I watched Star Spangled Rhythm last night, as the DVD finally arrived.

I’ve been on a small Paramount library kick over the last few months. I’ve got four of the Road To movies in a box set, Palm Beach Story and several Bing Crosby and Bob Hope movies in twin sets. My aim is to view as many movies in the 750 title, pre-1948 library (that is held by Universal) as possible within the next year.

It’s the second Betty Hutton film that I’ve seen (the other one being Annie Get Your Gun… and ironically her second picture where she had a lead role) that I’ve seen and she was quite amusing. She would have been fairly young at the time and the role suited her. A little OTT on the scenes with her sailor beau… but that was forgivable.

There were two musical numbers that I found interesting. The first one was Sweater, Sarong & Peekaboo Bang. A pretty silly one really… but definitely poking fun at the way Dorothy Lamour, Paulette Goddard & Veronica Lake were pegged into stereotypes. Complete with men in drag and all. I’d never seen Veronica Lake in a film before, and what struck me was how her look was timeless. She could have easily been in a film in the fifties, or even today and look entirely in place in later eras.

The other number was Sharp as a Tack. It’s pretty awful when you know that it was designed so it could be easily deleted so segregated audiences in the southern USA wouldn’t see it. From the snappy zoot suits to the presence of Katherine Dunham, I believe it was definitely the best number. I just think the movement and the music was wonderful.

I also gave some thought to how there is no way that such a movie could be made today… with top movie stars salaries being so high… and needing several stars! Obviously though in 1942 the studio system made it easy (ie make it or face suspension). And a nostalgic look back is always good.