Evening star., 1953-06-03

experience IN 4UCn CenCury.tOX
musicals might have been driven
to much greater lengths in the
search for a new life. AS it is,
Miss Haver can remember that
her acting career came to an end
in some of the most astounding
production numbers of all time.
The others in the cast Dan
Daley, Dennis Day, Cara VIII
liams, etc. will have their own
memories of this springtime
frolic to call on when telling
their grandchildren how life was
in the I'D movies. "And then"
they can climax a racy account,
"there was The Girl Next Doorv
Well. I tell you. -" OF course
they may prefer to forget.
'The Girl Next Door" employs
almost every cliche Of the Holly
wood fllmusical. Ut only misses
those old flower patterns BuSby
Berkley used to weave with dane
ing girlS.) Even without this
one, it has cliches to spare. It
uses up one whole musical plot
before it starts, which is a pretty
funny thing for a movie to do.
A musical number about 1--WE
Girls Of the Chorus" is sung and
out Of the way and the yarn
about the chorus girl who be-
came a star overnight is re-
counted before the credits are
done with. This is a rather dam
gerous thing for a movie pro-
ducer to allow. A man can get
a quick turnover in audiences
that way. Moviegoers are so
conditioned by now that they
get up and go home when the
girl steps from the chorus to
stardom.
Those who resist this impulse
will enounter a fine travesty of
q movie musical. The second
plot is the boy-meets-girl one.
Miss Haver is the girl, Mr.. Daley
the boy. She is a great. big
successful star and she wishes
to purchase a retreat in the
country. So she buys house
In Scarsdale, celebrating this
flight to solitude in the wilder
ness by tossing a mammoth
party in the patio. Flock of
pigeons flies over from the ad-
joining yard. StartleS every
body. Pigeons go home and
then a swirl of smoke settles
down.
Miss Haver storms over to
chew out her neighbor and there
are Mr.. Daley and his son grill
ing hamburgers. You can see
what's coming. Girl will come
between small boy and elder
boy, his widower father. Then
small boy will come between girl
and elder boy. Then he will see
what a fool he has been and get
out of the way.
There are typewriters in Holly
wood which can grind this yarn
out unaided by human hand
when given the proper cast Of
characters. Messrs. Bassler, Sale
and company couldn't have
chosen better for their satire.
x x X
The lavish production num-
bers which embellish this Tech
nicolor fandango are absolutely
and positively. Absolutely and
positively what would be hard to
say, but that's what they are.
Most 6f them spring up in
dreams, which gives this the
surface appearance of a picture
which ought to see a psychiatrist.
The most Stupendous of the
lot emergeS when Daley goes
glassy-eyed while Miss Haver is
singing a song entitled Nowhere
Guy" in a night club. It has
Daley and lot of extras dane
ing all over the place, in chore-
ography which is equal parts
early Agnes De Mile and late
Martha Graham. For a good
measure Miss Haver throws in
an imitation of a girl wrestling
with boa constructor. Since she
Is alone at the time, the effect is
eerie to say the least.
Another Daley dream is
symbolic festival performed in
smoke by Miss Haver, Daley and
Billy Gray, who plays his son.
This consists largely of Daley
pitching stars at his son, who
bats them out into inf1nity until
Miss HaVer snags one high on
the right field wall.
There are a couple of ami
mated cartoons, even, in 1.-The
Girl Next Door" and since Daley
is impersonating a comic strip
artist, why not? Why not, in
deed? One is a dream of the
boy, who considers that his
father has let him down by going
to q night club with Miss Haver
instead Of to the north woods
with his son. The other cartoon
is involved in the boys climactic
explanation to his father that
Noah took two of each animal
into the ark.
This latter affair is as touch
ing a dramatic scene as you have
seen since you last watched
wrestling IN teleUiSion Anothar