Panama Hattie

The comic antics of Red Skelton was substituted for the songs of Cole Porter in this MGM adaption of his Broadway show Panama Hattie. That a Porter score would survive almost intact from Broadway was unheard of. His other contemporaries suffered the same fate, but in Porter's case more so because of the sophisticated and naughty lyrics he wrote.

Ethel Merman starred on Broadway beginning a run that lasted 501 performances. Only Rags Ragland who along with Ben Blue was one of Red's sidekicks as a trio of oafish sailors who capture enemy spies by accident is the only survivor from the Broadway cast.

Ann Sothern takes Ethel's place as the star and she performs along with young Jackie Horner the big hit of the Broadway show Let's Be Buddies. Only I've Still Got My Health and Fresh As A Daisy survived from Porter's original score. Songs were written and interpolated from many sources. But one of the best is from Porter himself when Lena Horne sang Just One Of Those Things. In fact it doesn't get better than that.

In the title role Sothern is the owner of a nightclub located in the Panama Canal Zone which is frequented like Rick's Cafe Americaine of all kinds of people from our Armed Forces and from an international assortment of mysterious and intriguing figures. Some of them are planning to do damage to the Canal.

Some are planning to damage to Sothern like Marsha Hunt who has her eye set on Army sergeant Dan Dailey. But with Sothern guarding what she's got a previous claim on and the comic sailors guarding the Canal the spirit of America carries on.

Panama Hattie is more Red Skelton than Cole Porter and Porter fans will not be happy. But it is a fun wartime film.

PANAMA HATTIE (1942) is two different movies, plotwise. One movie is about nightclub singer Hattie Maloney and her romance with a young soldier from a well-to-do Philadelphia family. The other film is a slapstick comedy about a trio of sailors on shore leave, with a penchant for catching spies. Juggling both, only tenuously connected plots in a 79-minute time frame means that neither story is properly developed. Conflicts are resolved easily and off-screen. And both stories give way to extended musical numbers, particularly at the end.

Despite its obvious weaknesses, PANAMA HATTIE is a very entertaining collection of parts. Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, and Ben Blue make a fine comedic team. The slapstick is pulled off well and the script is witty. Skelton's clowning shtick isn't too overbearing, as he is part of a trio (and the brains, no less). Ann Sothern impresses with her singing and Lena Horne is showcased in a couple of musical numbers with the dancing Berry Brothers.

Two favorites of mine, the offbeat "deadpan" singer Virginia O'Brien and the lovely Marsha Hunt, are welcome presences in the congenial ensemble. O'Brien shines in fun numbers like "Fresh as a Daisy" and "(Did I Get Stinkin') At the Savoy". Hunt's mildly antagonistic Philadelphia snob is a bit of a change of pace for her, and she has some great comedic moments opposite Skelton.

The film's finale becomes an interesting showcase of wartime patriotism, capped by the entire cast singing "The Son of a Gun Who Picks on Uncle Sam" about bombing the Japs and Heinies right off their Axis and whatnot. There's a great line near the end. After convincing her to join the war effort, Skelton tells Hunt that he'll take her around the world after the war is over: "I'll even show you where Japan used to be."

6.5/10

I felt it my patriotic duty to write a comment, since this movie was commentless. So... A little background: I'm a big fan of Cole Porter, Ann Sothern, musicals, and 40's movies, and had been wanting to see this film for a while before I actually saw it this afternoon. Coming into it, though, I had my qualms. I saw another 30's Cole Porter musical turned into 40's movie, Dubarry Was a Lady. It was so horrible that I almost cried. Most of Porter's original songs had been scrapped for non-Porter crap songs. Lucille Ball's voice was dubbed. Red Skelton was an idiot. But... this is not a forum for how horrible Dubarry Was a Lady was. So, I entered with trepidation the world of Panama Hattie to realise that the script was quite witty, full of sight gags, yes, but tasteful sight gags, the non-Porter songs were not crap, Ann Sothern is a competent vocalist(Nothing compared to Merman, who originated the part, but really, who is anything compared to Merman?), and Lena Horne's in it. Any movie with two Lena Horne numbers is worth watching simply for Lena Horne. But, I suggest watching this movie for more than just Lena Horne. While she is the best songstress of the bunch, Virginia O'Brian is rather fun to watch with her deadpan singing. She was quite famous for that, as I vaguely recall watching a short of her doing a lavish production number with Jimmy Durante or someone similar. I found Red Skelton, whom I so loathed in Dubarry Was a Lady, to be extremely likeable, along with his sailor buddies. Rags Ragland was the funniest of the three, but I came away wanting to marry Ben Blue. Dan Dailey was also fun to see, but I thought it was very odd that he didn't get a musical number. Anyway, the plot is slim to none, but the movie really wasn't about plot, it was about fun and peddling war bonds.

Highly mediocre musical is a botched filmization of Ethel Merman's Broadway smash. In this one, the marvelous Ann Sothern at the peak of her pin-up girl beauty almost saves the film with another delightful performance. Glossy MGM production values and a game cast including Dan Dailey, Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien and the lovely Lena Horne give it their all. Story is very thin but this was still a huge hit at the time. Probably because Miss Sothern was then one of MGM's top box-office draws at the time. Sothern's "Lady Be Good"(MGM,1941) is a far superior film with a charming script and an Oscar-winning song but was somehow less popular than "Panama Hattie." WHo knows why some films make a fortune and others tank....

It's a war-time propaganda film, so allowances will be made! In lieu of a clear, solid story, we see huge star after star sing or dance, or do a standup bit. My personal favorite is the amazing miss virginia obrien; she only did about twenty films, but every one is a hilarious gem. I won't list the cast list, but check it out.. it's just incredible. With all those directors and writers, it's no wonder it's kind of a big mish-mash of a story... from the filming dates, it looks like it was re-hashed after pearl harbor, with scenes added, and removed. Ann sothern is hattie, who runs the joint where the story takes place. And some nonsense about getting upset at something the little girl says. Sothern was maisie in films for years, before and after panama hattie. Watch this one just for the parade of stars that come strolling by. Mostly good stuff. Shows on turner classic now and then. I'm surprised at the low-ish rating, but to be fair, the story is a little wacky, and it's based on only 480 votes so far.