Best Foot Forward was a successful 1941 Broadway musical and, like Too Many Girls, was bought and adapted to be a vehicle for Lucille Ball. Like Too Many Girls, it's a simple-minded school romp where the innocence of the students and administrators makes today's educational establishments look like Sodom and Gomorra. We're at Winsocki Military Academy and the big prom is almost here. Cadet Bud Hooper (Tommy Dix) had written a fan letter to Hollywood star Lucille Ball asking if she'd be his date. He wasn't expecting she'd agree, but then he didn't know her press agent, Jack O'Reilly (William Gaxton). Seems Lucille's last couple of pictures hadn't done too well so he convinces her it would be great publicity for her to go to the prom. Bud is floored. His two roommates, Dutch (Kenny Bowers) and "Hunk" (Jack Jordan), immediately start making plans to meet her. And then Bud remembers his girl friend, Helen. Well, he tells Helen he's got the grippe, but after Lucille (and all the other cadets' dates show up), so does Helen...to keep him company because he's sick. The dance is about to start, Lucille is waiting for Bud...and Bud finds out Helen is on campus looking for him. Now we're in a whirl of misunderstandings, miscues, schemes and subterfuges, all powered by Hugh Martin's and Ralph Blane's songs, by Harry James and His Music Makers swinging at the prom, by broad performances from the cadets and their dates and by relentless enthusiasm and good cheer.
Among the standouts in the movie are Lucille Ball playing herself. Not only is she gorgeous, she handles the comedy with aplomb, which includes making some gentle but sharp fun of herself as a movie star. William Gaxton as her agent is amusing, conniving and does no lasting damage to anyone. The two of them bring polished comic performances to the movie. June Allyson and Nancy Walker recreate their stage roles and do fine jobs. With Gloria DeHaven, they are a smash singing "The Three Bs," with Harry James backing them. That's the Three Bs as in barrelhouse, boogie and the blues. The script is amusing and corny. "Is it true," asks Bud, "that everyone in California sleeps under two blankets?" Answers O'Reilly, "No. How could all those people get under just two blankets?" The young men -- boys, actually -- playing the cadets bring a lot of unabashed enthusiasm to their parts. Somewhere in the crowd is an unbilled Stanley Donen. Kenny Bowers can be funny but the director should have had him tone down the mugging. Tommy Dix comes up to Lucille Ball's shoulders, has a baby face and a kind of eerie young-Mickey-Rooney sincerity. He also has a big, polished baritone voice. Dix handles his part well and, at the conclusion, power-sings the big production number, "Buckle Down Winsocki," while all the cadets and their dates march around the field during graduation. You'll enjoy the movie best if you just sit back and not be too critical.
This was Hugh Martin's and Ralph Blane's first score. Except for "Winsocki," none of the songs became well-known. Still, they have style and spirit. "Three Men on a Date," "The Three Bs" and "Ev'ry Time" I thought held up well over more than 60 years. On the strength of this score, Martin and Blane were offered the assignment of writing the songs for Meet Me in St. Louis, and that put them on the map. I don't think they ever topped "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
If you like college musicals (although I suppose Best Foot Forward is really a prep-school musical), this one has enthusiasm and a fine performance by Lucille Ball. I'd also take a look at Too Many Girls (1940), also with Ball and with an outstanding Rodgers & Hart score, and Good News (1947), with a charming performance, this time as the lead, by June Allyson.
Among the standouts in the movie are Lucille Ball playing herself. Not only is she gorgeous, she handles the comedy with aplomb, which includes making some gentle but sharp fun of herself as a movie star. William Gaxton as her agent is amusing, conniving and does no lasting damage to anyone. The two of them bring polished comic performances to the movie. June Allyson and Nancy Walker recreate their stage roles and do fine jobs. With Gloria DeHaven, they are a smash singing "The Three Bs," with Harry James backing them. That's the Three Bs as in barrelhouse, boogie and the blues. The script is amusing and corny. "Is it true," asks Bud, "that everyone in California sleeps under two blankets?" Answers O'Reilly, "No. How could all those people get under just two blankets?" The young men -- boys, actually -- playing the cadets bring a lot of unabashed enthusiasm to their parts. Somewhere in the crowd is an unbilled Stanley Donen. Kenny Bowers can be funny but the director should have had him tone down the mugging. Tommy Dix comes up to Lucille Ball's shoulders, has a baby face and a kind of eerie young-Mickey-Rooney sincerity. He also has a big, polished baritone voice. Dix handles his part well and, at the conclusion, power-sings the big production number, "Buckle Down Winsocki," while all the cadets and their dates march around the field during graduation. You'll enjoy the movie best if you just sit back and not be too critical.
This was Hugh Martin's and Ralph Blane's first score. Except for "Winsocki," none of the songs became well-known. Still, they have style and spirit. "Three Men on a Date," "The Three Bs" and "Ev'ry Time" I thought held up well over more than 60 years. On the strength of this score, Martin and Blane were offered the assignment of writing the songs for Meet Me in St. Louis, and that put them on the map. I don't think they ever topped "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
If you like college musicals (although I suppose Best Foot Forward is really a prep-school musical), this one has enthusiasm and a fine performance by Lucille Ball. I'd also take a look at Too Many Girls (1940), also with Ball and with an outstanding Rodgers & Hart score, and Good News (1947), with a charming performance, this time as the lead, by June Allyson.