Best Foot Forward
Encyclopedia
Best Foot Forward is a 1943 American film adapted from the 1941 Broadway
musical comedy of the same title
. The film was released by MGM, directed by Edward Buzzell
, and starring Lucille Ball
, William Gaxton
, Virginia Weidler
, Chill Wills
, June Allyson
, Gloria DeHaven
, and Nancy Walker
.
who plays herself against an unlikely backdrop, namely, a military academy full of frisky boys. Ball is the reluctant guest of a diminutive cadet, Bud Hooper (Tommy Dix), who wrote her a mash note and invitation to be his date at a school prom.
Ball's publicity man, Jack O'Riley (William Gaxton
), seizes upon the situation as a perfect PR stunt
and convinces her to travel 3,000 miles to join Hooper at Winsocki Military Academy's dance. When Ball actually shows up, mayhem ensues. Hooper, who never dreamed she would accept, has to disinvite his girlfriend, Helen (Virginia Weidler
), and ask Ball to pretend to be Helen, lest the actress herself not pass muster with the institution's screening committee.
Helen fights back while Hooper tries to keep Ball from the clutches of other cadets who want to steal her for their dates of their own. Meanwhile, Harry James
and his orchestra perform various songs, including "The Flight of the Bumblebee". The cast also sing and dance their way through such numbers as "Buckle Down, Winsocki" (the tune co-opted in the 1960s for "Buckle Up for Safety"), "Wish I May," "Three Men on a Date", "Alive and Kickin'", "The Barrelhouse, The Boogie-Woogie and the Blues", and "Ev'rytime." [The soundtrack CD also includes the cut "What Do You Think I Am?"]
There are a number of sayings, phrases and jokes unique to the time. Among them: ""C Card" During the opening song a cadet wishes for a "C"Card. This card would allow the holder to buy unlimited amounts of gasoline during World War 2 gas rationing.
Joke: Is it true that everybody in California sleeps under two blankets?
No, how could all those people sleep under just two blankets.
Tommy Dix, playing Bud Hooper, was not in too many other movies. However he had a brief cameo in "Andy Hardy, trouble with blondes". According to an article in Time magazine Nov. 11, 1940], in as then singing alto in the Trinity Church choir. At Manhattan's High School of Music and Art, where he won a four-year scholarship, Tommy Dix was president of his class, president of the Science Club, captain of the fencing team. After 1940 he worked in radio, then appeared in the Broadway production of "Best Foot Forward," and then Hollywood for the film version.
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical comedy of the same title
Best Foot Forward (musical)
Best Foot Forward is a 1941 Broadway musical by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, with book by John Cecil Holm. Produced by George Abbott, the production opened on 1 October 1941 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre where it was staged for 326 performances....
. The film was released by MGM, directed by Edward Buzzell
Edward Buzzell
Edward Buzzell was an American film director whose credits for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer included Honolulu , the Marx Brothers films At the Circus and Go West , the musicals Best Foot Forward with Lucille Ball and Neptune's Daughter with Esther Williams, and Easy to Wed, starring Van Johnson,...
, and starring Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, William Gaxton
William Gaxton
William Gaxton was a star of vaudeville, film, and theatre.Born as Arturo Antonio Gaxiola in San Francisco, he appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the Music Box Revue on October 23, 1922...
, Virginia Weidler
Virginia Weidler
Virginia Weidler was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life and career:...
, Chill Wills
Chill Wills
Chill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
, June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
, Gloria DeHaven
Gloria DeHaven
Gloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
, and Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker was an American actress and comedienne of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director...
.
Plot
The story centers around Lucille BallLucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
who plays herself against an unlikely backdrop, namely, a military academy full of frisky boys. Ball is the reluctant guest of a diminutive cadet, Bud Hooper (Tommy Dix), who wrote her a mash note and invitation to be his date at a school prom.
Ball's publicity man, Jack O'Riley (William Gaxton
William Gaxton
William Gaxton was a star of vaudeville, film, and theatre.Born as Arturo Antonio Gaxiola in San Francisco, he appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the Music Box Revue on October 23, 1922...
), seizes upon the situation as a perfect PR stunt
Publicity stunt
A publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized or set up by amateurs...
and convinces her to travel 3,000 miles to join Hooper at Winsocki Military Academy's dance. When Ball actually shows up, mayhem ensues. Hooper, who never dreamed she would accept, has to disinvite his girlfriend, Helen (Virginia Weidler
Virginia Weidler
Virginia Weidler was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life and career:...
), and ask Ball to pretend to be Helen, lest the actress herself not pass muster with the institution's screening committee.
Helen fights back while Hooper tries to keep Ball from the clutches of other cadets who want to steal her for their dates of their own. Meanwhile, Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
and his orchestra perform various songs, including "The Flight of the Bumblebee". The cast also sing and dance their way through such numbers as "Buckle Down, Winsocki" (the tune co-opted in the 1960s for "Buckle Up for Safety"), "Wish I May," "Three Men on a Date", "Alive and Kickin'", "The Barrelhouse, The Boogie-Woogie and the Blues", and "Ev'rytime." [The soundtrack CD also includes the cut "What Do You Think I Am?"]
Cast
- Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
as Herself - William GaxtonWilliam GaxtonWilliam Gaxton was a star of vaudeville, film, and theatre.Born as Arturo Antonio Gaxiola in San Francisco, he appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the Music Box Revue on October 23, 1922...
as Jack O'Riley - Tommy Dix as Bud Hooper
- Virginia WeidlerVirginia WeidlerVirginia Weidler was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life and career:...
as Helen Schlesinger - Nancy WalkerNancy WalkerNancy Walker was an American actress and comedienne of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director...
as Nancy - June AllysonJune AllysonJune Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
as Minerva - Chill WillsChill WillsChill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
as Chester Short - Gloria DeHavenGloria DeHavenGloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
as Ethel - Henry O'NeillHenry O'NeillHenry O'Neill was a film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s.-Life and career:...
as Major Reeber - Sara HadenSara HadenSara Haden was a character actress in Hollywood films of the 1930s through the 1950s.She was born Sarah Haden on November 17, 1899 in Galveston, Texas. Haden was the daughter of another character actress, Charlotte Walker, who was active in silent films and early talkies...
as Miss Talbert - Donald MacBrideDonald MacBrideDonald MacBride was an American character actor on stage, in films and on TV who launched his career as a teenage singer in vaudeville and went on to be an actor on Broadway. He appeared in nearly 140 films between 1914 and 1955...
as Captain Bradd - Darwood "Waldo" Kaye as Killer
- Morris AnkrumMorris AnkrumMorris Ankrum was an American radio, television and film character actor.-Early life:Born Morris Nussbaum in Danville, Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in academics. After graduating from USC with a law degree, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of...
as Colonel Harkrider - Kenny Bowers as Dutch Miller
- Bob Stebbins as Greenie
- Jack Jordan as Hunk
- Beverly Tyler as Miss Delaware Water Gap (she has one scene with Virginia Weidler, using the term "BO for Brush OFF" and a solo song with chorus. Virginia calls her "GAP".)
- Nana BryantNana BryantNana Bryant was an American film actress. She appeared in over 100 films between 1935 and 1955.She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and died in Hollywood, California. Her grave is located at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery....
as Mrs. Dalrymple - Harry JamesHarry JamesHenry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
and His Music Makers as Themselves
There are a number of sayings, phrases and jokes unique to the time. Among them: ""C Card" During the opening song a cadet wishes for a "C"Card. This card would allow the holder to buy unlimited amounts of gasoline during World War 2 gas rationing.
Joke: Is it true that everybody in California sleeps under two blankets?
No, how could all those people sleep under just two blankets.
Tommy Dix, playing Bud Hooper, was not in too many other movies. However he had a brief cameo in "Andy Hardy, trouble with blondes". According to an article in Time magazine Nov. 11, 1940], in as then singing alto in the Trinity Church choir. At Manhattan's High School of Music and Art, where he won a four-year scholarship, Tommy Dix was president of his class, president of the Science Club, captain of the fencing team. After 1940 he worked in radio, then appeared in the Broadway production of "Best Foot Forward," and then Hollywood for the film version.