I love this movie. I am a first soprano, and I feel that Kathryn Grayson had an absolutely beautiful voice. Paired with the famous tenor of Mario Lanza (not Danza; he is a "dancer" BTW), Kathryn is absolutely radiant.
I liked seeing James Mitchell (Dream Curly in Oklahoma movie), and I never saw his soap opera. He was a wonderful dancer in Oklahoma, and the same in Toast of N.O. Rita Moreno went on to appear in The King and I Movie, plus later as everybody knows as the older sister in movie West Side Story. She is still alive at 81-82 years old, and still looks very beautiful. James and Rita are excellent in Toast of N.O.
J. Carrol Naish; quite the funnyman. Accent a riot. Clothes totally ridiculous and wonderful. Table manners from he#@; too funny for words. A shrimp expert, LOL.
Niven the staid proper Britisher; not my idea of a romantic leading man. He was the onlooker. Didn't want to make marriage more important a career than opera. Kathryn actually had to ask HIM to marry HER. He was such a numbskull.
Loved seeing the oldtime stage actor photographs on the walls and furniture. I recognized young Constance Collier. Pictures obviously of that era in theatre history. You see old theatrical performer photographs in other movies such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Morning Glory. Constance Collier, a stage beauty in early 20th century, was the elderly resident in movie Stage Door starring Kathryn Hepburn and Ginger Rogers.
Lanza, when dressed up and gentlemanly, reminding me of Enrico Caruso -- the Homburg hat, fancy morning coat, etc.; rotund body; dark hair; matinée presence. When dressed in fisherman garb, he always got the attention from his bright red scarf or perhaps his rotund body and loud voice.
I love the city of New Orleans, in real life. Noticed French Quarter-looking scene in this movie; the lace balconies plus matte-background church, etc. Raspberries and plaintains for sale, indeed. Lanza sang to everyone on the street.
Clinton Sundberg tended to have secondary, but important, roles, that seemed to tie the stories together. He did not have leading man looks, but was gentle with the other characters.
Some posters said Kathryn played an upper class society woman, but I think if we look underneath the facade here was yet another of Niven's lower class discoveries who decided to fake her way into N.O. society. N.O. is rather sophisticated in some parts than some think compared to the fishing-community "rustics" as portrayed in this movie, but I am sure that the Cajuns had a lot more sense than some of the city dwellers.
Yes, this was 50s movie-making, as some said. This was also 40s storytelling, and YES it was post-World War II -- BUT give the movie makers credit for a sugar coated fantasy instead of the fighting-and-killing-World-War-II movies that went on for decades afterward. You can imagine perhaps this movie was started in 1949, cast in 1948, storyboard 1946, ideas 1942-1943 during the ugliest part of the worldwide conflict. So, stop whining and complaining and enjoy this wonderful escapist bit of fluff. RIP Kathryn Grayson, who had one of the most beautiful singing voices in musical movies.
The only thing missing here was tap dancing, which, as all of you know, is my fave. (And they could have slipped Gene Kelly in here, from Anchors Aweigh with Kathryn Grayson).
I liked seeing James Mitchell (Dream Curly in Oklahoma movie), and I never saw his soap opera. He was a wonderful dancer in Oklahoma, and the same in Toast of N.O. Rita Moreno went on to appear in The King and I Movie, plus later as everybody knows as the older sister in movie West Side Story. She is still alive at 81-82 years old, and still looks very beautiful. James and Rita are excellent in Toast of N.O.
J. Carrol Naish; quite the funnyman. Accent a riot. Clothes totally ridiculous and wonderful. Table manners from he#@; too funny for words. A shrimp expert, LOL.
Niven the staid proper Britisher; not my idea of a romantic leading man. He was the onlooker. Didn't want to make marriage more important a career than opera. Kathryn actually had to ask HIM to marry HER. He was such a numbskull.
Loved seeing the oldtime stage actor photographs on the walls and furniture. I recognized young Constance Collier. Pictures obviously of that era in theatre history. You see old theatrical performer photographs in other movies such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Morning Glory. Constance Collier, a stage beauty in early 20th century, was the elderly resident in movie Stage Door starring Kathryn Hepburn and Ginger Rogers.
Lanza, when dressed up and gentlemanly, reminding me of Enrico Caruso -- the Homburg hat, fancy morning coat, etc.; rotund body; dark hair; matinée presence. When dressed in fisherman garb, he always got the attention from his bright red scarf or perhaps his rotund body and loud voice.
I love the city of New Orleans, in real life. Noticed French Quarter-looking scene in this movie; the lace balconies plus matte-background church, etc. Raspberries and plaintains for sale, indeed. Lanza sang to everyone on the street.
Clinton Sundberg tended to have secondary, but important, roles, that seemed to tie the stories together. He did not have leading man looks, but was gentle with the other characters.
Some posters said Kathryn played an upper class society woman, but I think if we look underneath the facade here was yet another of Niven's lower class discoveries who decided to fake her way into N.O. society. N.O. is rather sophisticated in some parts than some think compared to the fishing-community "rustics" as portrayed in this movie, but I am sure that the Cajuns had a lot more sense than some of the city dwellers.
Yes, this was 50s movie-making, as some said. This was also 40s storytelling, and YES it was post-World War II -- BUT give the movie makers credit for a sugar coated fantasy instead of the fighting-and-killing-World-War-II movies that went on for decades afterward. You can imagine perhaps this movie was started in 1949, cast in 1948, storyboard 1946, ideas 1942-1943 during the ugliest part of the worldwide conflict. So, stop whining and complaining and enjoy this wonderful escapist bit of fluff. RIP Kathryn Grayson, who had one of the most beautiful singing voices in musical movies.
The only thing missing here was tap dancing, which, as all of you know, is my fave. (And they could have slipped Gene Kelly in here, from Anchors Aweigh with Kathryn Grayson).