Meet Me After the Show

Alimony and amnesia are the movers of the lame plot that makes this film almost ridiculous. Almost, but Betty Grable saves the day. She shimmies and shakes and shows off her million-dollar legs delivering wisecracks that typify the times, frequently surrounded by a bevy of hunks. While the music is not particularly memorable, the dance sequences are full of fun. The battle of the sexes being the film's theme, "The Male Sex" is a clever switch on the male complaint that women are double-crossing two-timers. The final production number ("I Feel Like Dancing") teams Grable with the great Gwen Verdon; the first part of the number casts them as athletic ragamuffins and evolves into a ballet-like dream sequence showcasing Grable at her most glamorous. Favorite line, uttered by Grable as she suspected her husband of an affair with his show's sexy financial backer: "Why did you have to get a bankroll with a body by Fisher?"-a reference to a logo used on automobiles produced by General Motors. Runner up, when Grable's character has reverted to her old unsophisticated self: "Let's go back to the hotel and tie on a feed bag."

I first saw this movie back in 1985 on cable and video taped it. What a wonderful performance by the cast of this movie! Betty Grable was fantastic, as usual. And yes, I agree that this was probably her best dancing role ever. It features many wonderful costumes and beautiful set design. The entire cast is to be commended on a job well done.

Well, being the nice person that I am, I allowed a friend of mine to borrow my video tape. Well, her husband recorded a football game that started right after the 20th Century Fox introduction and ended with "THE END". I have not been able to see this wonderful movie since and am anticipating the re-release of it in the near future.

None of it happens during the film, that's for sure. We get a handful of terrible songs with awful choreography. Who had the idea for that awful finale number with the 2 girls acting the goat? It is embarrassing. Betty Grable deserved so much better than this.

The story is about married couple Grable and MacDonald Carey (Ames) and whether or not they will stay together. Given that this is a comedy (?) musical (?!), what do you think? However, none of the characters are interesting. Mixed into this less than riveting storyline, we get what are described as "songs" but aren't actually songs. It would appear that the studio hired some untalented children to make up some songs and then just shoved them into the film. You won't be able to sing any of them back to yourself.

Technicolour is good but Grable is wasted.

This is a delightful Grable flick with great music and fine production numbers. But whomever decided Carey would be the perfect husband for her deserves the Golden Raspberry.

This 1951 film is another backstage musical, a typical format for Betty Grable. Unfortunately, this musical suffers from a mediocre score. Even though the composers were the well-known Jule Styne and Leo Robin, none of the songs in this film come anywhere close to the quality of their other compositions (e.g. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes).

In part of the first production number, Grable does a very good, skillful tap dance joined by two male dancers. This was the time when tap dancing was giving way to jazz as the predominant style of dance in film, brought on by Jack Cole and Bob Fosse. While Grable was certainly technically proficient enough for that style in the other production numbers, in my opinion, it just doesn't seem to suit her persona.

What is choreographer Jack Cole's production number, "No Talent Joe", all about? With a chorus of muscle men attired in classical Greek costumes and tan makeup suggesting statuary, and herself wearing a beachcomber outfit, Grable sings a Latin/Calypso song. What a mishmash!

I suggest this might have been a homo-erotic fantasy interjected by choreographer Cole. He did a similar thing when choreographing 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", with Jane Russell surrounded by gyrating nearly naked athletes.

Two other interesting points of trivia. The Miami film sequence is footage lifted directly from Grable's 1941 film, "Moon Over Miami". Also, take a good look at the set, props and the women's costumes in the last production number of the film. You will see very similar in 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in the "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" production number. This probably due to the fact that Charles Le Maire and Travilla did costumes for both films, while Cole did the choreography for both.

While most musicals are excusably weak in the plot department, the plot is this film is downright dumb. Viewing this film would be enjoyable only for the die-hard Betty Grable fan. It's been resurrected recently on the Fox Movie Channel. Record it and skip everything but the musical numbers.