OVP: Orchestra Wives (1942)

Film: Orchestra Wives (1942)

Stars: Ann Rutherford, George Montgomery, Glenn Miller, Lynn Bari, Carole Landis, Cesar Romero

Director: Archie Mayo

Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Original Song-"I've got a Gal in Kalamazoo")

Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

A few weeks ago, we got into the movie Sun Valley Serenade, a film that featured Glenn Miller, and by sheer coincidence, I chanced today in my DVR on another musical called Orchestra Wives.  Like Sun Valley Serenade, it was nominated for Best Original Song, and like Sun Valley Serenade, it also features Glenn Miller, a brilliant musician who I have a soft spot for both because I will oftentimes listen to him on hot summer nights (because I love jazz or swing music on a warm summer night), and because his music features into a key scene on my favorite show Lost.  What I didn't realize was that these films were connected by an iconic piece-of-music, one that was initially supposed to be featured in Sun Valley Serenade, but is instead important to Orchestra Wives, a worthy Oscar contender that likely got shuffled due to eligibility concerns.

(Spoilers Ahead) First, though, let's get to the film itself.  The movie isn't quite as outwardly creepy as Orchestra Wives, though it does have its moments as playboy musician Bill Abbott (Montgomery) heartily pursues his biggest fan Connie Ward (Rutherford) after she comes to a concert of his.  When she refuses to spend the night with him, they decide to get married (before he even learns her name), but this causes a problem.  You see, as an "orchestra wife," she has to put up with the supposed infidelities of her husband (even though Bill never actually cheats in the movie), and the cattiness of her fellow wives & orchestra hangers-on, including Jaynie (Bari), who is the lead singer in the band and Bill's ex.  Jaynie cravenly befriends Connie, but only to get close to Bill, and due to mistaken identities, she nearly steals him away from her, but Connie realizes at the last second that Jaynie is going to betray her, and she ends up back in Bill's arms just in time for the credits.

The film's plot is ehh.  There are moments of genuine fun with the women; the banter between them is saucy enough to keep you going even if Connie is a mouse & kind of annoying in her naïveté.  None of the actors, not even Bari, are able to elevate this material enough to warrant sticking around beyond the occasional squabbles between a gaggle of wives that it seems like even the script can't keep straight (let alone their husbands).  Throw in a pretty saccharine and date rape-y courtship (most of the first twenty minutes is basically Bill making Connie uncomfortable for not going to bed with him), and this is a miss for me.

That being said, the song is okay.  There's a great performance from the Nicholas Brothers (always a winner), and in many ways it is reminiscent of the "Chatanooga Choo-Choo," though that emulation comes with a bit of a derivative feel.  A better choice, had it been eligible, was "At Last," which is sung by Pat Friday (she dubs Lynn Bari's singing voice), and yes this is the song that inspired the iconic Etta James tune.  Since "At Last" was written for Sun Valley Serenade (an instrumental version of it is even featured in the picture), it likely wouldn't have been eligible for Oscar, but that's a pity as it feels like a home run in this performance.  Glenn Miller would not make another film after this-he'd join the Air Force soon after, and two years later he'd be dead, downed in a plane crash (that would invite a host of conspiracy theories, though that's a tale we can get into a different day).