Dos hermanas de Boston

A huge hit for MGM and Kathryn Grayson, the black-and-white film features a lot of classical music, Liszt and Wagner among others, with Jimmy Durante for comic relief. The always fresh-as-a-daisy June Allyson plays the other sister and balances Grayson's rebellious side, as she defies her puritanical family and shows her limbs on a turn-of-the-century vaudeville stage. Grayson has never been funnier than when she is disrupting the opera sequence from "Lohengrin" as the great Lauritz Melchior fumes his way through the aria. Musicals of this period may not be profound, but they are still a lot of fun to watch, especially when Melchior's dog hears "his master's voice" in a recreation of the earliest recording session. --from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013

Nice turn of the century film where Kathryn Grayson comes to N.Y. to sing in a joint. Her presence there threatens a scandal in her native Boston as her uncle is the Republican candidate for mayor of the town.

He comes with his wife to investigate and the fun starts. June Allyson is her sister and Jimmy Durante, the owner of the place where Grayson is singing. To save Grayson, Durante arranges for her to sing at the opera with the established Lauritz Melchior.

Peter Lawford, falls for Allyson but thinks that Grayson is having an affair with his father.

The picture becomes funny at times but needed technicolor to brighten it up.

Ben Blue is funny as a drunken waiter and Melchior shows some comedic gift here.

A pleasant film capturing the turn of the century musical traditions in America.

Two Sisters From Boston is one of those comedies that will probably have less and less appeal since the coming generations might not know about the peculiar foibles of Boston, that were still operating in some quarters in 1946. The story is set at the turn of the last century in the time of what could be labeled George Apley's Boston.

Scandal is about to break when it is discovered that one of the Chandler sisters, Kathryn Grayson, is discovered to be the notorious High C Susie who headlines at a Bowery nightclub. The explanation is real simple, Kathryn's uncle Harry Hayden has been real stingy even though he's financing her voice lessons, the money for living just isn't there, so Kathryn is singing for her supper. In most places even in 1900 that would raise no problems, but not in Boston where coincidentally enough Hayden's running for mayor.

In rushes the other Chandler sister, June Allyson, to help save the family honor. In the process her little schemes manage to involve the family with Peter Lawford and his parents who are opera patrons, tenor Lauritz Melchior and Bowery theater entertainer Jimmy Durante. This film must have been a bit of nostalgia for Durante, it was at clubs like these where High C Susie headlines that Durante got his start during this same period.

Peter Lawford plays his part like a young George Apley in training. It might have been interesting casting if instead of Thurston Hall to play his part they could have gotten Ronald Colman albeit for a small role.

Both Grayson and Allyson get show their respective styles as singers and Lauritz Melchior is fine as the egotistical Wagnerian tenor. His was a limited casting potential so Melchior only made a few films over at MGM. The score written by Sammy Fain and Ralph Freed provided no big hits, but managed to accommodate Grayson, Allyson, Melchior, and Durante an eclectic group of singers if there ever was one.

Enjoy Two Sisters From Boston while you can while jokes about Boston's puritanical standards are still understood.

I saw this movie for the first time about 40 years ago and loved it. It came on TCM today and I was afraid I was going to be disappointed. NOT AT ALL!!! If anything it is even better than I remembered. The script is really tight; no loose ends. Silly? Of course, but what wonderful silliness. And there is some pretty clever humor. Some serious laughs. The songs for it are pretty bad, but how much fun it was when MGM took classical music and used it as opera arias. Melchior is astounding in that the voice is so huge and so sweet and his diction in English, impeccable. Durante is lovable even when he gets a bit annoying. And Grayson really had a beauty that is unlike anyone else's; her singing style is a matter of taste. But as is often the case, June Allyson steals the show just by being herself. Her soubrette number near the end is adorable and in its own way very, very sweet! This is what they used to call a family musical. Thank God for Turner Classic Movies.

High-C Susie! that's hilarious. and it's Abigail Chandler's stage name when she gets on stage to do her burlesky. Keep an eye out for Jimmy Durante doing his awesome shtick. He was a pro fer sure. fun to watch Durante work fun word-play into a song. When Abby's sister comes for a visit from back home, she tries to keep her from finding out the truth about her on stage performances. Kathryn Grayson and June Allyson co-star as sisters in this musical from MGM. Peter Lawford is in here as Lawrence Patterson. and Grady Sutton and Barbara Billingsly are in here as party extras, according to imdb. It's okay... it travels the line between comedy and serious period piece, and mostly succeeds. a funny number where she gets down to her bloomers and sings "after the show". i was never a big fan of either June Allyson or Peter Lawford, but if you turn down to high octave arias, the story is pretty good. I'll give this one an "okay". shows occasionally on Turner Classics.