good back-story, and good acting

Don't Believe the Hype

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Apparently folks at Paramount held off releasing "And the Angels Sing" for a year...sure sign that they probably thought the film would bomb. Much of this might have been because Fred MacMurray played a real jerk...not the sort of guy he played in "Double Indemnity" but more of a cad who thinks nothing of stealing or sexually harassing ladies. I don't understand the studio making such a picture...and a few other things didn't help it either.The Angel Sisters (Dorothy Lamour, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn and Mimi Chandler) don't really like each other very much. In particular, Nancy (Lamour) is angry with Bobby (Hutton) because she won't get a job and the family could really use the money. Surprisingly, Bobby finally tells her family that she DOES have a job. She volunteered her sisters to sing with her on Saturday night at some club.At the club, the bandleader, Happy Marshall (MacMurray) horribly sexually harasses Nancy the second he meets her. Well, it turns out this isn't the worst thing about Happy. Later, he promises Bobby a high paying job traveling with the band as their singer...and instead he steals her money and uses it to get his band to Brooklyn!! If this doesn't sound like a very good plot for a film...well, this sure had me thinking the same! So what's next when the four sisters set out for Brooklyn to confront Happy?In addition to MacMurray's character who continues to be a total pig throughout the movie, it also loses points from me simply because I can't stand Betty Hutton. Her shtick is SCREAMING songs and occasionally screaming her dialog...and I have no idea how she ever became popular. Despite all that, I must admit that I liked some of the music (NOT Hutton's solo...good grief, no!). As for the story...well, it's simply horrible. On balance, I can EASILY understand why they shelved this movie. With a few script changes (and gagging Hutton), it could have easily been better.

The Angel sisters go to New York to get back $190 dollars that was taken from them by band leader Happy (Fred MacMurray). There are 4 of them - Nancy (Dorothy Lamour), Bobby (Betty Hutton), Josie (Diana Lynn) and Patti (Mimi Chandler). Once there, they find a job and 2 of the sisters also find love.This film is saved by Fred MacMurray. His effortless humour drags this film past the OK mark. It's not enough to make this a good film, though. The music is terrible apart from the first song "The First Hundred Years". After that, it's downhill on the music front with a number of forgettable songs. Betty Hutton's 2 solo songs are enough to make you press the stop button and sling the film onto a reject pile. She delivers them in her typical brash and shouty manner. Still, I suppose you know what you're gonna get with her. And she steals every scene of the film that she's in coz she is so boisterous. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's grating. If the film was just about the sisters with them singing, it'd be a turkey. Thank God for MacMurray.The cast are OK and there is an enjoyable dance sequence with Frank Feylan who plays "Holman". Lamour and Hutton find love in New York although I'm not sure what Lamour's boyfriend Oliver (Frank Albertson) would think about the situation. He seems to have been completely forgotten in the story. He just disappears!

When this picture came out in 1944, I saw the previews. I was about 12 at the time. The previews showed the three girls being spanked -- which REALLY lit me up.However, in the week between seeing the trailer -- and when the flick actually played at my friendly neighborhood theater -- I'd goofed up at home. I don't remember what "rock" I may have pulled -- but, it was enough to get me grounded for a week. And I MISSED seeing the movie.For -- literally -- SIXTY YEARS, I looked for this movie. FINALLY found it on e-Bay a couple years ago. Paid the well-known arm and a leg for it. First VHS copy I got didn't play. I was CONVINCED that I'd NEVER see the picture. That the fates had DECREED that I'd remained frustrated! Fortunately, the guy sent me one I could view.Found out that there was MUCH more to the flick than the triple-spanking (which, doggone it, didn't last long enough.) For instance, one of my all-time favorite songs -- over the years -- has been "It Could Happen To You". I'd not been aware of the fact that it came from this movie. Not till Dorothy Lamour began singing it to Fred McMurray.I LOVE Diana Lynn! I'd sit and simply LOOK at a picture of hers. The cover of the "Piano Moods" album she made with Paul Weston's orchestra -- in the late-forties -- is, to my way of thinking, the most beautiful one ever made.This was a GREAT movie. Was glad I'd finally tracked it down.

I stumbled across this on late night TV and found myself laughing...a lot. A shining example of the uplifting wartime movie genre. Diana Lynn and Betty Hutton are great. All have perfect comedic timing proving ensemble cast concept is a timeless strategy. The lamb stew gag became a standing joke for along time amongst my crowd for years.