Doll Face
Tags: autobiographical

Plot synopsis:
"Doll Face" Carroll is an entertainer looking to expand her reportoire. After a failed audition, where she is recognized as a burlesque performer from the Gaiety Theatre, her manager and fiancé Mike Hannegan suggest she writes an autobiography to project a more literate image and he hires Frederick Manly Gerard as a ghostwriter. Doll Face agrees on the condition she is allowed to dedicate the book to Mike with "For the love of Mike".
Another performer in the burlesque show, Chita Chula, remarks that if the book is a success and Doll Face leaves the show it will probably have to close down. Mike then decides to produce a Broadway show of his own with the financial aid of the performers themselves. Frederick offers to put up any money missing. Chita Chula (portrayed by Carmen Miranda) is skeptical she can pull it off, but Mike assures her she'll "probably wound up being another Carmen Miranda!", something Chita Chula perceives as an insult.
Mike leaks word on the book to the press and, riding the publicity, argues the show got all the press it needs and that the book, although all but finished, needs not to be published. Doll Face, however, decides to go through with it and goes to Jamaica with Frederick for some final touch-ups. Boat engine trouble leaves them marooned on an island and, when Mike finds them, he misreads the situation and breaks up with her. Without "Doll Face" as headliner, the Gayety Theatre struggles and Mike is forced to finally shut it down.
Doll Face releases her book The Genius DeMilo and when Mike sees she dedicated the book to Frederick instead of him, he regrets leaving her. After Doll Face refuses to talk to Mike, he sends a lawyer to stop her show in the middle of opening night, since she is under contract not to appear in any show not produced by him. She agrees to see him and he asks her forgiveness. After they reunite, she tricks the producer of her show to give Mike a 25% share and co-producer credit so the show can continue.
=== Differences from play ===
The film is based on the 1943 play The Naked Genius written by Gypsy Rose Lee.

Review: A wartime soufflé from a play by Gypsy Rose Lee (as Louise Hovick), DOLL FACE features a lightweight plot with some snappy dialogue and delivery among the clichés, while director Lewis Seiler's vision is properly focused upon contemporary swing music, highlighting the vocal skill of Vivian Blaine, Perry Como, Carmen Miranda and Martha Stewart (no, not that one).
The scenario has as its primary business a rocky romance between Doll Face Carroll (Blaine), a burlesque queen, and her manager, Mike Hannegan (the stalwart Dennis O'Keefe), along with the latter's efforts to boost his proletarian protégé into the realm of operetta.
Seiler manages to remain faithful to the story line while seamlessly blending in the many musical numbers which, interestingly enough, prove more of a showcase for the perky Stewart and smooth Como than for the top-billed and certainly very pleasant Blaine; the production number for Miranda is a wild one, indeed..
Doll Face Carroll is the woman rejected and Mike Hannegan, the man that is in love with her, wants to show the theater world she is worth the attention.
A grateful Doll Face will make everything possible to give him the recognition he deserves.This 20th Century Fox feature of 1946 gives us a dose of nostalgia.
The musical numbers are well executed, especially the hit song, "Somebody's Walking in my Dream".
All the songs were composed by the team of Harold Adamson and Jimmy McHugh.Vivian Blaine appears in the title role.
In addition we see the irrepressible Carmen Miranda doing "Chico Chico" with a big production number.
Perry Como and Martha Stewart are in hand to do some songs.
Stephen Dunne has a good opportunity."Doll Face" although not a great film, has some enjoyable songs and is entertaining..
He then hits on the idea of using the pre-publicity to stage his own musical starring her at his own theater, rather than give the pleasure to the man that rejected her.
The ghostwriter grows sweet on her, and there's a bit of an idiot plot involving a misunderstanding when they get stranded in a boat en route to the publisher.Carmen Miranda is underutilized, apparently she had a number cut.
I came across this movie only as an inclusion in the Carmen Miranda Collection, and I am commenting here for those in the same situation, who are wondering if this is worth having.As for Carmen: she sings one number, "Chico Chico (from Porto Rico!)", which features a lot of dancing with the chorus.
The main drawback as far as Carmen is concerned is that the film is in black and white, and we are deprived of some of the gaudiness and festiveness that we expect from her participation in a movie.
I know that Technicolor was expensive, but it seems bizarre for Fox to have made black and white musicals after the public came to expect color, and to cast the colorful Carmen Miranda in them!
A better number was excised from the movie, but included in the Special Features --- Carmen wears her famous outfit with the phallic lighthouse atop her head (which lights up on the downbeats at the end of the song), and the number is done in a burlesque style on a runway.
Carmen gets quite a bit of dialogue in this movie, and is actually integrated into the plot, not just a nightclub performer as in some films (like "Down Argentine Way").
Vivian Blaine lacked the spark of an Alice Faye or Betty Grable, the other Fox stars of the day, and came across as brittle and not particularly likable.
The leading men, including Perry Como, were also uninteresting, and there is even a misogynistic undertone to the movie, with male characters bragging about beating their girlfriends to keep them in line.
Como and Blaine's "Hubba Hubba" duet was the only number which for me was fresh and fun, and not overdone.In general, this is not a terrible or unpleasant film, but is not one many would want to rewatch.
Burlesque queen Doll Face Carroll is dismissed from an audition for a legitimate Broadway show because she lacks culture.
He hires a ghost writer to do all the work, but doesn't count on the possibility that Doll Face and her collaborator might have more than a book on their minds.
It's a good watch, if dated and unfortunately Carmen Miranda already was looking haggard only in her 30s.
She sings one song I think in this movie based on a book written by Louise Hovick AKA Gypsy Rose Lee. You see, there's this stripper, played by Vivian Blaine, who can't get a job out of the business to go legitimate, because, in auditions when they find out who she is, they don't want an ex-stripper in their stage play/musical.
So, she and her boyfriend/manager Dennis O'Keefe decide she needs to write a book to get respect and hire a ghost writer to help her.Perry Como is on hand with his smooth voice, but while the movie has its moments, there aren't enough good songs or Miranda to get really excited about or to really recommend it..
Although it is also loosely based on the life of burlesque queen Gypsy Rose Lee, this uninspired film is much less interesting than the 1962 musical Gypsy with Natalie Wood in the title role.
The best reason to watch this film is to see Perry Como, later to become a crooning television superstar, in a rare film role and Carmen Miranda dancing and camping her way through "Chico Chico." Como and Blaine bring some culture shock to the film when they sing "Dig You Later (A-Hubba Hubba Hubba)," mocking Japan for losing World War II and homogenizing African-American hep-cat style for a white audience.
Available on DVD in the 20th Century Fox "Marquee Musicals" series, Doll Face is a curiosity, not a classic..
This film wastes the talents of Vivian Blaine and Carmen Miranda.
Evidently produced right after the end of World War II, Fox didn't care to spend the money on Technicolor, and "cherry blonde" Blaine and flamboyant Miranda should have never been photographed in black and white.The score is ho-hum.
The composers did a much better job on the previous film "Nob Hill" also produced in 1945 in Technicolor and also starring Blaine, with two superb ballads, even though the songs are nearly forgotten today.Miranda is given only one performance, with the typical tropical theme, a boring song, again losing a lot without Technicolor.So why did Fox bother?
'Doll Face' is watchable, mostly for curiosity or for any musical fan who wants to continue to find more to watch, but while there are good things here one couldn't help feeling that it could have been better than it turned out.'Doll Face' is nicely photographed, and has very professional-looking set and costume design.
Would have preferred for it to be in colour, and numbers like "Chico Chico" cried out for it, but depending on budget and such not every musical or film can have the benefit of being in colour.
It would have been more preferable but it made do, the film still looks nice enough (if not giving the wow factor) without it.The songs are lovely and pass the memorability test, the highlights being "Walking in My Dreams", "Dig You Later" and "Here Comes Heaven Again" and all three are sung beautifully and performed with spirit.
The cast are a very mixed bag, but faring best are a hilariously sparkling Carmen Miranda and vivacious Martha Stewart.
Dennis O'Keefe also tries hard and does have moments of amusement.On the other hand, Vivian Blaine is a polished but passionless lead, and while Perry Como looks handsomely and sings exquisitely (then again when did he ever not?) he's pretty bland and doesn't look very at ease.
That is true with much of the male cast actually, the roles are underwritten and people may also object to the way they're written too, sexism has been brought up in a couple of comments and understandably (the male characters' attitudes towards women doesn't really hold up now and be a sour note for a fair few)."Chico Chico" aside, the choreography is very routine aside, most of the numbers being so indifferently choreographed and directed, as well as confined, that the one with the most energy and the most cinematic-feeling feels over-produced in comparison.
The story makes thin ice seem thick and feels plodding and dreary in the non-musical scenes, and was expecting more energy and wit from the script here which felt bland.Overall, worthwhile enough curiosity but unremarkable and had a lot of room to be much better.
And third, and most egregious, lyrics of one song celebrate the bombing the Japanese.Vivian Blaine, called Doll Face, real name Mary Elizabeth, plays a queen of burlesque who auditions for a Broadway musical, only to be recognized by one of her patrons.
Nowadays they would put a chimpanzee in a Broadway musical if they thought he could make money, so there's another indication that this is an old movie.Her boyfriend (O'Keefe) decides she should ghost-write her autobiography and, after using a lot of high-faluting language, she'll be classy enough for Broadway.
The man he hires, however (Michael Dunne), becomes interested in Doll Face, and not just as a client.
He had a beautiful voice, singing "Red, Hot, and Beautiful," "Here Comes Heaven Again," and "Dig You Later." Martha Stewart, a vivacious performer, did an energetic job as someone wanting to take Doll Face's place.
And Carmen Miranda was...Carmen Miranda, singing "Chico Chico."There were lots of numbers in this film and not much story.
Though not as good as Pal Joey, Doll Face is a pleasant and snappy musical about a stripper who gets involved with her manager and a ghost writer.
And who wrote the play on which this is based on, none other than Gypsy Rose Lee. She certainly exploited her literary talent and persona to the max.Vivian Blaine plays our Queen of Burlesque who wants very much to break into Broadway and the legitimate theater.
I think you see the basis for the romantic triangle.Though the three leads do fine the plot is an excuse to display some musical numbers that songwriters Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson wrote for this film.
And Perry Como is our lead singer and he's got a secondary romance going with Martha Stewart.Which brings me to the big hit of the show A Hubba Hubba Hubba (Dig You Later).
Though those atomic bombings are not mentioned we have such lyrics about a B-29 pilot dropping another load for luck and then turning away saying Yuk Yuk. There's still controversy about whether the atomic bomb use was right or not, but there sure ain't reason for any Yuk Yuks.I'd probably rate Doll Face higher because over all it's a pretty good musical.
Veteran song and dance beauty Vivian Blaine plays Mary Elizabeth Carroll, better known as burlesque star 'Doll Face', has her sights set high for the legitimate stage.
Her boyfriend manager Mike Hannegan(Dennis O'Keefe)is her number one booster; and convinces her to hire a ghost writer, Fredrick Manly Gerard(Michael Dunne), to help with an auto-biography to prove she has attained 'class'.
Of course, the writer comes between the songstress and her guy.Blaine sings "Somebody's Walking in My Dream" and reprises a couple of nice tunes, "Here Come's Heaven Again" and "Red, Hot and Beautiful" with crooner Perry Como, who sings one of his break-through songs "Dig You Late(A-Hubba Hubba Hubba)".
And the one and only Carmen Miranda as Chita Chula sings "Chico Chico".
This fun over-looked musical is based on a play by Gypsy Rose Lee..
"Doll Face" is a minor musical which would undoubtedly have enjoyed greater appeal if it had not been saddled with a repertoire of pleasant but totally unmemorable songs.
Louise Hovick's stage play is that old chestnut about the guy who hires a male teacher for his fiancé and suspects the two are two-timing him!However, I must admit that if you're not expecting anything special and your mood is indulgent rather than critical, you will probably enjoy the movie to some extent.
It is certainly enthusiastically played by a surprisingly good cast headed by Dennis O'Keefe, Vivian Blaine, Perry Como and Carmen Miranda.All in all, "Doll Face" certainly passes an agreeable - if unmemorable - 80 minutes..
Nothing spectacular about it, although the story is fairly decent, and is based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee (played here as "Doll Face" Carroll by Vivian Blaine).
Lewis's wife -- Martha Stewart -- plays Como love interest; also she does "okay", it's clear she was not destined to have a very extensive movie career.But as I mentioned, for nearly 2 years Perry Como had been a rapidly rising singing star with multiple million sellers.
But his voice here is a strong baritone, and he does nicely soloing or dueting on several numbers -- Perry Como and Martha Stewart on "Somebody's Walking in My Dream", Perry Como solo on "Red Hot and Beautiful", Perry soloing on "Here Comes Heaven Again", Perry and Vivian Blaine on "Here Comes Heaven Again", and Perry Como and Martha Stewart on "Dig You Later (A-Hubba Hubba Hubba)" (which became a Como solo and million seller on RCA Victor records).So, sit back and enjoy a rising Como, a halfway decent story, and a nice performance by Vivian Blaine..
Doll Face proves the point that all old movies aren't classics.
In fact, Doll Face proves the point that most movies, whether made 60 years ago, 30 years ago or last week, are deservedly forgotten because they age so badly.
This guy-has-doll, guy-loses-doll, guy-wins-doll-back story gives us Doll Face Carroll (Vivian Blaine), a burleyque star with a great voice and a big following among the bald- headed set, and Mike Hannegan (Dennis O'Keefe), her manager and the impresario of the burlesque house where she stars.
Doll Face wants to go legit as a singer on Broadway and Mike wants to help her...but her notoriety as a burlesque queen gets in the way.
So Mike cooks up an idea to have a noted author ghost Doll Face's memoirs and smooth over the rough spots.
Doll Face will get culture and that will get her legit stage offers.
A producer puts on a Broadway show based on Doll Face's hit memoirs.
Doll Face not only stars but so do all her pals from Mike's burlesque show, which means Perry Como, Carmen Miranda and Martha Stewart.
And Mike manages to win back Doll Face's love, along with 25 per cent of the smash show.
We get Como and Stewart singing and sort of dancing to "A-hubba, Hubba, Hubba," Blaine, Como and Stewart separately and in various combinations singing "Somebody's Walking in My Dreams," Como fronting the girls with "Red, Hot and Beautiful" and crooning "Here Comes Heaven Again," plus Carmen Miranda rolling her hips and eyes while trilling her r's through "Chico Chico," the big production number.
The songs by Jimmy McHugh (music) and Harold Adamson (lyrics) are professional but that's about it.
The only song that became a hit was Como's recording of "A-hubba, Hubba, Hubba." The big Latin production number with Miranda looks like 20th Century Fox was economizing.
For about half the movie, when guy loses doll and before guy gets her back, Doll Face the movie flops into angst and anguish, with over-acting by Blaine and far too much screen time with her and her ghostwriter, Frederick Gerard (Steven Dunne).
Dennis O'Keefe was a versatile guy, but even he can't make Mike Hannegan interesting.
Vivian Blaine, on the other hand, was an actress who, at least to me, always came across on film as so polished and professional as to be bloodless.
Blaine made a big hit on Broadway four years later as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, so perhaps movies simply didn't do her talent justice.
The back of my DVD jacket features a large picture of Carmen Miranda wearing a lighthouse attached to a turban.
Perhaps the thinking at Fox was that Carmen, as an established star, could guarantee an audience for films otherwise featuring their "B" leads.
This is the 3rd of a series of 4 musicals released in 44-46, in which Carmen was teamed with new "B" musical leading lady Vivian Blaine, who basically replaces Alice Faye or Betty Grable in Fox's "A" team, getting to sing the romantic ballads and participate in the main romantic entanglements.
Also, established singer, but newcomer to Hollywood, Perry Como was included in 3 of these films, as either primarily a singing specialist or a leading character in the plot.
She again upstages Perry, following his staid 2nd rendition of "Red Hot and Beautiful", with an appropriate sexy version, while prancing around the burlesque stage in mimicry of Vivian's prior performance.
Unlike most of her other Fox films, Carmen doesn't have anyone with comedic talent to interact with.
Yep, the male leads and supports were all pretty faceless, save for Perry, and their romance with 'Doll Face' unconvincing.
"Women are like rugs---you gotta take 'em out and beat 'em every once in a while"--Dennis O'Keefe from DOLL FACE.In many ways, this film reminded me of BORN YESTERDAY--though this film came out a year before Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon's hit play debuted on Broadway--and five years before the movie version of BORN YESTERDAY debuted.
However, BORN YESTERDAY was a comedy and DOLL FACE was an unconvincing musical...and I can see why it has sunk into the public domain--it just isn't that good a film.
Part of this is the poor script, part of it is too much dull musical numbers and part of it is because the male love interest, Dennis O'Keefe, is a rather abusive and neglectful man--and seeing him getting the girl (Vivian Blaine) in the end was a bit disturbing.
Regardless, it's a very forgettable film that started off well enough but really bogged down as the film progressed.If you care, Perry Como and Carmen Miranda also starred in the film but their talents (particularly Como's) were rather wasted.