Star Spangled Rhythm
US (1942): Musical/Comedy
Paramount opens the famous front gates and gives classic-movie fans a cinematic time machine back to wartime days. Most anyone associated with the studio at the time (actors and directors both) shows up in this charming story of a soldier (Eddie Bracken) coming home to visit his father (Victor Moore), once a cowboy star and now the studio gatekeeper. Moore and switchboard operator Betty Hutton have convinced Bracken that Pop runs the place, and the studio personnel love him enough to keep up the façade.
A rare chance to get a glimpse at studio life of the classic era. George Marshall directs a cast that includes Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, Franchot Tone, Ray Milland, Dorothy Lamour, Paulette Goddard, Vera Zorina, Mary Martin, Dick Powell, Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd and other Paramount stars appearing as themselves.
Actor Tom Dugan briefly portrays Hitler in a musical revue. Coincidentally, Dugan also appeared as an actor playing Hitler in the Ernst Lubitch comedy To Be or Not To Be (1942).
Star Spangled Rhythm opened in NYC on December 30, 1942, but its general release wasn't until December 2, 1943. (amctv.com)
2 nominations
· Music - Scoring of a Musical Picture 1943: Robert Emmett Dolan
· Music - Best Song 1943: "That Old Black Magic" Harold Arlen - Music; Johnny Mercer - Lyric