Let's Face It

Between "Anything Goes", "Panama Hattie" and "DuBarry Was a Lady", Cole Porter's Merman show became a shell of themselves on the big screen. This hit 1941 show is his most obscure hit, and the film and TV versions only give a glimpse of what was. The story remains if jealous wives pretending to have their own love nest to get revenge on their philandering husbands. Involved in their schemes are soldier Bob Hope and fat farm proprietor Betty Hutton, creating marital discord and getting hope in hot water with the army.

Hope and Hutton, in their only teaming, are amusing, but it's the three wives who get the best moments even if Betty and Bob get the songs. "I'm going out to get stinking from drinking", Zasu Pitts says, with fellow comic Eve Arden also getting in some great lines. Joining them is "The Women's" Phyllis Povah. The comedy is amusing, but only three of Porter's songs make it into the film. Future Broadway hit writer Jule Styne gets the other three. So as a comedy this works, although there was no reason to throw in a brief spy plot. A missed opportunity that only the talented cast manages to make acceptable.