Sweet Rosie O'Grady

Much better than many of the acclaimed MGM musicals. Take a look at "Summer Stock" and compare it to this. "Rosie O'Grady" wins by a mile. Voters and reviewers have not been privy to seeing this classic because movie networks continuously show film product from MGM, Warners, and RKO, but they do not own the movie rights to Fox. Thus, the public has rarely seen these movies. I am 70 years old, have heard of Betty Grable before, but this is the first Grable film I've ever seen. I saw it courtesy of FXM. In years to come as all movies are put up to critical comparison, it won't be only MGM vs. MGM like it is now... there are many great musicals, from every era, from several studios, that the general public has rarely seen. This is one of them. Not spectacular, but better than the average MGM musical of the 40s. Grable had personality, style, and she could sing.

At 74 minutes, "Sweet Rosie O'Grady" is just long enough and does not wear out its welcome. But it is so good good-humored and good-natured that it is tough to dislike. It must have been a B musical when it came out and there is only one memorable song in the score, "My Heart Tells Me", sung by Betty Grable. The male lead, Robert Young, is a stranger to musicals but does, in fact, get to sing the title song - and was amazingly good.

The story is outlandish, about a saloon singer from Brooklyn who becomes an international sensation and returns, hopefully in triumph. Young is a reporter who spills the beans about her humble beginnings, and she vows revenge. From there they each try to outdo the other in revenge mode, and from here the plot goes far afield.

It is all harmless fun, and as bright and glossy as Fox could make it. The surprise, as noted above, is Young, who I didn't consider as either particularly funny or as a singer, but who proves he can be both here. Good support from Adolph Menjou and Reginald Gardner helps the cause. Leonard Maltin raved about Menjou in his review, and he gave a workmanlike but unspectacular performance. Makes you wonder if he ever sees any of these oldies he reviews.

A Music Hall star, Madeleine Marlowe (Betty Grable) returns from London to America where she has wowed society and is romantically linked with a Duke, Charles (Reginald Gardiner). On her return, a reporter Sam (Robert Young) exposes her as a former Burlesque Queen, Rosie O'Grady. The film then follows the tricks that Rosie and Sam play against one another in order to get the upper hand. At the end, love is in the air.

Unfortunately, the songs and dances in this film aren't any good and this lets the film down as the story doesn't have the strength to carry the film alone. The scenes with Betty Grable are good, but when she is not on screen, there are some pretty dull moments. Its not that the cast are bad, although there is a poor scene where Sam and Charles get drunk which could have been edited out, its just that the overall film isn't quite good enough. The music needed to be better in order to make this film passable or even good. Its a better story than her other offering "Coney Island" from the same year, but that film is better because of the music numbers that it contains.

Its OK but it doesn't need to be seen again.

Awesome vehicle for Betty Grable and Robert Young. Filmed in bright technicolor, it was the quality type of musical that MGM could seldom pull off. This film is rarely seen today and gets no breaks because it was a 20th Century Fox property, instead of being in endless repetitive repeats as the MGM lesser-quality films of the era are on TCM.

Regardless, when you get the chance, this is one to sit back and enjoy. Grable is magnificent and Young is surprisingly good. The music is outstanding.

Although Sweet Rosie O'Grady is set in the past and that might not make it apparent at first, the film is a remake of the Tyrone Power-Don Ameche-Loretta Young classic Love Is News. Set in the gaslight era of the 1880s it's the same plot involving an actress instead of an heiress.

The actress is Betty Grable who has just scored a big triumph on the London stage and is the toast of two continents. She's also about to marry a title in the person of Reginald Gardiner, but she's gotten wind that that notorious scandal sheet, the Police Gazette has uncovered her past as a burlesque queen. The reporter with the nose for news is Robert Young and his editor is Adolphe Menjou.

If you've seen Love Is News and That Wonderful Urge than you know exactly how this will all end up. But along the way with several musical numbers you'll see Betty Grable probably at the height of her career when she and Rita Hayworth vied to be the GI's number one pin-up girl of the barracks.

Harry Warren and Mack Gordon wrote a beautiful ballad My Heart Tells Me which Betty and Phil Regan sing during the film. Sadly Darryl Zanuck banned her from a commercial recording so others made hit records and money off the song she introduced. Robert Young got to sing the title song and he was not going to be a threat to Bing Crosby or that new singer from Hoboken that was coming up at the time.

The film was significant in another way for Betty Grable. During the production it was shut down for a bit when Betty ran off and married Harry James. Apparently that was cause for great happiness, even Darryl Zanuck didn't mind the production delay.

If you're a Betty Grable fan Sweet Rosie O'Grady is an absolute must.