Tonight and Every Night [1945] [DVD]Rita Hayworth (actor) Lee Bowman (actor)
Format: all-region dvd (worldwide) Runtime: 92 min Quality: Digital
This London Can Take It-style wartime romance was supposedly a tribute to Soho's Windmill Theatre (called the Music Box here), which claimed it never closed during the Blitz. Actually, it was more famous for its nude revues, although here the showgirls, including Rita Hayworth, keep well covered (in fact, it was the first time Hayworth worked with Jean Louis, her favourite dress designer).
The feeble plot involves red-headed Rita falling for pilot Lee Bowman and blonde Janet Blair for dancer Marc Platt. Platt was a weak actor but a good dancer; here he has a bizarre number in which he mimes to one of Hitler's speeches.
The title number (by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn) uses a trick of having the performers walking out of a film onto the stage. |