Director: John H. Auer
Year:  1941
Rating: 6.0

---

Hit Parade of 1941 (1940) - 6.0

AKA - Romance and Rhythm
This is a fairly bland benign low budget musical comedy from RKO that somehow manages to be pleasant enough. It has no stars though a few of them would become ones later on but it does have a few decent songs and two performances from the great Harmonica Rascals! RKO was of course the home of the Astaire-Rogers films and they were one of the first studios to put out a musical (Rio Rita) that was a big hit just as Talkies came about. But by 1940 they didn't have much musical talent on contract and even Astaire had left the studio. So they turned to lesser known folks.


The male lead is Kenny Baker who had been in a few other now obscure musicals and other than appearing in Harvey Girls never quite managed much of a career - partly I expect because he has a nerdy high pitched talking voice though when he sings he is quite good in that crooner style. The female lead is Frances Langford who later on became well-known for appearing with Bob Hope on his many tours but doesn't really sparkle at all on the screen until she sings - she has a great voice and originated a few classic songs - I'm in the Mood for Love, You are My Lucky Star, Hurray for Hollywood and in this one she sings a lovely version of Who Am I? And bursting with energy and a future ahead of her is Ann Miller who was seventeen at the time - signed by RKO at thirteen when they thought she was eighteen - and was already considered a dancing prodigy. She and Eleanor Powell are considered the two greatest female tap dancers though in truth unless those taps are on the shoes of Astaire or the Nicholas Brothers I am not a huge fan of the dance form.


And for comic relief there is Phil Silvers in his debut in a feature film and whose TV show in which he plays Bilco is still one of the funniest shows ever. Throw in Hugh Herbert whose shtick as a forgetful eccentric gave him quite a career in the 1930's and 40s - in small doses he is great but too much as in this one can be annoying. And perhaps not as well known but Mary Boland (the mother in the classic Pride and Prejudice and a dotty mother in many other films), the squeaky voiced Sterling Holloway, the smart-mouthed Patsy Kelly and the always questionable sexuality of Franklin Pangborn - all give this film some comedy chops. Not that it is hilarious but there is a constant barrage of one-liners.



The plot is interesting to me. TV is the new big thing and Herbert and his nephew Baker turn their radio station into a TV station. I admit to being surprised - I had no idea TV started by 1940 but I looked it up and the first TV stations began in the late 1920s and 30's. I can't imagine many people had TV sets though. At this point there really are no programs - just transferring the musical acts on the radio show to TV. They get a sponsor (Boland) but she insists that her daughter (Miller) be the singing star but she has a voice that would scare cats away - so the boys come up with an ingenious angle - have Langford secretly sing behind the scenes as Miller sings on stage not knowing that the voice going out on the TV waves is Langford's. That might sound familiar but no idea if Singin' in the Rain got that from here. Miller's character may not be able to sing but she sure can dance and does two numbers.


And let's not forget those Harmonica Rascals - seven guys playing harmonicas and fooling around with the midget in the band (and also amazingly for the time, a black man). They get two numbers. Too bad we don't have comic harmonica bands any more!