The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)/Calendar Girl (1947)

  I am such an enormous nerd.

First off, I don't even like big band music.  All of these people were dead before I was born.  Seriously, the only time I ever heard of Paul Whiteman was reading the "Death" section of the Wikipedia article for 1967. 

Why would I pick a random year like 1967?  Shut your face, that's why.

One of my Christmas presents from my father *cough* two years ago *cough* was a pair of movie collections.  They were lesser known works from the 40s and 50s grouped into two categories:  Musicals and Mysteries.  I never opened them until this week. 

I know, I'm a horrible daughter. 

They've just been sitting there on the shelf, unwatched and unloved.  Normally, I wouldn't bother you with this but I did just make a declaration to the wild ungovernable reaches of Blogger that I would post about every. movie. I. saw.  I can't back out now.  I would be forsworn, and hung up by my figgin (massive nerd bonus for anyone who gets the reference). 

So I've decided to group them together whenever possible.  Seeing as there's still 50 musicals, I will understand if you get a little tired of them and decide to skip these posts.  I'll be sad but I'll understand.  So here goes with The Fabulous Dorseys:

Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey were two brothers who led swing bands in the 40s.  Your grandparents probably remember them.  They were hugely popular.  The movie focuses on their youth, growing up under a father that pushed music on them early so they would have more opportunities and not end up working in a coal mine like he did, and then their early days of trying to make their own band.  Both men were extremely accomplished musicians but each was convinced he could lead the group better than his brother.  Things finally come to a head and the brothers split.  Their respective careers take off but their family life suffers since neither brother can be in the same room with the other.  A complicated scheme to get them to play together at a charity concert hosted by the estimable Paul Whitefield falls flat until they both get word that their father has died.  This guilts them into mending the torn fences and performing together one last time at the charity concert. 

Awwww.

Honestly, it's not a bad film.  It feels a little stilted because most of the characters are actual people.  Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and Paul Whitefield all play themselves and it's very clear that these are musicians, not actors.  Plus, it's also in the phrasing of the dialogue that is fairly common in movies and TV shows of the period.  Everybody enunciates very clearly, probably because sound equipment was still very primitive, but it comes off as a little fake-sounding.

  Calendar Girl is the story of two guys who move from Boston to New York to pursue their dreams...and women.

Well, only one of them is a skirt-chaser.  Steve the artist is engaged and desperate to sow his wild oats as far and as often as possible.  His buddy Johnny is a pianist.  They're both interested in the lovely Patricia. Steve convinces her to pose for him, then doctors the painting to appear more scandalous in order to win a calendar contest.  Johnny, not being an asshole, finds himself constantly outfoxed by Steve and in danger of losing the girl he loves.

Honestly, the picture quality is terrible and the songs are mediocre.  The only reason to watch this is if you want to be reminded that for many many years, it was a woman's only job to get married...however she had to accomplish it.  You'll see a woman turn a blind eye to infidelity, another actively stalk a clearly uninterested man, and an old lady brazenly throw herself at another uninterested man.  As a modern divorced woman actively considering the 'harem' approach to dating, it made my eye twitch.

I will say that I noticed a connection between these two movies.  No, not in the treating of women as chattel, something else.  Arthur Shields, who plays the Dorseys' father, and Victor McLaglen, who plays Patricia's father, were both in The Quiet Man, which happens to be my absolute favorite John Wayne movie.  It's probably not interesting to anyone else but it made me happy to have seen it.