Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943 film)

Thank Your Lucky Stars
Directed by	David Butler
Produced by	Mark Hellinger
Written by	Norman Panama (screenplay) Melvin Frank (screenplay)
Starring	Eddie Cantor Joan Leslie Dennis Morgan Humphrey Bogart Bette Davis Olivia de Havilland Errol Flynn John Garfield
Music by	Heinz Roemheld
Cinematography	Arthur Edeson
Editing by	Irene Morra
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date(s)	1943
Running time	124 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English

Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) is a film made by Warner Brothers as a World War II fundraiser. It was directed by David Butler and starred Eddie Cantor, Dennis Morgan, Joan Leslie, Edward Everett Horton and S. Z. Sakall.

The film was a musical with a slim plot, involving theater producers (Horton and Sakall) staging a wartime charity program, only to have the production taken over by their egotistical star (Eddie Cantor, playing himself). Meanwhile, an aspiring singer (Morgan) and his songwriter girlfriend (Leslie) conspire to get into the charity program by replacing Cantor with their look-alike friend, tour bus driver Joe Simpson (also played by Cantor, in a dual role).

Many of Warner Brothers stars performed in musical numbers, including several who were not known as singers. The film features the only screen musical numbers ever done by Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, and Ida Lupino. Each of the cast members was paid a $50,000 fee for their appearance which was then donated to the Hollywood Canteen.

The film was popular with audiences, and the critic James Agee called it "the loudest and most vulgar of the current musicals. It is also the most fun." Ticket sales combined with the donated salaries of the performers raised more than two million dollars for the Hollywood Canteen.

Musical numbers (in the order performed)

• "Thank Your Lucky Stars" by Dinah Shore
• "Ridin' For a Fall" by Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie (dubbed by Sally Sweetland)
• "Hotcha Cornia" by Spike Jones & His City Slickers
• "We're Staying Home Tonight" by Eddie Cantor
• "Goin' North" by Jack Carson and Alan Hale
• "Love Isn't Born (It's Made)" by Ann Sheridan
• "No You, No Me" by Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie (dubbed by Sally Sweetland)
• "The Dreamer" by Dinah Shore
• "Ice Cold Katie" by Hattie McDaniel and Willie Best
• "How Sweet You Are" by Dinah Shore
• "That's What You Jolly Well Get" by Errol Flynn
• "They're Either Too Young, Or Too Old" by Bette Davis, including a famous (brief) jitterbug performance by Davis and dance contest winner Conrad Weidel
• "The Dreamer" reprise by Olivia de Havilland, Ida Lupino, and George Tobias
• "Good Night, Good Neighbor" by Dennis Morgan with an accompanying dance by Alexis Smith
• Final Medley with brief reprises of "We're Staying Home Tonight" (Eddie Cantor), "How Sweet You Are" (chorus girls), "Goin' North" (Jack Carson and Alan Hale, Sr.), "The Dreamer" (both Dinah Shore and the comic trio), "Ridin' For a Fall" (Dennis Morgan and Joan Leslie), "Love Isn't Born (It's Made)" (Ann Sheridan), "That's What You Jolly Well Get" (Errol Flynn), "Good Night, Good Neighbor" (Dennis Morgan), "They're Either Too Young, Or Too Old" (Bette Davis), "Ice Cold Katie" (Hattie McDaniel and Eddie Cantor), "Thank Your Lucky Stars" (ensemble)

Other Cameo Appearances

• Humphrey Bogart
• John Garfield
• Don Wilson
• David Butler
• Mark Hellinger
• Madame Sul-Te-Wan
• Doodles Weaver

External links

• Thank Your Lucky Stars at the Internet Movie Database
• Thank Your Lucky Stars at the TCM Movie Database
• Thank Your Lucky Stars at AllRovi