Anything Goes (1956)

Director:  Robert Lewis
Cast:  Bing Crosby, Donald O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Zizi Jeanmarie, Phil Harris, Kurt Kasznar, Richard Erdman, Walter Sande

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  Sorry I haven't posted a review in a while...my computer has been being worked on by Office Depot and the 1920s replacement I was using had no Internet.

What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving (and the return of my computer) than by doing a review of one of Donald O'Connor's best movies?

THE PLOT:  Bill Benson (Bing Crosby) and Ted Adams (Donald O'Connor), a TV star, are writing a new Broadway show.  Everything's all set, they just need a leading lady.  Bill travels to England, while Ted goes to Paris.  Bill signs Patsy Blair (Mitzi Gaynor), while Ted signs Gaby Duval (Zizi Jeanmarie).  The four meet up in Paris and Donald O'Connor, bless his heart and I love him to death, does an absolutely shitty job of covering up his mistake.

Of course, the boys end up falling in love with the girl whom their partner signed (Ted = Patsy, Bill = Gaby), and they perform a series of spectacular song and dance numbers.  In the meantime, Patsy's father Steve (Phil Harris) is a gambler who needs to pay back some debts.  On the cruise back to America, they sort out the mess and come up with a new show called "You're the Top."  It runs for two years successfully.

THE REVIEW:  This movie is just downright adorable.  Of course, it's a Donald O'Connor/Bing Crosby movie, so I was already going into it with high hopes, but it exceeded my expectations.  Donald's song-and-dance number "You Can Bounce Right Back" that he does with the kids is just adorable beyond words, and the "De-Lovely" number with Mitzi is terrific and romantic.  The man was just so sexy and so talented and so...ugh.  I love him and I want him.  I thought it was funny that they made him have such a stuck-up attitude at the beginning.  So much different from Cosmo in Singin' in the Rain.  5 out of 5 stars.  I just love musicals.

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