A Song is Born (1100th post)

Another milestone down.  Check out the previous milestones: 

100 The Pajama Game / 200 Guys and Dolls / 300 The Rocky Horror Picture Show / 400 Tea for Two / 500 Annie / 600 Mary Poppins / 700 Into the Woods / 800 Anchors Aweigh / 900 42nd Street / 1000 Royal Wedding

A group of professors are compiling a musical encyclopedia, funded by the Totten Foundation.  The professors, led by Professor Hobart Frisbee (Kaye), are bachelors and live together in an old house.  After narrowly avoiding the termination of their project, they are introduced to a new kind of music: jazz.  Frisbee is concerned that in their seclusion, they are missing new types of music.  That evening he goes out to clubs to discover more jazz performances and speak to the musicians.  He meets nightclub singer Honey Swanson (Mayo) and invites her to join the discussion of music.  She declines, until the police want her to testify against her boyfriend Tony Crow (Cochran).

To avoid the police, she goes to the professors' home and agrees to help with the encyclopedia in exchange for a place to stay.  The other professors heartily agree, despite the protests of Frisbee and their housekeeper Miss Bragg (Esther Dale) and Honey turns their world upside-down.

This film is a musical remake of Howard Hawks' hit film Ball of Fire.

The Good:

The film follows the basic story line from Ball of Fire, but changes the names of the characters and some other basic plot points.  The film features the biggest musicians, as themselves: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Barnet, Louis Bellson, Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Mel Powell, Golden Gate Quartet, Russo and the Samba Kings, and the Page Cavanaugh Trio.  Buck and Bubbles get some laughs as the window washers.  Musician Benny Goodman is good as Professor Magenbruch, and is part of a joke about himself: Magenbruch says "You can't play without music." and the response is "Well, Benny Goodman used to."

The Bad:

Despite having the same overarching story as Ball of Fire, the film is not funny.  There are funny moments, but it isn't as good as the original.  Danny Kay is disappointing.  Normally he is an energetic, funny performer, but in this film he is the stiff, straight-man and does not sing or dance.

Other Comments:

-Virginia Mayo's songs were dubbed by Jeri Sullavan.

-The music is great and features talented performers.

-I was overly underwhelmed by this film.  The cast is good and features well-known musicians, but the film does not live up to it's potential.  It is ok, and worth seeing the talented musicians in their element... but if you are looking for the funny version of this story, watch Ball of Fire.

A Song is Born (1948) 113 minutes

Director: Howard Hawks

Starring: Danny Kaye as Professor Hobart Frisbee

Virginia Mayo as Honey Swanson

Benny Goodman as Professor Magenbruch

Ford Washington Lee as Buck

John W. Bubbles as Bubbles

Hugh Herbert as Professor Twingle

Steve Cochran as Tony Crow