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Career Girl
USA 1944
produced by Jack Schwarz for PRC
directed by Wallace Fox
starring Frances Langford, Edward Norris, Iris Adrian, Craig Woods, Linda Brent, Alec Craig, Ariel Heath, Lorraine Krueger, Gladys Blake, Charles Judels, Renee Hellms, Marcy McGuire, Eddie Kane, Larry Steers, Bess Flowers, Horace B.Carpenter, Jack Chefe
story by David Silverstein, Stanley Rauh, screenplay by Sam Neuman, songs written by Morey Amsterdam & Tony Romano, Michael Breen & Sam Neuman, sung by Frances Langford, musical director: Rudy Schrager
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Joan (Frances Langford), a girl from Kansas, wants to make it big on
Broadway - but like so many other girls at the boarding house she's
staying at, she might have talent but always fails to get a break. Once
she has run out of money, Joan plans to go back to Kansas to marry her
fiancé Jim (Craig Woods), but when the other girls at the boarding house
hear her sing at her farewell party, they decide to invest in her career,
not only because they like her but because they do believe she will be a
star one day. Jim doesn't approve of Joan's decision, so much so that he
asks one of her friends, Steve (Edward Norris), to look after her, not
realizing that Steve and Joan are actually in love with each other. In
the months to come, Joan's career doesn't take off, so much so that the
girls who have invested in her think about dropping their business plan
(and Joan with it) ... when suddenly they get their hands on an unproduced
musical that would be ideal for Joan, and they even get two shoestring
producers (Charles Judels, Charles Williams) to produce it. When Jim
learns about this though, he buys the producers out and plans to shut the
show down - but when a girl (Ariel Heath) dies in an accident after not
getting a part in the show but wishes Joan good luck for the whole thing
nevertheless with her last breath, Jim reconsiders, puts on the show and
even gives up on ever marrying her, pretty much presenting her to Steve on
a gold platter. Rather boring melodrama that pretty much lacks
any and all interesting plottwists, and most of the songs in it are too
plain to really make up for the lack of action. Also, a few outside shots
- at least stock footage - would have greatly improved the movie, as this
is one film about Broadway in which you never even see Broadway.
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