My Blue Heaven (1950)

FBI agent Barney Coopersmith is assigned to protect former Mafia figure turned informant Vincent Antonelli. In the witness protection program one is supposed to keep a low profile but that is something that Antonelli has trouble doing. Coopersmith certainly has his hands full keeping Antonelli away from the Mafia hitmen who want to stop him testifying not to mention the nightclubs...System Requirements:Running Time: 95 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSICALS/MUSICALS Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543244806 Manufacturer No: 2234480 Product Description

Love Dan Dailey

I love Dan Dailey musicals and this is one of the best. Betty Grable at her most charming. September 23, 2007

A Throwback to Radio's Last Days and Television's Rise

MY BLUE HEAVEN takes a viewer back to the last days of radio and the first days of television. Betty Grable and Dan Dailey play Kitty and Jack Moran, a husband and wife song and dance team. We discover early in the story that Kitty is pregnant with their first child, but loses the baby after a car accident. Kitty learns she may never be able to have her own child and the couple accepts the possibility of being childless until they visit two friends and colleagues Walter and Janet Pringle (David Wayne and Jane Wyatt) who have adopted some of their bustling brood, Kitty and Jack decide to adopt. They have to face a number of obstacles including a snobbish adoption service director and a mother who decides to put her child up for adoption and then wants the child back. Since this is a 1950's musical, we know that the story will all work out better than anyone could expect but like all predictable Hollywood musicals, we may know how the story will end but we want to know what will happen to get to the happy ending.

Most of the musical numbers are interwoven in the radio and television numbers, so the story has a bit of a flow to it. There is a spoof of sorts on an "operetta set in the South Pacific" which in a buffoonish way bears a bit of a resemblance to another Twentieth Century musical. Mitzi Gaynor plays a young vamp named Gloria Adams who makes a move on Jack which Kitty takes rather well. Grable and Dailey are good partners in the film and there are some moments that make viewers feel sorry for the couple when they face setbacks.

I'm assuming that this DVD will appeal primarily to film buffs and Hollywood musical lovers. It doesn't have too many special features: a collection of stills from the filming and trailers for DOWN ARGENTINE WAY and THE DOLLY SISTERS. Still it's an enjoyable film and a good example of a 1950's musical.
March 17, 2007

Movie Buff!

I BOUGHT THIS MOVIE SIMPLY BECAUSE I LIKE THE OLDER STARS, AND MUSICALS, BUT MAINLY BECAUSE IT WAS DIRECTED BY HENRY KOSTER, WHO ALSO DIRECTED "A MAN CALLED PETER". I WAS HOPING FOR THE SAME QUALITY DIRECTING, BUT I PERSONALLY DID NOT SEE THAT. IT IS AN "OK" FILM, BUT I'VE WATCHED BETTER. THIS IS MITZI GAYNOR'S FIRST FILM ROLE, FOR YOU OLDER MOVIE BUFFS. I DON'T CHALK IT OFF, EVEN WITH MY COMMENTS ABOVE!
January 10, 2007

There's Really Only One Reason To Watch It...

"My Blue Heaven" is boring. The plot is insipid; the characterizations and dialogue stink; the musical numbers, while occasionally staged in interesting ways, are not only too often absurd, but also lyrically trite, painfully bright, and emotionally hollow to the core. The leads, Betty Grable and Dan Dailey, are attractive professionals; however, in spite of their every talented effort to uplift the drear and uncompelling material, they fail. David Wayne and Jane Wyatt, for all their demonstrated talent in other projects, are more or less cyphers here.

There's really only one reason to watch "My Blue Heaven". One reason...one star: Mitzi Gaynor, in her film debut. Her total screen time is probably less than ten minutes, but so what? Her pert and promising screen personality, her feline beauty, and her exceptional charisma shine through gloriously and make these minutes the most watchable, memorable, and exciting moments in the entire film. If you would value an opportunity to see a tremendous young talent on the rise, then check out Miss Mitzi Gaynor in "My Blue Heaven."

Incidentally, I scorn (and would urge you to avoid) Drew Casper's manic, obsessive-compulsive DVD commentary for this film. Wordy, digressive, unduly fastidious, frequently ill-timed with what is playing on the screen, and galloping throughout with an excess of nervous energy, his comments are absolutely indigestible. September 7, 2006

Dated, dull, and grainy. Don't waste your money!

I loved watching old Betty Grable movies with my grandmother on TV years ago. She loved them when she was young, and thought I would enjoy them, too. I was barely a toddler, and have fond memories of those viewings. So, I recently purchased the new batch of Grable DVDs hoping to re-experience those treasured memories.

BAD MOVE!

I should have waited for more GABLE instead of wasting money on GRABLE.

Betty Grable and Dan Dailey were performers of modest talents to say the least. They had a nice chemistry, and were surrounded by good production values, nice music, and what I assume originally was gorgeous Technicolor.

The DVD looks very bland and flat, and doesn't do the film's production values justice. Whether it was actually filmed in a bland way, or is just a grainy transfer with color breathing, I couldn't tell you. Fox musicals usually compensate their lack of substance with dazzling colors or terrific songs.

None of that is here. The DVD is drab looking, the songs in the film are mediocre, and the performances are downright tacky at times. I may have liked it at age 5 or 6, but MY BLUE HEAVEN is hardly heavenly when viewing this ugly looking DVD which can't compensate for the drab screenplay, tired stars, and boring music. July 13, 2006

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