Springtime in the Rockies (1942)

A film that takes all the stock conventions of Betty Grable musicals and distills them into one big bright package. This shows what the Hollywood dream factory could do with even the most obvious and conventional script. Filmed in lush Technicolor the film is loaded with so much talent and trimmings that the threadbare story becomes unimportant.

Betty Grable was at the peak of her popularity all dolled up in the height of 40's fashion, she and John Payne make a handsome and charming pair. They were strong enough to carry a film themselves but Fox managed to cram all the strongest supporting players from their other various movies. Charlotte Greenwood does the faithful sidekick role she did so well and gets a chance to do her unique dance routine. Caesar Romero is the dashing snook and Edward Everett Horton the droll faithful retainer. Then there's that party all on to herself Carmen Miranda fracturing the language and wearing outfits that as John Payne says are a little overdone outside a Mardi Gras. Topped off with Harry James' stellar music, including Sleepy Lagoon and I Had the Craziest Dream, weaving it's spell throughout this is the kind of shiny bauble that kept the public's mind off the war and still can't help but entertain today.