Themes: Kidnapping, Assumed Identities, Actor's Life
Main Cast: Eddie Cantor, Dinah Shore, Bette Davis, Joan Leslie, Humphrey Bogart, Dennis Morgan, Olivia de Havilland, Edward Everett Horton
Release Year: 1943
Country: US
Run Time: 127 minutes
Plot
Practically everybody on the Warner Bros. lot shows up in the wartime morale-boosting musical extravaganza Thank Your Lucky Stars. Believe it or not, this one has a wisp of a plot. A pair of enterprising producers, played by S.Z. Sakall and Edward Everett Horton, want to hire singer Dinah Shore for their upcoming Cavalcade of Stars. Unfortunately, this means they must deal with Shore's boss, radio comedian Eddie Cantor. The egotistical Cantor insists upon joining the show himself, driving everyone crazy with his take-charge attitude. Meanwhile, singer Dennis Morgan, hoodwinked by a crooked agent into thinking he's signed a contract with Cantor, shows up backstage at Sakall and Horton's rehearsal, only to be given the boot. While all this is going on, aspiring actress Joan Leslie has befriended a bus driver named Joe Simpson--who happens to be a dead ringer for Eddie Cantor (and why not? Ol' "Banjo Eyes" plays both parts). Turns out that Joe is another showbiz wannabe, but he has been denied a break because he looks too much like Cantor. You see what's comin' now, right, folks? Morgan and Leslie will get their big breaks when Joe Simpson impersonates Eddie Cantor, who's been kidnapped by Indians (bet you didn't see that one coming!) All of this expository nonsense is merely an excuse to show off Warners' talent roster in a series of engaging specialty numbers: John Garfield talk-sings Blues in the Night, Jack Carson and Alan Hale do a buck-and-wing, a jitterbug number is performed by Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland and George Tobias, Hattie McDaniel and Willie Best strut their stuff in Ice Cold Katie, and so on. Highlights include Errol Flynn's That's What You Jolly Well Get, an English music hall-style sendup of Flynn's movie heroics, and Bette Davis' peerless (and endearingly off-key) rendition of They're Either too Young or Too Old. As a bonus, Humphrey Bogart shows up long enough to be browbeaten and intimidated by S.Z. Sakall ("Gee, I hope none of my movie fans see this!" moans Bogart as the soundtrack plays a mocking rendition of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?) Subtle and sophisticated it isn't, but Thank Your Lucky Stars is so entertaining that you'll forget all about its multitude of flaws. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The film was a musical with a slim plot, involving theater producers (Horton and Sakall) staging a wartime charity program, only to have the production taken over by their egotistical star (Eddie Cantor, playing himself). Meanwhile, an aspiring singer (Morgan) and his songwriter girlfriend (Leslie) conspire to get into the charity program by replacing Cantor with their look-alike friend, tour bus driver Joe Simpson (also played by Cantor, in a dual role).
Many of Warner Brothers stars performed in musical numbers, including several who were not known as singers. The film features the only screen musical numbers ever done by Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Ida Lupino. Each of the cast members was paid a $50,000 fee for their appearance which was then donated to the Hollywood Canteen. [1]
The film was popular with audiences, and the critic James Agee called it "the loudest and most vulgar of the current musicals. It is also the most fun." [2] Ticket sales combined with the donated salaries of the performers raised more than two million dollars for the Hollywood Canteen. [3]
