Zeus

Lady Be Good (1941)

• Directors
  • Norman Z. McLeod
  • Busby Berkeley(musical numbers)
• Writers
  • Jack McGowan(screen play)
  • Kay Van Riper(screen play)
  • John McClain(screen play)
• Stars
  • Eleanor Powell
  • Ann Sothern
  • Robert Young

  The 1924 George Gershwin stage hit Lady Be Good was brought to the screen by MGM; any resemblance (beyond the Gershwin score) to the original play is purely accidental. The MGM scriveners came up with a new story concerning married songwriters Ann Sothern and Robert Young, who can't live with each other and can't live without each other. Top billing goes to dancing star Eleanor Powell, who certainly deserves it. Red Skelton is around and about as well, inserting a few much-needed laughs. While such Gershwin songs as "So Am I", "Fascinating Rhythm" and "Hang on Me" are well showcased, the hit of the evening is a new song by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, the Oscar-winning "The Last Time I Saw Paris". Our favorite scene: Ann Sothern and Robert Young composing "Lady be Good" out of thin air in two minutes flat!