Gypsy Rose Lee's literary career certainly got a lot of good imitations going. Though not as good as Pal Joey, Doll Face is a pleasant and snappy musical about a stripper who gets involved with her manager and a ghost writer. And who wrote the play on which this is based on, none other than Gypsy Rose Lee. She certainly exploited her literary talent and persona to the max.
Vivian Blaine plays our Queen of Burlesque who wants very much to break into Broadway and the legitimate theater. Her manager Dennis O'Keefe encourages her, but it's no go, legitimate producer are afraid of her notorious burlesque reputation. So O'Keefe gets the brilliant idea to have her write a book on her life, but we'll alter it a bit and he gets an author who has a good literary reputation but who hasn't cracked the popular market yet. That would be Stephen Dunne. I think you see the basis for the romantic triangle.
Though the three leads do fine the plot is an excuse to display some musical numbers that songwriters Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson wrote for this film. Carmen Miranda is here and just those two words tell you exactly what to expect. And Perry Como is our lead singer and he's got a secondary romance going with Martha Stewart.
Which brings me to the big hit of the show A Hubba Hubba Hubba (Dig You Later). It was Como's first million selling record and even given World War II mores I'm a bit shocked. Part of the lyrics involve the celebration of bombing of the Japanese and mind you this film came out on 12/31/45 three months after V-J day. That would be four months after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Though those atomic bombings are not mentioned we have such lyrics about a B-29 pilot dropping another load for luck and then turning away saying Yuk Yuk. There's still controversy about whether the atomic bomb use was right or not, but there sure ain't reason for any Yuk Yuks.
I'd probably rate Doll Face higher because over all it's a pretty good musical. But that Yuk Yuk has not worn well over time. In fact it's downright ghastly.
