Totten a Deux
Right now I'm watching a wonderful movie -- one of my all-time favorites, actually -- and is my wont I looked up a few details at the IMDb. A Song is Born (1948) is a musical remake of 1941's Ball of Fire and has some interesting trivia:
- Howard Hawks directed both films
- Mary Field plays Miss Totten in both films
- Tommy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, Mel Powell, Buck and Bubbles, Louie Bellson, Page Cavanaugh, and the Samba Kings all play themselves. Getting all these legendary men together to play at the same time would be the equivalent of all the top Rap/Hip-Hop stars singing together in a modern movie.
- When asked to play without music, Prof. Magenbruch (Benny Goodman) says, "You can't play without music." Lionel Hampton replies, "Well, Benny Goodman used to." Magenbruch then says he's never heard of Benny Goodman.
- Virginia Mayo's appearance is extra special when you consider that she was just a Goldwyn Girl in her first movie with the lead in this film, Danny Kaye. They eventually teamed up for five movies. Sadly, her singing voice in this film was dubbed by Jeri Sullavan.
Of course, all the music if incredible. I would bet that even an atheist would say "Now there's a gift from God!" when Buck (of Buck and Bubbles) first plays the piano early in the movie. One could almost dispense with the dialogue and have just as much enjoyment with only the music.
