LADIES OF THE CHORUS (Columbia, 1948), directed by Phil Karlson, stars Adele Jergens, resident performer for Columbia, and Marilyn Monroe, newcomer to motion pictures in her first major movie role. Basically a dress rehearsal for young Monroe, stardom and legendary status did not come to her immediately with this 61 minute program musical, yet it was a start to what's to soon come in the 1950s over at 20th Century- Fox.
The ladies of the chorus happen to be May Martin (Adele Jergens), a former burlesque queen now dancing in the chorus with other much younger girls, one of them being her beautiful blonde daughter named Peggy (Marilyn Monroe). Peggy resents her mother's over protectiveness when wanting to go with Bubbles LaRue (Marjorie Hoshelle) for a night on the town after the show, but May lives only for her daughter's happiness, knowing full well that Bubbles is not the sort of person Peggy should befriend. After Bubbles quits the show on opening night, Joe (Frank Scannell), the stage manager, hires May to take her place. May has other plans. She has Peggy go on in her place. Peggy becomes a sensation as the new "burlesque queen." Her rise to fame at the Rome Theater soon attracts the attention of Randy Carroll (Rand Brooks), a wealthy young man, who anonymously sends her orchids on a daily basis. After Peggy gets to meet her new admirer at the flower shop, she becomes fascinated by him, enough to have dates and dinner before accepting his marriage proposal. Upon meeting with Peggy's mother, she results her feelings about her daughter's engagement by telling Randy via flashback her similar situation after marrying Al Wakefield (Bill Edwards), Peggy's father, much to the dismay of her former partner, Billy McKay (Eddie Garr), the man she should have married instead. It was after the family discovered May was a burlesque queen that her marriage to Al was annulled. Randy is convinced that his mother, Adele (Nana Bryant) and her society friends, are not that way. During the engagement party at the Carroll estate do both mother and daughter come up with some unexpected results.
Had it not been for the fact that Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) ever appeared in LADIES OF THE CHORUS, chances are this so-so story with forgettable songs might have vanished into some dark corner of a dusty film vault along with other forgettable Columbia programmers from this period. Because of Monroe's rise to stardom that took place in the 1950s, LADIES OF THE CHORUS was reissued into theaters, with opening credits changing Monroe's name over the title instead of Adele Jergens. The reissue print is the one that's been circulating on television, and used years later on both video cassette and DVD. The film itself would have been more believable as well as acceptable had Jergens played Monroe's older sister rather than her mother, considering how Jergens doesn't seem old enough to have a grown-up daughter, even without the blonde wig she uses to appear younger during the burlesque musical show sequences.
Songs by Allan Roberts and Lester Lee featured are: "Ladies of the Chorus" (sung by chorus during opening credits); "You Belong to Me," "Every Baby Needs a Da-Da Daddy," "You Belong to Me" (all sung by Marilyn Monroe); "I'm So Crazy for You" (sung by Adele Jergens); "The Ubangi Love Song" (performed by the Bobby True Trio); and "You're Never Too Old" (sung by Nana Bryant). While such a song as "Every Baby Needs a Da-Da Daddy" simplifies Monroe's musical style along with "You Belong to Me," somehow Nana Bryant steals the limelight with her rendition to "You're Never Too Young." Other acts incorporated into the story include a father and son bubble talking under water-type interior decorators, Hipple and Hipple Jr., played by Dave and Alan Barry; followed by the jive-singing by the Bobby True Trio at the Carroll home. Others in the cast include: Steven Geray (Salisbury, the Butler); Myron Healy )Tom Lawson); Gladys Blake (The Flower Shop Girl); and Almira Sessions (Woman at Engagement Party), among others.
Formerly shown on American Movie Classics cable channel prior to 2001, LADIES OF THE CHORUS has also become part of the film library of Turner Classic Movies dating back to its humble beginnings of 1994. Even though its basic theme could have been "You're Never Too Young," the movie itself is strictly "B" material with story-line resembling those early talkie musicals of the late 1920s. Regardless, it does offer curiosity and interest for anyone interested in viewing the youthful presence of Marilyn Monroe in her only movie for Columbia. (**)
