Let's celebrate our nation's Independence in the very good company of Miss Alice Faye, Mr. John Payne and a gang of specialty acts, here to give a rousing rendition of "America, I Love You."
It's a catchy number from 1940's Tin Pan Alley and a rousingly patriotic one, even if it seems at times to hail as much from the banks of the Volga as of the Mississippi.
As staged, it's also a pretty classic Fox moment, moving from its personable stars (and apparently John Payne did his own singing; the piano, I'm guessing - not so much) to variations supplied by first the Roberts Brothers (accompanied by a coloratura salesclerk I've been unable to identify; the Roberts themselves are fairly obscure) and then the energetic young Brian Sisters (who have their very own surprising complete fan site). I'm only surprised they didn't throw in a dance break for co-star Betty Grable and the gang, but the picture wasn't quite on the scale of the studio's Technicolor epics that would see Alice and Co. through the rest of the war years.
Looking through the Café archive, I note that we also celebrated the Fourth in 2009 with this number, but it's certainly worth a revisit. To me, any time spent with Alice Faye is time well spent.
The Brian Sisters are like the Andrew Sisters, only ugly. (And what's with that woman on the ladder singing those whistle tones?(
ReplyDeleteThat song sounds like it was translated from the original Yiddish. LOL
Big Alice Faye fan here!
Alice and John appeared together in GOOD NEWS on Broadway in 1975. The link below will take you to their performance on the Tony Award broadcast.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qWfRrQtL9Bc#t=4958
Payne is about 63 years old here, but he still looks good enough to eat.
Why, thank you, George! Despite being both a Tony's and an Alice addict, I'd never seen that. They're in good form - and still have great kicks. And you're right - that's one dapper 63. Gives one hope...
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