And the Angels Sing

And The Angels Sing is apparently Paramount's answer to Warner Brothers Lane Sisters and the series of films that they had starting with Four Daughters. The four of them are musical prodigies, but they're really not into singing. What they are into is earning enough money so their father Raymond Walburn can buy a farm.

Three of Paramount's best female stars, Dorothy Lamour, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn played 3/4 of the Angel sisters, the fourth being given to Mimi Chandler whose father Senator Albert H. Chandler would shortly become baseball commissioner. Betty Hutton is the only one enthused about performing, but given this is Betty Hutton what else would you expect?

They get themselves all tangled up with bandleader Fred MacMurray who's a bit of rat quite frankly taking advantage of Hutton to get some money in order for his band to get traveling money to an engagement in Brooklyn. The sisters are up in arms and trail him to Brooklyn to get their money.

At some point MacMurray has to woo all of them more or less to some degree. The whole thing ends rather conventionally though.

The plot is really an excuse for the musical numbers and the score here was written by Bing Crosby's favorite writers Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. Although Betty Hutton gets the showier numbers on screen, the hit song from And The Angels Sing was sung by Dorothy Lamour, It Could Happen To You. And of course Paramount prevailed upon Der Bingle to record it and by all means get his record of it if you can find it.

And The Angels Sing provides a nice showcase for the musical talents of the cast. MacMurray who later played some nasty characters shows a bit of what Billy Wilder saw in casting him as a villain in Double Indemnity and The Apartment. The film is a pleasant enough diversion.

What better way to fund his acquisition of a soya-bean farm than for "Pop" (Raymond Walburn) to get his singing daughters to get on stage and wow the crowd. Thing is, they just don't want to and given their differing personalities that's not really surprising. He does manage to get them to agree to an one-off performance though where "Bobby" (Betty Hutton) turns their ten dollar fee into $190! Meantime, band leader "Happy" (Fred McMurray) can't afford to pay the wages for his musicians so he taps up "Bobby" in a quid pro quo for a singing gig but before she has a chance to belt out a single note, he's done a bunk with her money! When she finds out where he's skedaddled to, they follow en-masse and find there chance for sweet revenge when the club will only employ "Happy" if the four girls accompany him! Along the way in this engaging theatrical romp, we have "Nancy" (an on-form Dorothy Lamour) serenading us with "It Could Happen to You" and, indeed, Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke have written quite a few decent numbers that Danny Dare has quite spontaneously choreographed with feathers and glittery costumes galore. There's also quite an enjoyable chemistry between the mischievous McMurray and just about everyone, but Hutton and Diana Lynn stand out as the comedy stays just the right side of the slapstick. It's light and fluffy, sure, and I doubt nowadays anyone would be allowed to get spanked without half a dozen "intimacy consultants" on set, but it's quite entertaining.

AND THE ANGELS SING is a utterly entertaining comedy/musical starring Dorothy Lamour and Fred MacMurray with rising young actresses Betty Hutton and Diana Lynn in featured roles. This movie doesn't have much of a reputation thanks to the fact it curiously has been seldom seen in recent decades. It has never aired on any major national cable channel to my knowledge yet it was a major Paramount film and a big hit at the time.

Lamour and Hutton are the main attractions in a sister singing quartet who get the shaft from sneaky band leader Fred MacMurray. Eventually Betty pursues Fred - and Fred pursues Dorothy. The songs in this film are sensational - Lamour croons the lovely "It Could Happen to You", Hutton stops the show with the outrageous "My Rocking Horse Ran Away", and the sister act sings a lot of songs in best Andrew Sisters harmony including the very charming "The First Hundred Years" and the sassy "Knocking On Your Own Front Door".

Too bad TCM didn't get this for their retrospective on Hutton films a few years ago - it's one of her best even if she does play second fiddle to Lamour (though she holds her own). And Dorothy Lamour gives one of her best performances, she can handle comedy and music with equal ease and of course is one of the best lookers ever in movies as icing on the cake.

Paramount studio musical comedy (more music than comedy) directed by George Marshall (Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis films, etc...). Hutton, Lamour, Chandler and Lynn are a singing sister act wined and dined by band leader Fred MacMurray. Most of the film takes place at a nightclub (the sisters wear long gowns for the entire film) and there's not much of a plot, mainly an excuse for Hutton to do some songs. Fred MacMurray sings (though he's bit of a creep most of the time), and some rare scenes of piano prodigy Diana Lynn playing the piano (too bad not really featured in solo). Most of the lines and situations go to Hutton, Lamour, and MacMurray, the rest of the cast is just there to be working. Cute but definitely a lesser work. I'd watch Hutton, Lamour, or Lynn in anything but there was just too little film here for them to be cast in their roles.

When this picture came out in 1944, I saw the previews. I was about 12 at the time. The previews showed the three girls being spanked -- which REALLY lit me up.

However, in the week between seeing the trailer -- and when the flick actually played at my friendly neighborhood theater -- I'd goofed up at home. I don't remember what "rock" I may have pulled -- but, it was enough to get me grounded for a week. And I MISSED seeing the movie.

For -- literally -- SIXTY YEARS, I looked for this movie. FINALLY found it on e-Bay a couple years ago. Paid the well-known arm and a leg for it. First VHS copy I got didn't play. I was CONVINCED that I'd NEVER see the picture. That the fates had DECREED that I'd remained frustrated! Fortunately, the guy sent me one I could view.

Found out that there was MUCH more to the flick than the triple-spanking (which, doggone it, didn't last long enough.) For instance, one of my all-time favorite songs -- over the years -- has been "It Could Happen To You". I'd not been aware of the fact that it came from this movie. Not till Dorothy Lamour began singing it to Fred McMurray.

I LOVE Diana Lynn! I'd sit and simply LOOK at a picture of hers. The cover of the "Piano Moods" album she made with Paul Weston's orchestra -- in the late-forties -- is, to my way of thinking, the most beautiful one ever made.

This was a GREAT movie. Was glad I'd finally tracked it down.