Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
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58% of users liked it
(52 ratings)
Star-Spangled Rhythm is a typical wartime all-star musical-comedy melange, this time from Paramount Pictures. The slender plot involves the efforts by humble studio doorman Pop Webster (Victor Moore) to pass himself off as a big-shot Paramount executive for the benefit of his sailor son Jimmy (Eddie… More Star-Spangled Rhythm is a typical wartime all-star musical-comedy melange, this time from Paramount Pictures. The slender plot involves the efforts by humble studio doorman Pop Webster (Victor Moore) to pass himself off as a big-shot Paramount executive for the benefit of his sailor son Jimmy (Eddie Bracken). The overall level of humor can be summed up by the scene in which Webster is advised that the best way to pretend to be a studio big-shot is to say "It stinks!" to everything -- whereupon Cecil B. DeMille shows up to ask Webster's opinion about his current production. Betty Hutton, cast as studio switchboard operator and co-conspirator Polly Judson, is at her most rambunctiously appealing here. The huge lineup of guest performers includes Bing Crosby (and his 8-year-old son Gary!), Bob Hope, Veronica Lake, Dorothy Lamour, Dick Powell, Mary Martin, Alan Ladd, Fred MacMurray, William Bendix, Paulette Goddard, and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, most (but not all) of them going through their characteristic paces. Highlights include a surrealistic rendition of That Old Black Magic with Johnnie Johnston and Vera Zorina; a frantic staging of the old George S. Kaufman sketch "If Men Played Cards as Women Do" with MacMurray, Ray Milland, Franchot Tone, and Lynn Overman; and The Sweater, the Sarong and the Peekaboo Bang, first performed by Goddard, Lamour and Lake, then lampooned in drag by Arthur Treacher, Sterling Holloway and Walter Catlett! PS: The actor playing Rochester's chauffeur in the Smart as a Tack number is John Ford "regular" Woody Strode. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- George Marshall
- Written By
- Arthur Ross
- Genres
- Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Dec 2, 1942 Wide
- Studio
- Universal Studios Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
So-so all-star film with a few bright moments.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Victor Moore
as Pop Webster
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Betty Hutton
as Polly Judson
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Eddie Bracken
as Jimmy Webster
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Anne Revere
as Sarah
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Walter Abel
as Frisbee
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Cass Daley
as Mimi
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Gil Lamb
as Hi-Pockets
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Edward Fielding
as Mr. Freemont
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Edgar Dearing
as Mac
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Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
as Specialty
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Katherine Dunham
as Dancer
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William Haade
as Duffy
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Maynard Holmes
as Sailor
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James Millican
as Sailor
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Ed Johnson
as Tommy
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Slim and Slam
as Themselves
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Irving Bacon
as Farmer 'Old Glory' number
- William Bendix
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Gladys Blake
as Liz
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Karin [Katharine] Booth
as Kate
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Virginia Brissac
as Lady from Iowa 'Old Glory'
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Rod Cameron
as Petty Officer
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Macdonald Carey
as Louie the Lug
- Don Castle
- Walter Catlett
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Chester Clute
as Bob Hope Skit
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Jerry Colonna
as Specialty
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Bing Crosby
as Himself
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Gary Crosby
as Himself
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Boyd Davis
as Capt. Kingsley
- Albert Dekker
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Eddie Dew
as Petty Officer
- Dona Drake
- Ellen Drew
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Frank Faylen
as "Black Magic" Number
- Eva Gabor
- Frances Gifford
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Paulette Goddard
as Specialty
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The Golden Gate Quartet
as "Dreamland" Number
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Dorothy Granger
as Officer
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Lynda Grey
as Girl
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Susan Hayward
as Genevieve
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Sterling Holloway
as "Sweater Sarong and Peek-a-Boo Bang" Num...
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Bob Hope
as Guest
- Johnny Johnston
- Cecil Kellaway
- Victor Laplace
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Alan Ladd
as Scarface
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Veronica Lake
as Herself
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Dorothy Lamour
as Herself
-
Arthur Loft
as Casey
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Richard Loo
as Hirohito
- Jimmy Lydon
- Diana Lynn
- Fred MacMurray
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Eddie Marr
as "Old Glory" Number
- Mary Martin
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Matt McHugh
as Man from Brooklyn 'Old Glory'
- Lorraine Miller
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Frank Moran
as Man with Sturges
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Lynne Overman
as Card-playing Skit
- Mabel Paige
- Barbara Pepper
- Jean Phillips
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Paul Porcasi
as Mussolini
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Robert Preston
as Guest
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Marjorie Reynolds
as Specialty
- Betty Jane Rhodes
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Sherman Sanders
as "Swing Shift" Number
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John Shay
as Sentry
- Charles Smith
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Woody Strode
as "Smart As a Tack" Number
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Franchot Tone
as Guest
- Arthur Treacher
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Ernest Truex
as "Priorities" Number
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Vera Zorina
as Specialty
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Cecil B. DeMille
as Himself
- Jack Hope
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Ray Milland
as Guest
-
Ralph Murphy
as Himself
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Dick Powell
as Specialty
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Preston Sturges
as Himself
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Tom Dugan
as Adolf Hitler
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Jack Roberts
as Assistant Director
- Maxine Ardell
- Marjorie Deanne
- Alice Kirby
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Peter Potter
as Georgia boy 'Old Glory' number
- Barney Dean
- Frederic Henry
- Christopher King
- Donivee Lee
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Marcella Phillips
as Finale
- Susanna Foster
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Keith Richards (II)
as Officer
- Keith Richards (I)
