A mostly rather fanciful biop of early 20th century musical star Marilyn Miller, who died at age 37 of complications from surgery attempting to correct her sinus problem. This Warners Technicolor film only suggests that something was wrong with her from a combination of overindulgences and overwork. It would perhaps have been more appropriate for Marilyn Monroe to star in such a biop, since her stage name was inspired by the original MM, she would become Marilyn Miller during her marriage to Arthur Miller, and she would die at about the same age, having also suffered an unstable romantic life. However, June Haver was an acceptable screen facsimile for a musical star whose most effective medium was live performances rather than the few films she made in the very beginning of soundies. Incidentally, June's romantic life was also a mess during her too brief Hollywood years.
Being short, 23 y.o. June was fixed with pigtails in the first segment, to suggest she was an underage teenager when she joined the rest of her family in their vaudevillian act, correctly named The Columbians in the film. The actual MM was only 4 when she joined the act. Thus, she had 10 years of acting experience when she was asked to go single, around age 15-16, as indicated in the film. Also, as suggested in the film , the family sometimes had to flee authorities enforcing child labor or public school laws, although the solution was hardly as portrayed in the film. Impressive baritone Gordon MacRae, in his first film with a singing role, plays MM's first husband, who in contrast, was actually primarily an acrobatic dancer, more like veteran Ray Bolger: the 3rd lead in the film. Ray is given the name of Jack DonAhue, in remembrance of J. DonOhue, who was a dancer and dance instructor of this era. The real MM probably knew him, but he certainly didn't play the sort of role credited in this film, being 10 years younger than MM, not 22 years older, as was Ray relative to June.. The statements of several reviewers that MM married Donahue, either in the film or in real life are incorrect, although in the film, MM does express a desire to marry him. ... Gordon is given the name of the real MM's first husband: Frank Carter. As suggested in the film, their marriage did not long last, due to his fatal auto accident. However, this was actually earlier in her career than suggested in the film, giving Gordon more time to be in the film. In the latter part of the film, another forthcoming marriage is suggested, but bears no relation to MM's actual subsequent marriages. Thus, Ray serves as her only consistent friend and costar throughout the film, which provides an excellent opportunity to sample his inimical eccentric clownish dance style outside of his scarecrow costume("The Wizard of Oz").
The film begins with a stage performance by the rest of MM's family, dressed in Georgian costumes, to "Shine on Harvest Moon" and "Back to Baltimore". The actual Wilde twin sisters play the other 2 sisters in the family. After meeting Donahue, he invites Marylyn to try dancing with him, on stage and at a Christmas party. Throughout the film, June and Ray sometimes perform alone, and sometimes together. Gordon and June initially sing or dance to a backstage trial of the standard "Time on My Hands", then on stage he sings and she dances to "Just a Kiss in the Dark". Later, she asks him to marry her, but he first joins the army to fight the Huns. MM's father(played by Charles Ruggles) comically mistakes victory fireworks sounds for a Zeppelin attack.
Gordon's final musical performance is a half-hearted backstage trial of Jerome Kern's title song. June would sing and dance to this song(from "Sally") in a European setting, in the company of the inimical "Cuddles" Sakal. Judy Garland, who also played MM in the previous Kerns biop "'Til the Clouds roll By" , also sang this song, over a pile of dirty dishes. Both are good performances, if quite different. Remember that in this later stage of June's career, her singing was being dubbed. Judy's big production number in that film , to "Who?", is instead sung and danced to by Ray in his most elaborate solo performance. In the later part of this routine, he pours sand on a large drum-like cylinder to give a scraping sound when he danced. Fred Astaire repeated this device in the dance "I Wanna Be a Dancing Man" in the later released "The Belle of New York". June's equivalent big production number, again surrounded by a large bevy of men, would be the finale, sung and danced to "The Wild Wild Rose", followed by the title song.
June, a contract player with Fox, would again be loaned out to Warner for another nostalgic screenplay: "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady". Gordon and Sakal would have more prominent parts in that film, and Gordon's singing was more impressive. Gene Nelson would replace Ray as June's primary dance partner and as a sometimes soloist. Again, June was the only significant female musical star, in contrast to most of her Fox musicals. I can't give a definitive answer to the question of which is the best of these two films. Clearly , some reviewers regard her performance in the present film as the best in her career. Most who so comment find Gordon's subsequent films costarring Doris Day more entertaining. I find these two ladies equally likable in their own ways. Doris's films tended to include more standards.
