I just watched this film over the holiday weekend. While Jane Powell is not my favorite movie soprano (because I don't like many of the early characters she played), I do think she was a very talented performer. I agree that it's criminal how badly treated she was, not just in this film but in the entire THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! series.
Even in the first THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! film, Powell's contribution is limited to a final reprise of "It's a Most Unusual Day" from the finale of A DATE WITH JUDY, in a scene that focuses primarily on the other characters in the film. On the other hand, her vocally-challenged, non-musical co-star, Elizabeth Taylor, is not only shown singing a dubbed version of the same song, but given a more substantial musical scene from Taylor's film CYNTHIA.
I realize that Taylor was one of the hosts of the film, and I don't mean to bash her participation in it, but it does make you wonder why Jane Powell, or Kathryn Grayson, for that matter, weren't utilized more in the series?
I've read that when she was asked about the "oversight," Powell commented succinctly that Jack Haley, Jr. "Didn't like sopranos."
Based on the onscreen evidence, she's probably right.
Incidentally, Powell also gets the shaft from SEVEN BRIDES director Stanley Donen, who previously worked with her on both A DATE WITH JUDY and ROYAL WEDDING. In his commentary on the two-disc DVD release, while he speaks warmly and admiringly about co-star Howard Keel, Donen's comments about Powell are limited to her asking him to give her more to do in the dance numbers.
"Criminal" behavior, to say the least.
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