Give Out Sisters starring The Andrews Sisters and Dan Dailey

Posted by David Miller on Aug 27th 2019

Give Out Sisters (1942)

Starring The Andrews Sisters and Dan Dailey

Beautiful print and will play in all DVD players.

The Andrews Sisters headline this musical. They play the lead act at a popular nightclub. The trouble begins when they hire a few students from a financially foundering dance school for their newest production. One of the dancers, a rich young socialite, desperately wants to be in it too, but her prurient maiden aunts refuse to allow her to disgrace their family by becoming a common chorine. She and the club owner (who must have the aunt's permission because the girl is underage) try to convince them, but it's not easy. Meanwhile the talented girl finds herself falling hopelessly in love with the club bandleader. In desperation, the ingenious club owner has the obliging Andrews dress up as the aunties and sign the consent forms. The real aunts are infuriated when they discover the ruse and in a tizzy rush down to the club. They arrive just in time to catch the girl's performance and a predictably happy ending ensues.

Director: Edward F. Cline
Writers: Paul Gerard Smith, Warren Wilson, Lee Sands, Fred Rath

Stars: The Andrews Sisters, Grace McDonald, Dan Dailey, Charles Butterworth, Walter Catlett, William Frawley, Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan, The Jivin' Jacks And Jills

Songs include:

Pennsylvania Polka
by Zeke Manners and Lester Lee
Sung by The Andrews Sisters

You're Just a Flower From An Old Bouquet
Written by Gwynne Denni and Lucien Denni
Sung by The Andrews Sisters

Who Do You Think You're Fooling?
Written by Ray Stillwell and Ray Gold
Sung by The Andrews Sisters

The New Generation
Written by Walter Donaldson
Sung by The Andrews Sisters

Jiggers the Beat
Written by Sid Robin and Al Lerner
Sung by Dan Dailey

This is one of several Universal musical comedies in '42 that combined the very popular Andrew Sisters with other young musical talent, including teenage Don O'Connor and Peggy Ryan and sometimes Gloria Jean, who is missing from this film. The prior "What's Cooking", which included Gloria Jean, is generally regarded as more interesting, but don't count this one out! It's lots of fun too, with lots of comedic dialogue along with the musicals. The second half turns into a Marx Brothers or Lucy-styled zany comedy.

The plot here centers on millionaire heiress Gracie Waverly (Grace McDonald), adopting a new last name for anonymity in order to join a dance school, where she becomes the lead dancer of the student body. Problem is the school is in deep financial trouble, so needs to be signed as an act by the Flamingo Club. The club owner (William Frawley, as Harrison) insists that Gracie must be included or its no deal. Someone recognizes Gracie as the heiress and she makes the newspaper headlines. Her fuddy duddy rich old 3 spinster aunts she lives with, still living in the Victorian era, forbid her to continue with the dance group, or they will disinherit her.

The Marx Brothers-like second half, with dance school co-owner Gribble (Walter Catlett) masquerading as a famous doctor specialist the aunts have called for when one becomes ill after learning that Gracie is in this club show. While he's keeping the sister busy upstairs with his phony diagnosis and remedies,the Andrews are downstairs masquerading as the aunts, for the benefit of Harrison, who has arrived to get their OK that Gracie can perform at his club. Harrison invites them to come to his club that night, thus the Andrews have to maintain their disguises while going to the club, where they are supposed to perform.Meanwhile, the aunts learn they have been duped and rush to the club.. The Andrews perform their song, then redress as the aunts for the benefit of Harrison, not knowing that the real aunts have arrived. Unexpectedly , the Andrews are asked for an encore and thus have to perform in the aunts disguises. Yes, it gets very confusing and hilarious! It all works out in the end, as the aunts discover that modern music and dance can be fun, while they dance with their mirror images.

About every musical of this era needed a new-found romantic couple or two to end the film with. Cute blond Grace McDonald and tall handsome Dan Dailey, as the Orchestra leader, are that couple in this film. Although their romantic development occupies only a tiny portion of the film, their dance and kiss in the finale suggests a future as a couple. Both Grace and Dan had an extensive background in vaudeville and Broadway as singer/dancers before their film careers. Like the Astaires, Grace formed a vaudeville team with her brother Ray, who also had a film career. Along with Dan, they were important players in the Broadway hit, "Babes in Arms", later featuring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in the film version. Ray would later marry Don O'Connor's constant film companion of this era: Peggy Ryan, featured in the present film. Unfortunately, Dan's considerable vaudevillian talents were little utilized in film before he entered military service, although he did a song and dance near the end of this film. After the war, Fox immediately made him a star leading man, mostly in musical comedies. He also costarred in the MGM musical comedy "It's Always Fair Weather", with Gene Kelly. In '49, he cut several records with The Andrew Sisters". A dozen years after the present film, he would again costar with Don O'Connor in the Fox musical comedy "There's No Business Like Show Business". Unfortunately, they didn't get along then, as Don's wife was in the process of switching to being Dan's wife!

The songs "Pennsylvania Polka" and "The New Generation" were significant hits for the Andrews Sisters.

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