Cocoanut Grove

Here's another film in which Fred MacMurray demonstrates his smooth comedy style.

He plays a bandleader who is trying to get from Chicago to Hollywood so he can audition for the Cocoanut Grove night club. The band is a disparate group of musicians as well as the Yacht Club Boys and Eve Arden and Ben Blue as a dance "speciality" act. MacMurray also has a kid (Billy Lee) who isn't his and a tutor (Harriet Nelson). With no money, they go on a road trip in a jalopy pulling a trailer. They also pick up a bizarre singer (Rufe Davis) because he has a tow truck.

MacMurray is excellent in this little film; he gets to be funny but also shows his tender side in scenes with the kid and with Nelson. He even gets to sing a serious song and play clarinet. Nelson sings "Love, Says My Heart." Arden and Blue do a comic apache dance and another number. The Yacht Club Boys sing the hilarious "We're Four of the Three Musketeers." Especially nice chemistry between Fred MacMurray and Harriet Nelson, who would (as well as Eve Arden) go on the be among the biggest TV stars of the 50s and 60s.