Carolina Blues (1944) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

When he loses his lead singer, bandleader Kay Kyser can't find a replacement he likes.

Cast & Crew

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Leigh Jason

Kay Kyser

Ann Miller

Victor Moore

Phineas J. Carver/Elliott Carver/Hiram Carver/Horatio Carver/Aunt Martha Carver/Aunt Minerva Carver

Jeff Donnell

Charlotte Barton

Howard Freeman

Photos & Videos

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Carolina Blues (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Thanks A Lot

Carolina Blues (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Pucker Up

Carolina Blues (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Mr. Beebe

Film Details

Also Known As

Battleship Blues

Genre

Musical

Release Date

Sep 26, 1944

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Columbia Pictures Corp.

Distribution Company

Columbia Pictures Corp.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 21m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

7,344ft

Synopsis

When Kay Kyser and his band, including singer Georgia Carroll, return from a long USO tour, the exhausted musicians look forward to their vacation, while Georgia plans her upcoming wedding to an Army officer. Their publicist, Charlotte Barton, does not give them time to rest, however, for she immediately takes them to the Carver shipyards. Despite the band's grumbling, they put on a good show, and Kay is entranced by the singing of Julie Carver, the daughter of Phineas J. Carver, whom Kay mistakenly assumes is the owner of the shipyard. Anxious to be married, Georgia urges Kay to replace her with Julie, but Kay mysteriously declines. On his way back to the hotel, Kay meets an old chum, Tom Gordon, the newspaper editor in Kay's hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Tom asks Kay to return home to put on a bond rally, so that Rocky Mount can buy a destroyer. Carver suggests holding the show in New York, where they can raise enough money for a cruiser, not just a destroyer, and Kay tries to trick the band members into agreeing. They see through his scheme, but as they are stuck in New York due to transportation shortages, acquiesce. Georgia is annoyed at having to postpone her wedding, however, and during the show, arranges for Julie to substitute for her. Julie is a big hit, much to the delight of her father and the chagrin of her wealthy, snobbish relatives. Kay is furious about the trick and yells at Julie for trying to ruin the show. When Georgia questions him about why he is refusing to hire Julie, he states that as a rich girl, she would have no commitment to a real career. Georgia passes on the information to Julie and Phineas, unaware that they are only pretending to be rich to make a good impression on Kay. In reality, they are the poor Carvers and are continually borrowing from their relations. Kay then travels to Rocky Mount, where the townsfolk hold a banquet in his honor. During the festivities, however, Kay learns that because the bonds from the New York show were sold in New York, they cannot be credited to Rocky Mount. Devastated by the news, Kay schemes to get the band to his hometown for another show by sending them urgent telegrams that lead them to believe that he is on his death bed. Again, they quickly see through his ruse, but agree to put on the show as they are already in Rocky Mount. The bond sales do not go well though, and it does not look as if there will be enough for a destroyer until Julie and Phineas arrive. Believing that he can get Phineas to purchase the required amount of bonds, Kay gives the singing job to Julie. She goes out with him that night in order to obtain a contract, but the moonlight works its magic and the couple fall in love. Unable to deceive him any longer, Julie tells Kay the truth about her finances and tearfully runs off with Phineas the next morning. Phineas has a plan of his own though, and summons his relatives to Rocky Mount. That night, as Kay puts on the show, Phineas blackmails his relatives into buying enough bonds so that the town can obtain its destroyer. Julie goes to the auditorium to present the check to Kay, who quickly reconciles with her and shares the good news with the crowd.

Director

Leigh Jason

Cast

Kay Kyser

Ann Miller

Victor Moore

Phineas J. Carver/Elliott Carver/Hiram Carver/Horatio Carver/Aunt Martha Carver/Aunt Minerva Carver

Jeff Donnell

Charlotte Barton

Howard Freeman

Georgia Carroll

Georgia Carroll

Ish Kabibble

Harry Babbitt

Sully Mason

Harold Nicholas

The Christianis

The Layson Brothers

The Four Step Brothers

Kay Kyser's Band

Diane Pendleton

Robert Williams

Doodles Weaver

Dorothea Kent

Frank Orth

Eddie Acuff

June Richmond

Leonard Bluett

Brian O'hara

Limousine chauffeur

Eileen Mcclory

Pat Parrish

Eloise Hart

Kay Dowd

Elvia Allman

Anne Loos

Eddie Bruce

Pat Gleason

Charles Marsh

Bertha Priestley

Jack Rice

Elmer Jerome

Harry Hayden

Si Jenks

Ruby Dandridge

Walter Pietila

Lorraine Wells

Suzette Johnson

Francis Robinson

Artie Brandon

Avonelle Harris

Louise Franklin

Mildred Boyd

Marie Bryant

Harps O'swing

The Dreamers

Crew

Lionel Banks

Samuel Bischoff

Dudley Brooks

Walter Bullock

Sammy Cahn

Saul Chaplin

Vocal Arrangements

George Duning

Orchestra Arrangement

Kenneth Earl

Stephen Foster

John Goodrich

Jack Henley

Additional Dialogue

Hobé

Joseph Hoffman

Edward Jewell

George Kelley

Camera Operator

Joseph Kish

Sammy Lee

Dances staged by

Jean Louis

Al Martin

M. M. Musselman

Ray Nazarro

Assistant Director

Franz F. Planer

Director of Photography

William Randall

Milton Stiefel

Dialogue Director

M. W. Stoloff

Jule Styne

James Sweeney

Allie Wrubel

Videos

Carolina Blues (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Pucker Up Opening schtick, band leader Kay Kyser as himself, sax-player sidekick Sully Mason, Jeff Donnell as publicist "Charlotte," comic Ish Kabibble, Victor Moore as industrialist "Carver," and singer Georgia Carroll, who had just become Mrs. Kyser, in Columbia's Carolina Blues, 1944.

Carolina Blues (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Mr. Beebe Band leader Kay Kyser's intro, surprised to see Ann Miller replacing his usual vocalist, song by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, named for the columnist and bon vivant Lucius Beebe, dancer Harold Nicholas stealing it, with singing Layson Brothers and hoofing Four Steps, in Carolina Blues, 1944.

Carolina Blues (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Thanks A Lot At the wartime Carver shipyard Julie (Ann Miller), daughter of the boss, can't get the fake Kay Kyser (Doodles Weaver) on stage, resorts to doing her own bit first, song by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, not recognizing the real Kyser when he shows up, the first number in Carolina Blues, 1944.

Film Details

Also Known As

Battleship Blues

Genre

Musical

Release Date

Sep 26, 1944

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Columbia Pictures Corp.

Distribution Company

Columbia Pictures Corp.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 21m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

7,344ft

Articles

Carolina Blues

August 1, 2007

Carolina Blues was the seventh and final film starring "The Ol' Perfessor," bandleader Kay Kyser. Fresh off their USO world tour, this 1944 musical continues the storyline of Around the World, released the previous year: Kyser and his band get back to the U.S. and agree, at the behest of a wealthy industrialist named Carver, to perform at a defense plant. When the band's vocalist runs off to get married, Carver's daughter steps in to save the show as well as win Kyser's heart.

A popular radio personality with his hit show, Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge (1939-49), Kyser translated well to screen, most often playing himself in the light-hearted B-movies he made for RKO, Columbia and MGM. In Carolina Blues, his love interest is played by Ann Miller, the tap dancer-turned-actress who would later steal the spotlight in Easter Parade (1948) and Kiss Me Kate (1953).

Vaudevillian Victor Moore lends more than a hand with the supporting cast, he is the cast: through trick photography, he plays no less than 6 members of the Carver family clan! Armed with such talent, the Columbia Pictures publicity department crowed with the taglines, "Your head will spin to those Kay Kyser melodies! Your sides will split at those Victor Moore insanities! Your feet will tap to those legnificent Ann Miller dances!" Legnificent, indeed!

You could also say that Carolina Blues is a case of life imitating art: Kyser's singer, "Georgeous" Georgia Carroll, joined the group in 1943 and did indeed end up leaving the band to get married...to Kay Kyser!

Producer: Samuel Bischoff
Director: Leigh Jason
Screenplay: Kenneth Earl, Jack Henley, Joseph Hoffman, Al Martin, M.M. Musselman
Cinematography: Franz Planer
Film Editing: James Sweeney
Art Direction: Lionel Banks, Edward Jewell
Music: Dudley Brooks, Walter Bullock, George Duning
Cast: Kay Kyser (Kay Kyser), Ann Miller (Julie Carver), Victor Moore (Phineas), Jeff Donnell (Charlotte Barton), Howard Freeman (Tom Gordon), Georgia Carroll (Georgia Carroll).
BW-81m.

by Eleanor Quin

Carolina Blues

Carolina Blues

Carolina Blues was the seventh and final film starring "The Ol' Perfessor," bandleader Kay Kyser. Fresh off their USO world tour, this 1944 musical continues the storyline of Around the World, released the previous year: Kyser and his band get back to the U.S. and agree, at the behest of a wealthy industrialist named Carver, to perform at a defense plant. When the band's vocalist runs off to get married, Carver's daughter steps in to save the show as well as win Kyser's heart. A popular radio personality with his hit show, Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge (1939-49), Kyser translated well to screen, most often playing himself in the light-hearted B-movies he made for RKO, Columbia and MGM. In Carolina Blues, his love interest is played by Ann Miller, the tap dancer-turned-actress who would later steal the spotlight in Easter Parade (1948) and Kiss Me Kate (1953). Vaudevillian Victor Moore lends more than a hand with the supporting cast, he is the cast: through trick photography, he plays no less than 6 members of the Carver family clan! Armed with such talent, the Columbia Pictures publicity department crowed with the taglines, "Your head will spin to those Kay Kyser melodies! Your sides will split at those Victor Moore insanities! Your feet will tap to those legnificent Ann Miller dances!" Legnificent, indeed! You could also say that Carolina Blues is a case of life imitating art: Kyser's singer, "Georgeous" Georgia Carroll, joined the group in 1943 and did indeed end up leaving the band to get married...to Kay Kyser! Producer: Samuel Bischoff Director: Leigh Jason Screenplay: Kenneth Earl, Jack Henley, Joseph Hoffman, Al Martin, M.M. Musselman Cinematography: Franz Planer Film Editing: James Sweeney Art Direction: Lionel Banks, Edward Jewell Music: Dudley Brooks, Walter Bullock, George Duning Cast: Kay Kyser (Kay Kyser), Ann Miller (Julie Carver), Victor Moore (Phineas), Jeff Donnell (Charlotte Barton), Howard Freeman (Tom Gordon), Georgia Carroll (Georgia Carroll). BW-81m. by Eleanor Quin

Fayard Nicholas (1914-2006)

February 8, 2006

Dazzling, inventive and breathlessly athletic, Fayard Nicholas, the elder half of the phenominal Nicholas Brothers, that sensational tap-dancing duo that enraptured moviegoers in '30s and '40s with their elegance and surreal dance moves, died on January 24, 2006 in Los Angeles from pneumonia. He was 91.

Born on October 20, 1914 in Mobile, Alabama, Fayard was the son of musicians who played in vaudeville pit orchestras. When he was 6 1/2 years of age, his younger brother Harold was born (March 27, 1921, Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and little did they realize that they were destined to be one of the most memorable dance duos in film history.

Fayard learned to dance by watching several vaudeville shows while traveling with his parents. He incorporated many of the acrobatic moves he saw into his own routines, and soon, Harold was learning with him. By 1932, they had auditioned, and landed, a spot in Harlem's celebrated haunt, The Cotton Club. Their routines were a sensation, and Samuel Goldwyn brought them to Hollywood where they performed in Kid Millions (1934) with Eddie Cantor and The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1937). That same year, they appeared on Broadway The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 and Babes in Arms.

Fayard and Harold headed back to The Cotton Club to polish up their moves, and when they came back to Hollywood in the '40s, they entered their golded period. In Down Argentina Way (1940) starring Don Ameche and Betty Grable, they did that extraordinary number, leaping off a grand piano and doing eye-popping splits over each other on an oversized staircase; Sun Valley Serenade (1941), they have an engaging Chattenooga Choo-Choo routine with a 19-year-old Dorothy Dandridge; and best of all, The Pirate (1948) where they do a terrific Be a Clown routine with Gene Kelly that's every bit as comical as it was inventive.

In the early '50s, the brothers were touring all over the United States and Europe, but in 1957, Harold spent seven years in Paris and only reunited with Fayard in a 1964 television appearance on the hit variety show The Hollywood Palace. But as their performance teaming became less frequent as they got older, Fayard found ways to keep busy. He drew critical praise for his dramatic turn in The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970) and won a Tony for his choreography for Black and Blue (1989). In 1991, Both Fayard and Harold received the Kennedy Center Honors and most deserved honory Oscars® at the Academy Awards. Nicholas is survived by his wife, Katherine; sister, Dorothy; sons, Tony and Paul; four grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

by Michael T. Toole

Fayard Nicholas (1914-2006)

Dazzling, inventive and breathlessly athletic, Fayard Nicholas, the elder half of the phenominal Nicholas Brothers, that sensational tap-dancing duo that enraptured moviegoers in '30s and '40s with their elegance and surreal dance moves, died on January 24, 2006 in Los Angeles from pneumonia. He was 91. Born on October 20, 1914 in Mobile, Alabama, Fayard was the son of musicians who played in vaudeville pit orchestras. When he was 6 1/2 years of age, his younger brother Harold was born (March 27, 1921, Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and little did they realize that they were destined to be one of the most memorable dance duos in film history. Fayard learned to dance by watching several vaudeville shows while traveling with his parents. He incorporated many of the acrobatic moves he saw into his own routines, and soon, Harold was learning with him. By 1932, they had auditioned, and landed, a spot in Harlem's celebrated haunt, The Cotton Club. Their routines were a sensation, and Samuel Goldwyn brought them to Hollywood where they performed in Kid Millions (1934) with Eddie Cantor and The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1937). That same year, they appeared on Broadway The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 and Babes in Arms. Fayard and Harold headed back to The Cotton Club to polish up their moves, and when they came back to Hollywood in the '40s, they entered their golded period. In Down Argentina Way (1940) starring Don Ameche and Betty Grable, they did that extraordinary number, leaping off a grand piano and doing eye-popping splits over each other on an oversized staircase; Sun Valley Serenade (1941), they have an engaging Chattenooga Choo-Choo routine with a 19-year-old Dorothy Dandridge; and best of all, The Pirate (1948) where they do a terrific Be a Clown routine with Gene Kelly that's every bit as comical as it was inventive. In the early '50s, the brothers were touring all over the United States and Europe, but in 1957, Harold spent seven years in Paris and only reunited with Fayard in a 1964 television appearance on the hit variety show The Hollywood Palace. But as their performance teaming became less frequent as they got older, Fayard found ways to keep busy. He drew critical praise for his dramatic turn in The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970) and won a Tony for his choreography for Black and Blue (1989). In 1991, Both Fayard and Harold received the Kennedy Center Honors and most deserved honory Oscars® at the Academy Awards. Nicholas is survived by his wife, Katherine; sister, Dorothy; sons, Tony and Paul; four grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. by Michael T. Toole

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The working title of this film was Battleship Blues. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, the Metropolitan Opera House set used in the picture was located at the old Vitagraph Studios. Kay Kyser and Georgia Carroll were married at the time of this production.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Fall September 26, 1944

Released in United States Fall September 26, 1944

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