Never having seen the stage play by this same name, I can't compare a stage production to the movie. But as a movie, "Du Barry Was a Lady" needs to stand on its own. I remember watching Red Skelton and Lucille Ball on their TV shows. Everyone knows about Lucy. I think Skelton was terrific on TV. His comedy characters, Clem Kadiddlehopper and Freddie the Freeloader especially always got tons of laughs, and skits with his guest stars often had we viewers rolling with laughter.
I've seen a couple of Skelton movies that were fairly good, and several in which Lucille Ball was quite good. Unfortunately, this is not a good film for either star, or for Gene Kelly. I read a couple of reviews that seemed to make excuses for MGM having to scrap much of the stage original stuff to satisfy censors. I don't buy it. I think that's letting MGM and the writers, directors and everyone off the hook. All one has to do to verify this is to look at the many good and great comedy romance and musical films that Hollywood was producing at the time. No, this one suffers from a lack of anything very funny, and I think that rests with the writers first. This just isn't a very good screenplay. It isn't funny, and its so choppy that we get poor performances out of the main stars.
Still, I give this film six stars for one reason -- the appearance and playing of Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra. Dorsey does several excellent numbers – he looks to have the full size complement of his group at its peak – around 25 to 28 musicians. Anytime a movie features one of the top big bands of the swing era, I will give it six stars to begin with, and then build up from there. Because of the era and the type of music that swing was, and its lasting effect on American music especially, and its longevity in films and on the air, I think movies that feature the most prominent of the big bands have a historical value as well as their entertainment value.
So, Tommy Dorsey and his excellent musicians are the only good thing about this movie. And, that's enough of a reason to watch it if one hasn't seen it before.
I've seen a couple of Skelton movies that were fairly good, and several in which Lucille Ball was quite good. Unfortunately, this is not a good film for either star, or for Gene Kelly. I read a couple of reviews that seemed to make excuses for MGM having to scrap much of the stage original stuff to satisfy censors. I don't buy it. I think that's letting MGM and the writers, directors and everyone off the hook. All one has to do to verify this is to look at the many good and great comedy romance and musical films that Hollywood was producing at the time. No, this one suffers from a lack of anything very funny, and I think that rests with the writers first. This just isn't a very good screenplay. It isn't funny, and its so choppy that we get poor performances out of the main stars.
Still, I give this film six stars for one reason -- the appearance and playing of Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra. Dorsey does several excellent numbers – he looks to have the full size complement of his group at its peak – around 25 to 28 musicians. Anytime a movie features one of the top big bands of the swing era, I will give it six stars to begin with, and then build up from there. Because of the era and the type of music that swing was, and its lasting effect on American music especially, and its longevity in films and on the air, I think movies that feature the most prominent of the big bands have a historical value as well as their entertainment value.
So, Tommy Dorsey and his excellent musicians are the only good thing about this movie. And, that's enough of a reason to watch it if one hasn't seen it before.