I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now

I saw "I Wonder Who is Kissing Her Now" last night. It is my third June Haver musical and I was slightly underwhelmed by it.

An extravagant biography of the ups and downs of the vaudeville songwriter Joe Howard (Mark Stevens) and his romantic adventures with a songstress Lulu Madison (Martha Stewart) while being true to his jealous sister Katie (Haver), "I Wonder..." turns out to be an opulent Gay 90s musical in the vein of "Hello Frisco Hello"(1943) and "My Gal Sal"(1942). The Technicolor, lavish sets, and turn-of-the- century costumes are sometimes thrilling, but the plot is very frustrating and soapy. It doesn't go anywhere.

However, the stars and the music make it worthwhile. The best numbers are the title song and "Goodbye My Baby Love".

I remember this as being one of my all time favorite movies as a child. Haven't seen it since the late 40's. I would really like to find a source to purchase this wonderful musical, but haven't been successful. The music, dancing, romance, it was from a great time in our country.

Although ostensibly the success story of working stiff/songwriter-turned-vaudeville pianist and later Broadway composer Joseph Howard, this fluff musical from Fox is really a showcase for June Haver playing Howard's adopted sister. Haver's tag-along good girl--who harbors dreams of stardom herself--provides sass and bounce in this extremely lightweight story; unfortunately, her character's fantasy about being in the spotlight, and her somewhat conniving ways, detracts from Howard's misadventures with money and women while never building a credible profile for young Katie. The film is certainly tuneful and pleasant, but low-keyed Mark Stevens as Joe isn't able to make much of an impression (and when he gets angry at kid sis Katie near the end, it seems to come out of nowhere). There are some good supporting performances (particularly by Martha Stewart as a glinty-eyed vaudeville chanteuse), but the final musical number seems to go on forever, and the romantic finish doesn't quite work. ** from ****

I notice that five of the six people who commented before me on "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" spoke of the lasting impression it made on them. In 1947, when it came out, I was 13; I didn't see it again until 1975 or '76, when it was shown on TV, and I watched it with a young woman in her early 20's. In 1975-'76 I was eager to see if it would give me the pleasure it had as a teenager. It did, and it has stuck with that young woman, too, who has been my wife for more than 25 years. Both of us regard it as second only to "Singin' In the Rain." The music IS wonderful, as others have said, and the stars are at least adequate, but I remember best the color and the nostalgic mood, a sweetly innocent and beautiful aura. I looked it up on IMDb hoping that it might still be available on video. I see that others before me had the same hope, only to be blighted. Pity. It should be reissued and treasured.

I am 25 years old and I first saw this film when I was about 8. I have a wonderful memory for songs and lyrics and I can still remember (even though I haven't seen it for 15 years) all of them.

Goodbye my lady love, Honeymoon, Hello my baby, Be sweet to me kid, and of course I wonder who's kissing her now. I am desperate to see this again, my Nan is gone from us now and I used to watch it with her and perform the songs for her in fancy dress. Well it was lovely.

June Havers was so lovely and the film was light and easy to watch. A very cute little love story with wonderful music, I have seen a lot of musicals and no others have stuck in my head as much.

Please if anyone hears anything please post here.