Thank Your Lucky Stars is a 1943 American musical comedy film made by Warner Bros. Pictures as a World War II fundraiser, with a slim plot involving theater producers. The stars donated their salaries to the Hollywood Canteen, which was founded by John Garfield and Bette Davis, who appear in this film. It was directed by David Butler and stars Eddie Cantor, Dennis Morgan, Joan Leslie, Edward Everett Horton and S.Z. Sakall.
Contents
Plot
Two theater producers try to stage a wartime charity extravaganza called Cavalcade of Stars. The egotistical Eddie Cantor has Dinah Shore under contract and will only allow her to appear if he is made chairman of the benefit committee, so he is allowed to take command. Meanwhile, an aspiring singer and his songwriter girlfriend conspire to get into the charity program by replacing Cantor with their lookalike friend, tour bus driver Joe Simpson.
Many of Warner Bros.' stars performed in musical numbers, including several who were not known as singers. The show features the only onscreen musical performances by Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland.
Cast
Eddie Cantor as himself/Joe Simpson
Joan Leslie as Pat Dixon
Dennis Morgan as Tommy Randolph
Edward Everett Horton as Farnsworth
S.Z. Sakall as Dr. Schlenna
Mike Mazurki as Olaf
Noble Johnson as Charlie, the Indian
Ruth Donnelly as Nurse Hamilton
Ralph Dunn as Marty
Paul Harvey as Dr. Kirby
Guest Stars
Willie Best
Humphrey Bogart
Jess Lee Brooks
Jack Carson
Ben Corbett
Bette Davis
William Desmond
Olivia de Havilland
Errol Flynn
John Garfield
Alan Hale Sr.
Mark Hellinger
Ida Lupino
Hattie McDaniel
Ann Sheridan
Dinah Shore
Musical numbers
Some are performed as part of the plot and others are heard in rehearsal and benefit performance scenes.
"Thank Your Lucky Stars", sung by Dinah Shore on Eddie Cantor's radio show.
"My Mama Done Tol' Me" (better known as "Blues in the Night"), sung by John Garfield on Cantor's radio show.
"Now's the Time to Fall in Love", sung by Cantor on his radio show.
"Hotcha Cornia", a hot and wild version of "Otchi Chernye" ("Dark Eyes"), performed by Spike Jones & His City Slickers for their fellow residents in Gower Gulch.
"Ridin' for a Fall", sung by Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie (dubbed by Sally Sweetland), with Spike Jones and his band.
"We're Staying Home Tonight...Doing the Patriotic Thing", sung by Eddie Cantor to a captive audience of his household staff and the hapless producers of the benefit.
"I'm Goin' North", sung by Jack Carson and Alan Hale Sr. as old-time vaudevillians meeting in a train station; both are bucking the trend toward all things Southern. After several costume changes, they end up in a blizzard, dripping with icicles.
"Love Isn't Born, It's Made", sung by Ann Sheridan with Joyce Reynolds and a chorus of girls in a sorority bedroom.
"No You, No Me", sung by Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie (dubbed by Sally Sweetland) from a tableside jukebox in a café.
"The Dreamer", sung by Dinah Shore as a farm girl singing to her love; she wants to dream "until you're home once more."
Production
Filming for Thank Your Lucky Stars began on October 14, 1942. Producer Mark Hellinger and director David Butler both made cameo appearances in the film. Thank Your Lucky Stars was the film debut of both Dinah Shore and Spike Jones and his City Slickers. Each of the cast members was paid a $50,000 fee, which was then donated to the Hollywood Canteen.
The film used sets that had been built for the Warner Bros. films The Green Pastures and Wonder Bar.
Bette Davis recalled that Conrad Wiedell, who had really won a jitterbug contest, was frightened at the thought of hurting her. She told him "forget about who I am...let your instincts come to the fore, and just do it!"
Olivia de Havilland said that she added the over-the-top gum chewing to the act in order to help with the lip-synching.
The finale was filmed with many of the cast on stage together, but all are shown when the curtain comes down, thanks to special effects that place five acts—Flynn, Sheridan, Davis, the Carson-Hale duo and the trio of de Havilland, Lupino and Tobias—over their glitter-covered stars.
Reception
Thank Your Lucky Stars 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." Ticket sales, combined with the donated salaries of the performers, raised more than $2,000,000 for the Hollywood Canteen.
The film earned $2,503,000 domestically and $1,118,000 in foreign markets.
At the time, Variety described the film as a "triumph for Eddie Cantor". Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that "the gag that the true Mr. Cantor would, if he could, gum up the show is so realistically repeated that fiction becomes painful fact...you have a conventional all-star show which has the suspicious flavor of an 'amateur night' at the studio. But at least it is lively and genial...For the sake of variety, the Warners might have worked in a little more dance and a little more femininity. Too many people sing. And too few beautiful girls display their talents. It is also too much (two hours) of a show. But, in straight omnibus entertainment that's what you have to expect."
Leonard Maltin gives the picture three out of four stars, stating "Very lame plot...frames all-star Warner Bros. show, with Davis singing "They're Either Too Young or Too Old,'' Flynn delightfully performing "That's What You Jolly Well Get,'' other staid stars breaking loose."
Awards and honors
The song "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" by Arthur Schwartz (music) and Frank Loesser (lyrics) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song, but lost to "You'll Never Know" by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon from the film Hello, Frisco, Hello. The song was also a number-one hit on Your Hit Parade.