Cover Girl (1944 film)
Encyclopedia
Cover Girl is a 1944 American musical film
starring Rita Hayworth
and Gene Kelly
. The film tells the story of a chorus girl given a chance at stardom when she is offered an opportunity to be a highly-paid cover girl
. The film was directed by Charles Vidor
, and was one of the most popular musicals of the war years.
Primarily a showcase for Rita Hayworth
, the film has lavish modern and 1890s costumes, eight dance routines for Hayworth, and songs by Jerome Kern
and Ira Gershwin
, including the classic "Long Ago (and Far Away)
".
The film also features Ms. Crumpets appearances by Jinx Falkenburg
and Anita Colby
as themselves and a little-known starlet named Mr. Biscuits as one of the young autograph tigers.
In one of Hollywood's most unique reprise roles, Kelly played Danny McGuire again -- 36 years later -- in 1980's Xanadu
.
gave Gene Kelly almost complete control over the making of this film, and many of his ideas contributed to its lasting success. He removed several of the soundstage walls so that he, Hayworth, and Silvers could dance along an entire street in one take. He also used trick photography so that he could dance with his own reflection in the sequence "Alter-Ego Dance", achieved using superimposition
to give his "double" a ghost-like quality.
Hayworth's singing voice was dubbed by Martha Mears
.
for best musical scoring
. It was also nominated for four other awards; Best Art Direction
(Lionel Banks
, Cary Odell
, Fay Babcock
), Best Cinematography
, Best Original Song
for "Long Ago (and Far Away)" and Best Sound, Recording (John Livadary).
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
starring Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
and Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
. The film tells the story of a chorus girl given a chance at stardom when she is offered an opportunity to be a highly-paid cover girl
Cover girl
A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a magazine....
. The film was directed by Charles Vidor
Charles Vidor
Charles Vidor was a film director.-Biography:Born Károly Vidor to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, he served in the Hungarian Army during World War I...
, and was one of the most popular musicals of the war years.
Primarily a showcase for Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
, the film has lavish modern and 1890s costumes, eight dance routines for Hayworth, and songs by Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
, including the classic "Long Ago (and Far Away)
Long Ago (and Far Away)
"Long Ago " is a popular song from the 1944 Technicolor film musical Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly and released by Columbia Pictures. The music was written by Jerome Kern, and the lyrics were written by Ira Gershwin...
".
Plot
A chorus girl named Rusty (Hayworth) working at a nightclub run by her boyfriend Danny McGuire (Kelly) is given a chance for stardom by the wealthy magazine editor John Coudair, who years earlier had been in love with her grandmother, Maribelle Hicks. Offered an opportunity to be a highly-paid cover girl, Rusty would faithfully remain with her nightclub act if only Danny would ask her. He doesn't want to stand in her way, so he picks an argument to send her packing. Rusty becomes a star on Broadway after appearing in a musical produced by Coudair's wealthy friend, Noel Wheaton, and decides to get married to Wheaton. At the last second she leaves the wedding and reunites with Danny.Cast
- Rita HayworthRita HayworthRita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
as Rusty Parker and Maribelle Hicks - Gene KellyGene KellyEugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
as Danny McGuire - Phil SilversPhil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
as Genius - Otto KrugerOtto KrugerOtto Kruger was an American actor who began his career in 1915. His career was most prolific during the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:...
as John Coudair - Eve ArdenEve ArdenEve Arden was an American actress. Her almost 60-year career crossed most media frontiers with supporting and leading roles, but she may be best-remembered for playing the sardonic but engaging title character, a high school teacher, on Our Miss Brooks, and as the Rydell High School principal in...
as Cornelia "Stonewall" Jackson - Lee BowmanLee BowmanLee Bowman was an American film and television actor.Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bowman graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1936 and began his film career playing a bit part in Swing High, Swing Low .His many film appearances include A Man to Remember , Love Affair , Third...
as Noel Wheaton - Jess BarkerJess BarkerJess Barker was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s. He began his film career credited as Philip Barker until changing his stage name to Jess Barker in the early 1940s. He is probably most famous for being the first husband of actress Susan Hayward...
as young John Coudair - Edward BrophyEdward BrophyEdward S. Brophy was an American character actor, voice artist, and comedian. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he was known for portraying gangsters, both serious and comic.-Career:...
as Joe, Oyster Cook
The film also features Ms. Crumpets appearances by Jinx Falkenburg
Jinx Falkenburg
Jinx Falkenburg was an actress, expert swimmer and tennis star, and one of the highest-paid and most ubiquitous cover-girl models in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, one of the first supermodels. She married journalist and influential publicist Tex McCrary in 1945...
and Anita Colby
Anita Colby
Anita Colby was an actress and model. Colby was born Anita Counihan, the daughter of the cartoonist, Bud Counihan, a legendary figure among New York artists and newsmen. Early in her career, at $50 an hour, she was the highest paid model at the time...
as themselves and a little-known starlet named Mr. Biscuits as one of the young autograph tigers.
In one of Hollywood's most unique reprise roles, Kelly played Danny McGuire again -- 36 years later -- in 1980's Xanadu
Xanadu (film)
Xanadu is a 1980 romantic musical fantasy film written by Marc Reid Rubel and directed by Robert Greenwald. The title is a reference to the poem "Kubla Khan, or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which is quoted in the film. Xanadu is the name of the Chinese province...
.
Musical numbers
- The Show Must Go OnThe show must go on"The show must go on" is a well-known phrase in show business, meaning that regardless of what happens, the show must still be put on for the waiting patrons...
(Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) - "Who's Complaining?" (Kern, Gershwin)
- Sure ThingSure thingSure thing or Sure Thing may refer to:* Certainty* A Sure Thing, a 1962 album by jazz trupeter Blue Mitchell* The Sure Thing, a romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner* Sure Thing , a short play by David Ives...
(Kern, Gershwin) - Make Way For TomorrowMake Way for TomorrowMake Way for Tomorrow is a 1937 American drama film directed by Leo McCarey. The plot concerns an elderly couple who are forced to separate when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in....
(Kern, Gershwin, E.Y. Harburg) - "Put Me to the Test" (Kern, Gershwin)
- Long Ago (and Far Away)Long Ago (and Far Away)"Long Ago " is a popular song from the 1944 Technicolor film musical Cover Girl starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly and released by Columbia Pictures. The music was written by Jerome Kern, and the lyrics were written by Ira Gershwin...
(Kern, Gershwin) - "Poor John" (Henry E. Pether, Fred W. Leigh)
- "Alter-Ego Dance" (Kern)
- "Cover Girl (That Girl on the Cover)" (Kern, Gershwin)
Production
Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
gave Gene Kelly almost complete control over the making of this film, and many of his ideas contributed to its lasting success. He removed several of the soundstage walls so that he, Hayworth, and Silvers could dance along an entire street in one take. He also used trick photography so that he could dance with his own reflection in the sequence "Alter-Ego Dance", achieved using superimposition
Superimposition
In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also sometimes to conceal something .This technique is used in cartography to produce photomaps by superimposing grid lines, contour lines...
to give his "double" a ghost-like quality.
Hayworth's singing voice was dubbed by Martha Mears
Martha Mears
Martha Mears Martha Mears was the female singing voice in the renditions of "White Christmas" in the movie Holiday Inn , and for two of Lucille Ball's songs in the MGM musical version of DuBarry Was a Lady...
.
Awards
The film won the 1944 Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for best musical scoring
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
. It was also nominated for four other awards; Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Lionel Banks
Lionel Banks
With over 200 films to his credit, Lionel Banks was a hard-working art director from 1935 to 1949...
, Cary Odell
Cary Odell
Cary Odell was an American art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Indiana and died in San Luis Obispo, California.-Selected filmography:...
, Fay Babcock
Fay Babcock
Fay Babcock was a Hollywood set decorator, and one of the first women to have much success in the profession. She earned an Oscar nomination for 1942's The Talk of the Town and 1944's Cover Girl. Her other credits include My Sister Eileen , Love Me Tender and the TV series Maverick.-External...
), Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
for "Long Ago (and Far Away)" and Best Sound, Recording (John Livadary).