DuBarry Was a Lady (film)
Encyclopedia
DuBarry Was a Lady is a 1943 Technicolor
film, starring Red Skelton
, Lucille Ball
, and Gene Kelly
, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name
.
The film was released by MGM on May 30, 1943, and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It used very little of the original Cole Porter
score. New characters were added, and many of the original characters' names were changed. The basic outline remained the same, although the relationships of some of the characters were different. In the film, Ginny (another singer) pines away for Louis, who is too infatuated with May Daly to notice, and it is only at the end that he realizes that Ginny loves him.
The dream sequence in the film was purposely delayed by more than forty-five minutes, with vaudeville-type acts performed as a floor show before the dream sequence got underway. The Louis XV - Mme. DuBarry scenes, unlike the play, featured very little singing.
and his Orchestra (featuring Buddy Rich
and Ziggy Elman
), Dick Haymes
, Jo Stafford
, The Pied Pipers
, Six Hits and a Miss, and The Music Maids. Lucille Ball's singing voice was dubbed in most of the picture, but her real voice is heard in Friendship.
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
film, starring Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, and Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name
DuBarry Was a Lady
DuBarry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and B.G. DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights...
.
The film was released by MGM on May 30, 1943, and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It used very little of the original Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
score. New characters were added, and many of the original characters' names were changed. The basic outline remained the same, although the relationships of some of the characters were different. In the film, Ginny (another singer) pines away for Louis, who is too infatuated with May Daly to notice, and it is only at the end that he realizes that Ginny loves him.
The dream sequence in the film was purposely delayed by more than forty-five minutes, with vaudeville-type acts performed as a floor show before the dream sequence got underway. The Louis XV - Mme. DuBarry scenes, unlike the play, featured very little singing.
Cast
- Red SkeltonRed SkeltonRichard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
as Louis Blore and Louis XV - Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
as May Daly and Madame DuBarry (two songs dubbed by Martha MearsMartha MearsMartha 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...
) - Gene KellyGene KellyEugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
as Alec Howe and The Black Arrow - Virginia O'BrienVirginia O'BrienVirginia Lee O'Brien was a popular American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic roles in MGM musicals of the 1940s.-Life and career:...
as Ginny - Rags RaglandRags RaglandRags Ragland was an American comedian and character actor. Ragland first made his reputation in burlesque, where he was one of the house comics for the famed Minsky burlesque shows...
as Charlie - Zero MostelZero MostelSamuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
as Rami the Swami - Hugh Beaumont as Footman
- Donald MeekDonald MeekDonald Meek was a Scottish-born American character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish-American War and...
as Mr. Jones and Duc de Choiseul - Douglass DumbrilleDouglass DumbrilleDouglass Dumbrille was a Canadian actor and one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood.-Life and career:...
as Willie and Duc de Rigor - George Givot as Cheezy and Count de Roquefort
- Louise BeaversLouise BeaversLouise Beavers was an African-American film and television actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films from the 1920s to the 1930s, most often in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Beavers was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American...
as Niagara - Tommy Dorsey and His OrchestraTommy DorseyThomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
as themselves
Songs
Musical numbers featured Tommy DorseyTommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
and his Orchestra (featuring Buddy Rich
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich was billed as "the world's greatest drummer" and was known for his virtuosic technique, power, groove, and speed.-Early life:...
and Ziggy Elman
Ziggy Elman
Harry Aaron Finkelman , better known by the stage name Ziggy Elman, was an American jazz trumpeter most associated with Benny Goodman, though he also led his own Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra....
), Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers were a popular singing group in the late 1930s and 1940s. Originally they consisted of eight members who had belonged to three separate groups: Jo Stafford from The Stafford Sisters, and seven male singers: John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody...
, Six Hits and a Miss, and The Music Maids. Lucille Ball's singing voice was dubbed in most of the picture, but her real voice is heard in Friendship.
- Medley: Dubarry Was a Lady (Main Title)/Do I Love You? - MGM Studio Orchestra
- Dubarry Was a Lady - MGM Studio Chorus,
- Nightclub Medley: Give Him to the Oo-La-La/Well, Did You Evah [Partial] - MGM Studio Orchestra
- Oxford Boys Medley: Thinking of You/A Cigarette, Sweet Music and You
- Medley: I'm Getting Sentimental Over You/Well, Git It! - Tommy Dorsey
- When Love Beckoned (On 52nd Street) - MGM Studio Orchestra
- Do I Love You? - Gene Kelly
- Do I Love You - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, The Pied Pipers
- Salome - Virginia O'Brien
- I Love an Esquire Girl - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, The Pied Pipers, Red Skelton
- Medley: Friendship/Do I Love You?/But in the Morning, No - MGM Studio Orchestra
- Ladies of the Bath
- Katie Went to Haiti - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, The Pied Pipers
- Madame, I Love Your Crepes Suzette - Red Skelton
- Song of Rebellion - Gene Kelly
- Friendship - Lucille Ball, Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Gene Kelly, Virginia O'Brien, Red Skelton