images from the movie.

The Dolly Sisters (1945) is a more toned down and elegant affair than the previous Grable films due to it being filmed and distributed during the War. Grable and June Haver costar with John Payne in a beautiful tribute to the famous sisters who were big vaudeville stars in America and Europe before the First World War. Sister Jenny falls in love with songwriter Harry Fox while Rosie falls for a department store owner. In between the songs and dances the lovers fall apart and come back together as they all try to figure out how to make successful careers and love affairs work. This is one of Grable’s more substantial films and one of the ones that film historians usually point to when they discuss her career. Haver is also a real beauty with talent to match and she and Grable make a great team in the production numbers. This movie contains a politically incorrect black-face production number for The Darktown Strutter’s Ball, that is as beautiful as it is appalling. The DVD offers an interesting audio commentary from film historian Drew Casper, a Fox Movietone newsreel from the film’s Chicago premiere, and a photo gallery of still images from the film. An odd note to this film is that is was produced by actor and entrepreneur George Jessel.

My Blue Heaven (1950) is an interesting movie because it features a now older Grable in a contemporary setting that is much less giddy than her previous films and much more in fashion with the more realistic temper of the times. With TV still a new and exciting media Grable stars with Dan Dailey in a story about a married performing couple with a hit TV show trying to start a family. Grable wants to have a baby and, after a car accident leaves her unable to get pregnant, the couple try to unsuccessfully adopt from a service but are turned down because they undependable actor types. They then get caught up in an illegal adoption which later cause them much heartache until the film ends with them having more babies than they know what to do with. David Wayne costars in this movie along with Jane Wyatt who later became a big TV star as the mom on Father Knows Best. The film is also notable for Mitzi Gaynor’s first film role as a young vixen with her eyes set on Dailey.

The musical numbers in this film are staged as part of the TV broadcasts so they fit nicely into the film and don’t come across as silly flights of fancy but mesh nicely with the storyline. Dailey and Grable starred together in several films and their lifelong friendship resulted in a nice screen chemistry. Dailey gets a solo number that befits his star status and Gaynor is featured in a couple numbers that showed off her talents which helped Fox turn her into a major musical comedy star.

But the film belongs to Grable who, no longer a 20-something, bubbly babe, was still a major beauty who had by 1950 developed her softer adult sensibilities which come across in her scenes with the kids. She also is great in the scene where she catches Daily and Gaynor in a kiss and she stands her ground as the loving wife. This kind of sophisticated yet vulnerable scene is perfect for Grable whose wide ranging performance leaves no doubt about who is the star of this film. The DVD comes with a dry, scholarly but interesting audio commentary from film historian Drew Casper who relates the importance of this film in an era of shifting tastes and media upheaval from the upstart realm of the new kid on the block, television. It’s fun to note that all the television set shown in this film are seeing the TV musical numbers in color but that color TV sets didn’t exist at the time.

Any fan of musical comedy needs to see these movies! If you are aware of Grable but have never seen her in anything other than How To Marry a Millionaire then do yourself a favor and grab onto these DVDs. These films have been remastered with loving care in magnificent new versions that look like they just filmed yesterday - and I guarantee that they will leave you wanting more of Betty! I have an 80s VHS tape cassette version of Down Argentine Way that I found a decade ago when I was searching for any of Grable’s films that were available. I was glad to find it and watched it numerous times but compared to this new DVD version the cassette looks like a washed-out postcard from a bygone era. Thanks to Fox for producing this series and here’s hoping they keep them coming!!!

- Audio Commentaries
- Lobby Card Reprint postcard sets
- Still image photo galleries
- A&E Biography of Grable