As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Dailey's alto sax solos were dubbed by Russ Cheever. Songs and musical numbers included: "Crazy Rhythm" (Irving Caesar, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Joseph Meyer), "You Were Meant for Me" (Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown), "Goodnight Sweetheart" (James Campbell, Reginald Connelly, Ray Noble), "If I Had You" (Campbell, Connelly, Ted Shapiro), "Ain't She Sweet" (Jack Yellen, Milton Ager), "Ain't Misbehavin" (Andy Razaf, Fats Waller), "I'll Get By" (Roy Turk, Fred Ahlert), "Concerto in F" (George Gershwin, played by Levant), "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, Kenneth Casey), "What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry" (Walter Donaldson, Abe Lyman), the latter two done by Eddie Miller on the soundtrack.Copyright 16 January 1948 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 28 January 1948. U.S. release: February 1948. U.K. release: 23 August 1948. Australian release: 1 April 1948. 8,247 feet. 91 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Small-town girl, Jeanne Crain marries bandleader Dailey. Tiring of constant travel, Crain goes home. His bookings ruined by the onset of the Great Depression, Dailey joins her there, along with his cynical manager, Levant. Then Dailey decides to take off alone, determined to conquer the big city. COMMENT: Moderately entertaining, black-and-white musical, runs through some familiar songs in a pleasant manner and is agreeably acted. The script is an old one and the direction does little to give it sparkle. Production values are moderate. But fortunately I liked all the songs and Levant's piano-playing is in top form. It was also a pleasure to hear Gershwin's "Concerto in F". Dailey is his usual bumptious, go-getting self - he's not one of my favorites, by any means - but Jeanne Crain is both appealingly nice and suitably vulnerable, and there's a fair line-up of character players including Percy Kilbride and Selena Royle.

The movie puzzles me. On the whole, it's a rather dour little musical, but not without its moments. However, I'm struck that the cast is not well served by the quality of the production. Given TCF's reputation for gloss, particularly in its musicals, this production almost looks like a neglected child. The b&w is undistinguished, the direction uninspired, the production numbers meager and the script erratic, particularly in the final few minutes. It's as if the producers wanted a quick, happy wrap regardless of what went before. Given Crain's rising star, State Fair (1945) and Leave Her to Heaven (1945), the studio's apparent disregard seems doubly puzzling.Nonetheless, Crain's charm shines through as she battles to keep her marriage together through both high times and low. Dailey too, is engaging as a bandleader who has trouble coping when the Depression suddenly dries up his gigs. Happily, there's some genuine chemistry in their pairing. To me, the high point comes when he and Crain break into an impromptu little dance in the drugstore. It's a charming little display of musical talent, helped along by the movie's generally tuneful selection of songs. Speaking of talent, Levant's gift for dourly humorous asides is ill served by director Bacon. Levant is primarily a personality, not an actor, so he needs a lot of coaching, which his uneasy performance apparently didn't get. Too bad, since he can be delightfully sour when more comfortable. All in all, the two stars shine through even though the production doesn't.

It certainly wasn't my impression that this way a big budget picture, but even so, it took me a while to warm up to this film.First of all, there's not much of a compelling story here. Girl meets dance band leader, they fall in love and elope, the Depression comes along and the band disbands, Not the most dramatic story, but pleasing.I always loved Jeanne Crain, but although she's very pleasant here, this isn't her best role. And, I always liked Dan Dailey, but let's face it, his is not the greatest singing voice, and he sings a lot here. He does have a few nice dance numbers; he really was a nice dancer. Yes, he's pleasant enough, also.The most interesting casting here was of Percy Kilbride -- Pa Kettle -- in probably the most different role of his career -- nothing very comical about his role...pretty much a straight father role...and interesting because of the contrast to what he normally did. Selena Royle (reportedly once a flame of Spencer Tracy) plays the mother. Oscar Levant, who could be rather witty, is along for the ride...but not demonstrating much wit.The problem I have with the film is...did they suddenly run out of money? The depression is on, Dailey is working in a brick factory, and in the very next scene he is leading the band at the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York City. It's like a whole chapter is just skipped! And whatever happened to the baby? The film was doing okay until the ending.

Yes, I know it's been done before, but this great little tale of a struggling Thirties couple really has something special. Optimistic Dan Dailey keeps smiling through it all, Jeanne Crain lights up the screen, Oscar Levant is a wry delight, and see Percy Kilbride just before his "Pa Kettle" persona caught on. And that great title song.......! Highly recommended to all.