Absolutely awful

Rosalind Russell is dreadfully miscast as Rose. She doesn’t remotely capture Rose’s overwhelming, obsessive personality-she’s just annoying. Just listening to Merman is far more impressive than watching Russell’s amateurish performance. Lisa’s Kirk’s limp dubbing of Russell’s songs is painful compared to Merman’s full-throated belting. The voice-over narratives are clumsy changes from the stage musical. The “skylines” are painfully obvious painted sets. And it’s strange that the film does away with June’s running off with Tulsa, thereby losing a poignant moment when Louise is again pushed aside for her kid sister.

No doubt a lot of money was paid for the rights to film this massive Broadway hit. What a shame you’d never know it from this cheesy, misconceived film version.