''Mother Wore Tights'' is a 1947

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

musical film starring

Betty Grable Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer. Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...

and Dan Dailey as married

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performers, directed by

Walter Lang Walter Lang (August 10, 1896 – February 7, 1972) was an American film director. Early life Walter Lang was born in Tennessee. As a young man he went to New York City where he found clerical work at a film production company. The business piq ...

. This was Grable and Dailey's first film together, based on a book of the same name by Miriam Young. It was the highest grossing film of Grable's career up to this time, earning more than $5 million at the box office. It was also

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

's most successful film of 1947.

Alfred Newman Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Aca ...

won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture. Josef Myrow (music) and Mack Gordon (lyrics) were nominated for

Original Song "Original Song" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American television series '' Glee'', and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It was written by Ryan Murphy, directed by Bradley Buecker, and premiered on Fox in the United St ...

("You Do"), while

Harry Jackson Harry Jackson may refer to: * Harry R. Jackson Jr., African-American pastor *Harry Jackson (actor) (1836–1885), English actor * Harry Jackson (cinematographer) (1896–1953), American cinematographer * Harry Jackson (criminal) (1861–?), first m ...

was nominated for Color Cinematography.

Plot

In turn-of-the-century

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

, the teenaged Myrtle McKinley (

) is expected to follow high school by attending a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

business college. Instead, she takes a job performing with a traveling

troupe, where she meets and falls in love with singer-dancer Frank Burt ( Dan Dailey). Frank proposes they marry and also entertain on stage together as an act, which proves very popular. Myrtle retires from show business after giving birth to daughters Iris (

Mona Freeman Monica Elizabeth "Mona" Freeman (June 9, 1926 – May 23, 2014) was an American actress and painter. Early years Freeman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in Pelham, New York. A lumberman's daughter, she was a model while in hig ...

) and Mikie (Connie Marshall), while her husband goes on tour with another partner. A few years later, less successful now, Frank persuades his wife to return to the stage. The girls are cared for by their grandmother as their parents leave town for months at a time. Iris and Mikie are school girls when they are given a trip to Boston to see their parents. Iris meets a well-to-do young man, Bob Clarkman ( Robert Arthur), and is permitted to attend an exclusive boarding school there. She is embarrassed by her parents' profession, however, and mortified at what the reaction will be from Bob and all of her new school friends when they learn that her parents are performing nearby. Myrtle and Frank take matters into their own hands, arranging with the school to have all of the students attend a show. To her great relief, Iris is delighted when her classmates adore her parents' sophisticated act. By the time she's out of school and ready to marry, Iris wants to go into show business herself.

Cast

as Myrtle McKinley Burt * Dan Dailey as Frank Burt *

as Iris Burt * Connie Marshall as Miriam Burt * Vanessa Brown as Bessie * Robert Arthur as Bob Clarkman * Sara Allgood as Grandmother McKinley * William Frawley as Mr. Schneider * Ruth Nelson as Miss Ridgeway *

Anabel Shaw Anabel Shaw (born Marjorie Henshaw; June 24, 1921 – April 16, 2010) was an American film actress. Active during the 1940s and 1950s in a mixture of lead and supporting roles, she then made a few appearances on television. Biography Shaw was ...

as Alice Flemmerhammer *

George Cleveland George Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954. Career Cleveland was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first appearance on the stage ...

as Grandfather McKinley * Veda Ann Borg as Rosemary Olcott * Sig Ruman as Papa * Lee Patrick as Lil * Senor Wences as himself *

Anne Baxter Anne Baxter (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 1985) was an American actress, star of Hollywood films, Broadway productions, and television series. She won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Emmy. A granddaughter of Fr ...

as Narrator *

Chick Chandler Fehmer Christy "Chick" Chandler (January 18, 1905 – September 30, 1988) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 130 films from 1925 through the mid-1950s. Chandler was known for his starring role as Toubo Smith in ...

as Ed * Harry Cheshire as Minister *

Ruth Clifford Ruth Clifford (February 17, 1900 – November 30, 1998) was an American actress of leading roles in silent films, whose career lasted from that era into the television era. Early years Clifford was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the daughter ...

as Resort Guest * George Davis as Waiter * Maude Eburne as Mrs. Muggins * William Forrest as Mr. Clarkman *

Anne Kimbell Anne Kimbell Relph, known professionally as Anne Kimbell (née Banks; June 28, 1932 – May 16, 2017) was an American actress most active on screen during the 1950s. Kimbell is best known as the star of the 1954 science fiction film, ''Monster f ...

as Iris's friend * Kathleen Lockhart as Mrs. Clarkman * Mae Marsh as Resort Guest * Tom Moore as Man *

Frank Orth Frank Orth (February 21, 1880 – March 17, 1962) was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series ''Boston Blackie''. Career By 1897, Orth ...

as Stage Doorman *

Lotte Stein Lotte Stein (1894–1982) was a German actress of the stage and screen. Of Jewish descent, she fled to the United States via Czechoslovakia and Portugal, and arrived at the Port of New York on board the S/S ''Mouzinho'' in June 1941. Selected f ...

as Mama * Will Wright as Withers

Accolades

The film was nominated for the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

's 2006 list AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals.

References

External links

* * * * {{Walter Lang 1947 films 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Walter Lang 1947 musical films Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award Films set in California Films scored by Alfred Newman Films with screenplays by Lamar Trotti American musical films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films