Panama Hattie

Okay, taken as a whole, the movie is pretty much a mess, particularly the storyline, which even by generous standards of the Hollywood musical is pretty much impossible. But then, the screenplay involves eight writers, eight, so no wonder the elements don't gel. Then too, I gather from TCM that portions were either added or re-shot after disastrous previews. That too is not surprising given the large number of featured players, with some like Dailey and Esmond left to drift around the edges. Add the undistinguished musical numbers, except of course for Horne's eye-catching and tuneful Just One of Those Things, and the 80- minutes amounts to a disappointment.

However, there are compensations. The first half is lively, featuring two amusing encounters —an irrepressible little Gerry versus an over-dressed Hattie; and a fiercely snooty Jenkins versus everyone else. These are energetic and colorful little comedy segments—too bad the rest doesn't reach this level, especially the under-inspired and over-long mansion knock- about sequence. Nonetheless, Ragland and Skelton are a natural team and would go on to bigger and better routines.

There's also a subtext typical of the times. Note how much of the comedic effort involves puncturing the pretensions of the stuffy Leila and Jenkins. It's really an effort to make "regular guys" out of the elite. After all, winning the war requires submerging social distinctions into the one-for-all and all-for-one democratic spirit, as symbolized in the everyone-on-stage finale. Anyway, the movie looks to me like a good example of a cast being a lot better than the material. .