Thousands Cheer (1944) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

An egotistical acrobat joins the Army and falls in love with his commander's daughter.

Cast & Crew

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George Sidney

Kathryn Grayson

Gene Kelly

Pvt. Eddy Marsh

Mary Astor

John Boles

Col. Bill Jones

Ben Blue

Photos & Videos

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Alicia Malone Intro -- Thousands Cheer (1943)

Thousands Cheer - (Original Trailer)

Thousands Cheer (1944) -- (Movie Clip) All The Manly Virtues

Film Details

Also Known As

As Thousands Cheer, Private Miss Jones

Genre

Musical

Classic Hollywood

Comedy

War

Release Date

Jan 1944

Premiere Information

New York opening: 13 Sep 1943; Los Angeles opening: 30 Dec 1943

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Distribution Company

Loew's Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

2h 6m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Color (Technicolor)

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

13 reels

Synopsis

After operatic soprano Kathryn Jones concludes a concert in New York with conducter José Iturbi, she announces to the audience that she is taking a leave of absence in order to be with her father, Col. Bill Jones, and entertain the troops he has been assigned to train. Ignoring the advice of her mother Hyllary, who divorced her father when she was a child because he was "married to the Army," Kathryn brings her parents together for a brief reunion at the train station. Just before the train is to depart, Kathryn is kissed impulsively by Pvt. Eddy Marsh, who assumes she is staying behind. When Eddy later encounters Kathryn on the train, she jokingly tells him that she followed him on board and wants to marry him. Eddy finds Kathryn in her compartment and, unaware that Col. Jones is with her, tells her off. When Eddy finally notices the bemused colonel, he retreats in angry embarrassment. Later, at the training camp, Eddy accuses Kathryn of looking down on him because of his rank, a charge she hotly denies. Eddy then tells his friends that he wants to transfer to the Army Air Corps in order to get away from Kathryn. After Eddy's friends suggest that the best way to get a transfer is to ingratiate himself with Kathryn, Eddy shows up at her house. To Kathryn's surprise, Eddy invites her out the next night, and she accepts, explaining to her concerned father that the contrary Eddy needs extra morale boosting. Kathryn then writes to her mother that she has fallen in love, hoping to scare her into flying to see her. For their date, Eddy takes Kathryn to the circus and proudly tells her that his foster family are the Flying Corbinos, a trapeze act, and that he used to be the star of the show. The Corbinos are thrilled to meet Kathryn, and she is equally impressed by them. After the show, Eddy tells Kathryn that he belongs "in the air" not in the infantry, and as he had hoped, she offers to talk with her father about a transfer. As he is driving Kathryn home, however, Eddy begins to feel guilty and reveals his true motive for the date. Insisting that he truly likes her, Eddy kisses Kathryn, and she later confesses to her father that she is in love with the private. Now wanting her mother to stay in New York, Kathryn sends her a wire, announcing that her earlier letter was a joke. Later, a fair but tough Col. Jones meets with Eddy, who pledges to improve as a soldier and learn discipline. As promised, Eddy trains hard, then tells Kathryn that he has torn up his transfer papers and wants to marry her. Kathryn accepts his proposal, but learns that her mother has arrived, intent on breaking up the romance. Although Kathryn insists that she is not returning to New York until a show she is mounting with José is over, she tells Eddy that her mother has refused to meet him. Enraged, Eddy storms away from his post, slugging his sergeant on the way. The next day, Kathryn visits Eddy, who was arrested for deserting his post, but he is resentful and refuses her help. Hurt, Kathryn returns his engagement ring and tearfully begins to pack for New York. Col. Jones asks the Corbinos to help Eddy by reminding him of the importance of teamwork and discipline, and when Eddy joins his family during a performance for Kathryn's camp show, each Corbino lectures him in turn. Inspired by their words, Eddy easily executes a dangerous stunt, which stuns the crowd as well as Kathryn. Later, a contrite Eddy admits his guilt before a military court and convinces them to allow him to ship out with his regiment. As Eddy is about to leave, Kathryn finds him and takes back his ring. At the same time, her mother, having at last come to terms with the Army, gives her ex-husband a heartfelt kiss goodbye.

Director

George Sidney

Cast

Kathryn Grayson

Gene Kelly

Pvt. Eddy Marsh

Mary Astor

John Boles

Col. Bill Jones

Ben Blue

Frances Rafferty

Mary Elliott

Frank Jenks

Frank Sully

Dick Simmons

Capt. Fred Avery

Ben Lessy

Mickey Rooney

Judy Garland

Red Skelton

Eleanor Powell

Ann Sothern

Lucille Ball

Virginia O'brien

Frank Morgan

Lena Horne

Marsha Hunt

Marilyn Maxwell

Donna Reed

Margaret O'brien

June Allyson

Gloria Dehaven

John Conte

Sara Haden

Don Loper

Maxine Barrat

Kay Kyser

Bob Crosby

Benny Carter

José Iturbi

Bunny Waters

Young woman in soda shop

Wally Cassell

Odette Myrtil

Will Kaufman

Sig Arno

Connie Gilchrist

Daisy Bufford

Pierre Watkin

Peggy Remington

Ed Mortimer

Ray Teal

Carl Saxe

Bryant Washburn Sr.

Harry Strang

William Tannen

Prison sergeant

Florence Turner

Mother at station

Linda Landi

Polish girl at station

Eileen Coghlan

Girl at station

Eve Whitney

Girl at station

Aileen Haley

Girl at station

Betty Jaynes

Girl at station

Natalie Draper

Girl at station

Myron Healey

Soldier at station

Cliff Danielson

Soldier at station

James Warren

Soldier at station

Don Taylor

Soldier at station

Paul Speer

Specialty dancer

Lionel Barrymore

R. D. Keith

Singer in "I Dug a Ditch" number

R. H. Harthun

Singer in "I Dug a Ditch" number

F. S. Furtsch

Singer in "I Dug a Ditch" number

Charles Cota

Singer in "I Dug a Ditch" number

Bea Nigro

James Millican

Georgia Carroll

Harry Babbitt

Crew

Harold Adamson

George Bassman

Music score Conductor

Ralph Blane

George Boemler

Hugh Boswell

Earl Brent

Lew Brown

Daniel B. Cathcart

Associate (Art Direction)

Richard Collins

Original Screenplay

Jack Dawn

Makeup created by

Roger Edens

George Folsey

Director of Photography

Ralph Freed

Leo Friedman

Cedric Gibbons

Eliseo Grenet

Ferde Grofé

E. Y. Harburg

Irene

Costume Supervisor

Henri Jaffa

Associate (Color)

Paul Jarrico

Original Screenplay

Walter Jurmann

Natalie Kalmus

Technicolor Color Consultant

Burton Lane

Sam M. Lewis

Hugh Martin

Jacques Mersereau

Associate (Sets)

Joseph Pasternak

Francesco Maria Piave

Andy Razaf

Harold Rome

Sandy Roth

Assistant Director

Douglas Shearer

Recording Director

Dmitri Shostakovich

Herbert Stothart

Giuseppe Verdi

Thomas "fats" Waller

Mabel Wayne

Paul Francis Webster

Edwin B. Willis

Joe Young

Photo Collections

Videos

Thousands Cheer (1944) -- (Movie Clip) All The Manly Virtues Teen soprano Kathryn (Grayson) has returned from a long-awaited date with her career-military father (John Boles), whom her mother (Mary Astor) somehow finds dull, but she has a plan to get them together, meantime cute-meeting soldier Eddy (Gene Kelly), early in MGM's Thousands Cheer, 1944.

Thousands Cheer (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Let Me Call You Sweetheart Soldier Eddy (Gene Kelly) has requested a transfer in order to impress singer girlfriend Kathryn (Grayson), which isn't going to work out but in the meantime, a famous early Kelly routine set to a popular tune from 1910, in MGM's Thousands Cheer, 1944.

Thousands Cheer (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Kathryn Jones, Soprano End of the credits proclaiming the first movie appearance of MGM stalwart to-be Jose Iturbi, conducting for singer Kathryn (Grayson) from Verdi's La Traviata, her divorced parents (Mary Astor, John Boles) in the concert hall, opening MGM's patriotic all-star musical Thousands Cheer, 1944.

Thousands Cheer - (Original Trailer) An egotistical acrobat (Gene Kelly) joins the Army and falls in love with his commander's daughter in the all-star spectacular Thousands Cheer (1943).

Intro Aired: Jan 2019

Alicia Malone Intro -- Thousands Cheer (1943) TCM’s Alicia Malone introduces Thousands Cheer, 1943.

Film Details

Also Known As

As Thousands Cheer, Private Miss Jones

Genre

Musical

Classic Hollywood

Comedy

War

Release Date

Jan 1944

Premiere Information

New York opening: 13 Sep 1943; Los Angeles opening: 30 Dec 1943

Production Company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.

Distribution Company

Loew's Inc.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

2h 6m

Sound

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color

Color (Technicolor)

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

13 reels

Award Nominations

Best Art Direction

1943

Best Cinematography

1943

Best Score

1943

Articles

Thousands Cheer

July 27, 2005

Thousands Cheer (1943) had nothing to do with the popular Irving Berlin musical "As Thousands Cheer," produced on stage in 1933. Instead, the MGM musical was conceived by its producer, Joe Pasternak, as a simple musical entertainment about a wartime romance between a soldier (Gene Kelly) and a colonel's daughter (Kathryn Grayson), with an army camp concert as a diversion. But given the timbre of the Second World War's distant cannons resonating over the nation, the need for a morale-boosting extravaganza was needed and welcomed. And so the studio decided to saturate the film with cameos, specialty numbers and songs by some of the biggest stars on the MGM lot.

One of the more memorable highlights of Thousands Cheer features Mickey Rooney doing dead-on impressions of two of his MGM colleagues, Lionel Barrymore and recent enlistee Clark Gable, from their film, Test Pilot (1938). You can also see Judy Garland, accompanied by Jose Iturbi in his film debut, performing "The Joint is Really Jumpin' in Carnegie Hall," an ice-cream eating contest between Red Skelton and little Margaret O'Brien, Lena Horne singing "Honeysuckle Rose," and Gene Kelly's famous mop dance. Lucille Ball, Eleanor Powell, Donna Reed, Mary Astor, Ann Sothern, June Allyson, and Kay Kyser and His Orchestra are just a few of the other MGM stars that turn up in this lavish spectacle that received Oscar® nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Music Score.

Director: George Sidney
Producer: Joe Pasternak
Screenplay: Paul Jarrico, Richard Collins II
Cinematography: George J. Folsey
Editor: George Boemler
Music: Herbert Stothart
Cast: Kathryn Grayson (Kathryn Jones), Gene Kelly (Eddie Marsh), Mary Astor (Hyllary Jones), John Boles (Colonel Jones), Ben Blue (Chuck), Francis Rafferty (Marie), Lena Horne (as herself), Mickey Rooney (as himself), Lucille Ball (as herself), Red Skelton (as himself), Judy Garland (as herself), Eleanor Powell (as herself), Ann Sothern (as herself).
C-126m. Close captioning.

by Scott McGee

Thousands Cheer

Thousands Cheer

Thousands Cheer (1943) had nothing to do with the popular Irving Berlin musical "As Thousands Cheer," produced on stage in 1933. Instead, the MGM musical was conceived by its producer, Joe Pasternak, as a simple musical entertainment about a wartime romance between a soldier (Gene Kelly) and a colonel's daughter (Kathryn Grayson), with an army camp concert as a diversion. But given the timbre of the Second World War's distant cannons resonating over the nation, the need for a morale-boosting extravaganza was needed and welcomed. And so the studio decided to saturate the film with cameos, specialty numbers and songs by some of the biggest stars on the MGM lot. One of the more memorable highlights of Thousands Cheer features Mickey Rooney doing dead-on impressions of two of his MGM colleagues, Lionel Barrymore and recent enlistee Clark Gable, from their film, Test Pilot (1938). You can also see Judy Garland, accompanied by Jose Iturbi in his film debut, performing "The Joint is Really Jumpin' in Carnegie Hall," an ice-cream eating contest between Red Skelton and little Margaret O'Brien, Lena Horne singing "Honeysuckle Rose," and Gene Kelly's famous mop dance. Lucille Ball, Eleanor Powell, Donna Reed, Mary Astor, Ann Sothern, June Allyson, and Kay Kyser and His Orchestra are just a few of the other MGM stars that turn up in this lavish spectacle that received Oscar® nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Music Score. Director: George Sidney Producer: Joe Pasternak Screenplay: Paul Jarrico, Richard Collins II Cinematography: George J. Folsey Editor: George Boemler Music: Herbert Stothart Cast: Kathryn Grayson (Kathryn Jones), Gene Kelly (Eddie Marsh), Mary Astor (Hyllary Jones), John Boles (Colonel Jones), Ben Blue (Chuck), Francis Rafferty (Marie), Lena Horne (as herself), Mickey Rooney (as himself), Lucille Ball (as herself), Red Skelton (as himself), Judy Garland (as herself), Eleanor Powell (as herself), Ann Sothern (as herself). C-126m. Close captioning. by Scott McGee

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The working titles of this film were Private Miss Jones and As Thousands Cheer. Onscreen credits note that Paul Jarrico and Richard Collins' screenplay was "based on their story 'Private Miss Jones.'" According to an April 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item, the title was changed from Private Miss Jones to As Thousands Cheer so that audiences would not assume the film was a war picture. As part of the film's show-within-the-show sequence, Red Skelton performs a sketch, playing a soda jerk, and Frank Morgan, playing a lecherous barber, performs a skit with M-G-M contract stars John Conte, Sara Haden, Ann Sothern, Lucille Ball and Marsha Hunt. Mickey Rooney plays the show's "emcee." For his only dance number in the film, Gene Kelly dances with a mop and a broom to an uptempo version of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart."
       Hollywood Reporter news items add the following information about the production: In July 1941, Judy Garland was announced as the star of a film entitled Thousands Cheer, which was to be produced by Arthur Freed. Although Garland did appear in Thousands Cheer, she was not the star, and it is not known if the Arthur Freed project was related to the film released in 1944. Irving Berlin, who wrote the music to the Broadway revue As Thousands Cheer, which starred Fred and Adele Astaire, was announced as a possible contributor to the 1941 Thousands Cheer. M-G-M acquired the rights to Berlin's show in the 1930s.
       Hollywood Reporter announced in May 1943 that Lena Horne was to record "Here I Go Again" for the picture. Although Kathleen Hedrick, Kathryn Grayson's four-year-old niece, was to play Grayson's character as a child in the 1944 film, that role was not included in the completed film. Bryant Washburn, Sr. was cast in the picture along with his son, Bryant Washburn, Jr., but only Washburn, Sr.'s appearance in the completed film has been confirmed. Comedian Gus Schilling was announced for a "top role," but he did not appear in the completed film. Former tennis champion Gene Mako was also announced as a cast member, but his appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed.
       During production, Hugh Boswell replaced Sergei Petschnikoff as unit manager. As noted in the credits, José Iturbi made his screen debut in the film. In the CBCS, James Millican is listed both in the role of "Sgt. Carrington" and the role of "Major." It has not been determined which role Millican played. M-G-M publicity items note that the following "six-foot beauties" were cast in the picture: Bunny Waters, Helen O'Hara, Sylvia Liggett, Dorothy Ford, Susan Paley and Barbara Mace. Only Waters' appearance in the completed film has been confirmed, however. Publicity items also announced that Melva Block, an eighteen-year-old skating champion, was to make her screen debut during a roller-skating sequence, but the sequence was not included in the final film. The picture received Academy Award nominations in the Art Direction (Color); Cinematography (Color); and Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) categories. Mary Astor was set to perform in a five-day serialization of the film on CBS radio from 13 September to September 17, 1943, according to Hollywood Reporter.

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