Themes: Actor's Life, Military Life, Fish Out of Water
Main Cast: Lucille Ball, Tommy Dix, William Gaxton, Nancy Walker, Virginia Weidler, June Allyson, Gloria de Haven
Release Year: 1943
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
Plot
Five original cast members of the hit Broadway musical Best Foot Forward appear in this Technicolor MGM screen adaptation. Set at a small town military prep school, the story gets under way when movie star Lucille Ball (played by movie star Lucille Ball) pays a visit to the campus for publicity purposes. Several of the students, led by Bud (Tommy Dix), offer to make Lucille the queen of the upcoming prom. But the plot dictates that Bud and his pals are forced to back off from their offer, and to hide Lucille's presence from the faculty. Cast as a hoydenish blind date, Nancy Walker steals the show with her spirited rendition of "Buckle Down, Winsocki"; but of the five carryovers from the original Broadway production, only June Allyson went on to lasting film stardom. Enhancing the film's box-office appeal was MGM's decision to add Harry James and His Music Makers to the cast: James' performance of "The Two O'Clock Jump" is worth the admission price in itself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
In 1943, two decades before musicals developed the elephantitis that eventually killed them off, studios could produce any number of minor "tuners" that pleased their intended audiences with small charms and then quickly faded from memory. Best Foot Forward belongs to this group. Titanically unambitious and utterly inconsequential, it is nonetheless a pleasant diversion. The story is classic sitcom material; unfortunately the dialogue is not snappy or witty enough and the characters are not original enough to carry the story to a higher level. The Hugh Martin-Ralph Blane score is considerably better, full of peppy, sprightly numbers, all-out rousers and winning ballads. (Interestingly, almost every song is a "list song," which tends to dull their impact a bit.) The cast is solid, with Lucille Ball deserving kudos for her knowing performance - and for allowing herself to be labeled "The Queen of the B Movies." A very young Nancy Walker is a standout, already displaying the comic timing and ease with a punchline that would serve her well later in her career. She pounces on "Alive and Kicking," and with June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven makes "The Three B's" a rollicking treat. The film's best musical moment, though, comes courtesy of Harry James and his band's rendition of "Two O'Clock Jump." Never reaching too far but never exceeding its reach, Best Foot Forward is the kind of film a viewer is always glad to come across on TV, even if he never goes out of his way to find it. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Edward C. Carfagno - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Charles Walters - Choreography, Irene - Costume Designer, Gile Steele - Costume Designer, Edward N. Buzzell - Director, Blanche Sewell - Editor, George Bassman - Composer (Music Score), Lennie Hayton - Musical Direction/Supervision, Jack Dawn - Makeup, Leonard Smith - Cinematographer, Arthur Freed - Producer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Mildred Griffiths - Set Designer, Irving Brecher - Screenwriter, Fred F. Finklehoffe - Screenwriter, John Cecil Holm - Book Author
The story centers around Lucille Ball who plays herself against an unlikely backdrop, namely, a military academy full of frisky boys. Ball is the reluctant guest of a diminutive cadet, Bud Hooper (Dix), who wrote her a mash note and invitation to be his date at a school prom.
Ball's publicity man, Jack O'Riley (Gaxton), seizes upon the situation as a perfect PR stunt and convinces her to travel 3,000 miles to join Hooper at Winsocki Military Academy's dance. When Ball actually shows up, mayhem ensues. Hooper, who never dreamed she would accept, has to disinvite his girlfriend, Helen (Weidler), and ask Ball to pretend to be Helen, lest the actress herself not pass muster with the institution's screening committee.
Helen fights back while Hooper tries to keep Ball from the clutches of other cadets who want to steal her for their dates of their own. Meanwhile, Harry James and his orchestra perform various songs, including "The Flight of the Bumblebee". The cast also sing and dance their way through such numbers as "Buckle Down, Winsocki" (the tune co-opted in the 1960s for "Buckle Up for Safety"), "Three Men on a Date", "Alive and Kickin'", "The Barrelhouse, The Boogie-Woogie and the Blues", and "What Do You Think I Am?"
Listen for a great joke when Bud Metts Lucy. IS IT TRUE THAT EVERYONE IN CALIFORNIA SLEEPS UNDER TWO BLANKETS? NO, HOW COULD ALL THOSE PEOPLE FIT UNDER TWO BLANKETS!
Beverly Tyler as Miss Delaware Water Gap (she has one scene with virginia weidler, using the term "BO for Brush OFF" and a solo song with chorus. Virginia calls her "GAP".)
