''Sensations of 1945'' is a 1944 American
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
-
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Andrew Stone and starring
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars duri ...
. Released by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
, the film was an attempt to recapture the ensemble style of films such as ''
Broadway Melody of 1936
''Broadway Melody of 1936'' is a musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1935. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site of many prestigious MGM premieres. In New York, the film opened at the Capitol Theatre, the site ...
'' by showcasing a number of top musical and comedy acts of the day, in a film linked together by a loose storyline. ''Sensations of 1945'' stars dancer Powell and
Dennis O'Keefe
Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer.
Early years
Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevill ...
as two rival publicists who fall in love, but the film's main purpose is to showcase a variety of different acts, ranging from tightrope walking to comedy to Powell's athletic
tap dancing
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
. The rollicking supporting cast features
W.C. Fields
WC or wc may refer to:
* Water closet or flush toilet
Arts and entertainment
* ''W.C.'' (film), an Irish feature film
* WC (band), a Polish punk rock band
* WC (rapper), a rapper from Los Angeles, California
* Westside Connection, former hi ...
in his final role the year before his death,
C. Aubrey Smith
Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...
,
Eugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946.
After an early career as a slender leading man, ...
, dancer
David Lichine
David Lichine (russian: Дэвид (Давид) Лишин; 25 October 1910 – 26 June 1972) was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer. He had an international career as a performer, ballet master, and choreographer, staging works fo ...
,
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...
,
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...
, jazz pianist
Dorothy Donegan
Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998) was a classically trained American jazz pianist and occasional vocalist, primarily known for performing stride and boogie-woogie, as well as bebop, swing, and classical.
Early life, family ...
,
Cab Calloway
Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...
,
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...
, jazz pianist/composer
Gene Rodgers
Gene Rodgers (March 5, 1910, New York City – October 23, 1987, New York City) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He is best known for being the pianist on Coleman Hawkins' famous 1939 recording of " Body and Soul".
Early life
...
, and
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...
.
The picture is notable for several reasons. It was Powell's first and only film after leaving
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
, where she became a star nearly a decade earlier; it was also her final starring role in a film, after which she would only make a cameo in MGM's ''
Duchess of Idaho
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
'' in 1950 and some unused footage of her would appear in a 1946 MGM compilation, ''
The Great Morgan
''The Great Morgan'' is a 1945 American musical-comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is considered one of the more unusual in the MGM canon in that it is a compilation film built around a slight plot line, with a running time of ...
''. Powell's dance inside a giant
pinball machine
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
(as part of the song, "
Spin Little Pinball") has been cited by critics variously as both a highlight and as the
nadir
The nadir (, ; ar, نظير, naẓīr, counterpart) is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface.
The direc ...
of her film career.
The film was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Music Scoring.
Plot
Cast
*
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars duri ...
as Ginny Walker
*
Dennis O'Keefe
Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer.
Early years
Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevill ...
as Junior Crane
*
C. Aubrey Smith
Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...
as Dan Lindsey
*
Eugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946.
After an early career as a slender leading man, ...
as Gus Crane
*Mimi Forsythe as Julia Westcott
*
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...
as Randall
*Hubert Castle as The Great Gustafson
*
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...
as Himself
*
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...
as Herself
*
Dorothy Donegan
Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998) was a classically trained American jazz pianist and occasional vocalist, primarily known for performing stride and boogie-woogie, as well as bebop, swing, and classical.
Early life, family ...
as Herself
*The Christianis as Themselves
*Pallenberg Bears as Themselves
*
Cab Calloway and His Band as Themselves
*
Woody Herman and His Band as Themselves
*
David Lichine
David Lichine (russian: Дэвид (Давид) Лишин; 25 October 1910 – 26 June 1972) was a Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer. He had an international career as a performer, ballet master, and choreographer, staging works fo ...
as Himself
*
Richard Hageman
Richard Hageman (9 July 1881 – 6 March 1966) was a Dutch-born American conductor, pianist, composer, and actor.
Biography
Hageman was born and raised in Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands. He was the son of Maurits Hageman of Zutphen, a vio ...
as Pendergast
*
Marie Blake
Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald (August 21, 1895 – January 14, 1978), also known as Blossom Rock, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage, film and television. During her career she was also billed as Marie Blake or Blossom MacDonald. He ...
as Miss Grear
*
Stanley Andrews
Stanley Andrews (born Stanley Martin Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first ...
as Mr. Collins
*"Uncle Willie" as Himself
*
Gene Rodgers
Gene Rodgers (March 5, 1910, New York City – October 23, 1987, New York City) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He is best known for being the pianist on Coleman Hawkins' famous 1939 recording of " Body and Soul".
Early life
...
as Himself
*Mel Hall as Himself
*Johnson Brothers as Themselves
*Flying Copelands as Themselves
*Starless Night as Himself
*
Les Paul Trio as Themselves
*And
Louise Currie
Louise Currie (born Louise Gunter; April 7, 1913 – September 8, 2013) was an American film actress, active from 1940 into the early 1950s.
Biography
Currie was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of Charles W. Gunter, a banker, ...
,
Constance Purdy
Constance Purdy (August 3, 1887 – April 1, 1960) was an American film actress and classical music performer.
Early life
Purdy was born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 3, 1887 to American railroad executive Thomas C. Purdy (April 13, 1 ...
,
Wendell Niles
Wendell Niles (December 29, 1904 – March 28, 1994) was an announcer during the American golden age of radio and later in television.
Early years
Niles was born in Livingston, Montana and grew up there. He attended New York University and t ...
,
Anthony Warde
Anthony Warde (born Benjamin Schwartz; January 1, 1909 – January 8, 1975) was a noted American actor who appeared in over 150 films between 1937 and 1964.
Early years
Born as Benjamin Schwartz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on New Year' ...
External links
*
*
1944 films
American black-and-white films
United Artists films
Films directed by Andrew L. Stone
1944 musical comedy films
American musical comedy films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films
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