January 27 movie: Duchess of Idaho. Esther Williams and Van Johnson starred in several movies together. This is one of their lesser efforts. It does have a few things going for it:
- specialty numbers by Lena Horne, Connie Haines and Eleanor Powell;
- a dance contest where Johnson and Williams have to hold a potato between their foreheads. They win and Williams is crowned the titular Duchess of Idaho;
- a song called "Choo Choo Choo to Idaho." This was a real thrill because I'm working on a 4th of July show with a song for every state. There are a few states I didn't have songs for, and Idaho was one. Well, there's an instrumental called "Idaho." If I can, I really want to find a song with lyrics for each state. That leaves me with only a few states I still need songs for: New Hampshire, Nebraska, Arizona, Alaska, and possibly Maryland.
The really weird thing about the movie is that Mel Torme is in it, and he doesn't sing. Whaa?
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