davjazzer

I thought Richard Dawson was pretty rude in '78,but the All-Time Sourpuss is Alex Karras in '75. He sat there with his hand on his chin,puffing on a butt,looking totally bored out of his mind. He only came to life during a skit with a lady wrestler contestant. It's surprising because Alex was always a fun,engaging guy and a pretty good actor,for a jock. Maybe he was having a bad week during the tapings. Anyone else notice?

This film features a generous sampling of Woody Herman's 1943 Band. This was just before the famous Herd with Red Norvo,Sonny Berman,Chubby Jackson,Margie Hyams,Dave Tough et.al. Prominent in this Band are trumpeter-vocalist Billie Rogers,who would soon start her own Band,the great tenor man Vido Musso,trumpeter Chuck Petersen and drummer Frankie Carlsen. Woody gets to sing some songs including the title tune and we see a glimpse of his girl singer,Carolyn Grey in the "Dancing in the Dawn" number.The film itself is pretty weak and with Sonja in the lead,comparisons to "Sun Valley Serenade" are inevitable. All in all,a nice showcase for a Herman band in transition.

This film has one of Louis Prima's last appearances. (He took ill in 1975). Louis can be seen in the Casino scenes along with longtime backups,Sam Butera and the Witnesses. They perform excerpts of "When Your Lover has Gone", "Che la Luna" and "Got you Under my Skin". Although the sequence is short and peppered with dialog,the old Prima magic shines thru. By this time,Louis was working with Sam and the Witnesses only. Keely Smith had been gone since 1961 and Gia Maione,Louis' singing partner and wife was only appearing with the group occaisinly The film is so-so,but worth staying with to enjoy Louis,Sam and the Band.