Terrible Film

Although I saw this film years ago (and didn't like it then), I gave it
another shot tonight (you know, I had washed the sidewalk LAST night).
Terrible, terrible, terrible. Two hours and four minutes of pure tedium.
I get that Metro quickly fashioned a thin story with lots of music to
further the careers of Allyson, Johnson and DeHaven. But every scene
in this snooze-fest was three times the length it needed to be. The
silly dream sequence should've been cut altogether, as well as half the
forgettable musical numbers. And don't get me started on the insufferable
Jimmy Durante who, legendary though he was, dragged this movie down to
a coma-inducing level. His character should've either been cut down or
cut out all together. He even made Cugat seem thrilling by comparison.
God-awful. Really, this is the only MGM musical I can think of where
scenes/songs that would've/should've been dropped after the first
preview remained. Literally every single frame of film shot for this
thudding bore of a movie was left in! I doubt a single scene/line/number
was deleted before release. I think MGM knew it had a stinker and
thought that more and more and MORE footage could save this dull story.
Well, it worked. At least in 1944, as it was a huge hit. But watching
it today is like going to the dentist. TWICE. And, again, Durante
is just irritating!

The young stars were fresh and nice to look at, but this lousy film does
not hold up well. I stuck with it (mainly to see Lena Horne), but yawned
from beginning to end.