CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

JohnHowardReid "Doll Face" is a minor musical which would undoubtedly have enjoyed greater appeal if it had not been saddled with a repertoire of pleasant but totally unmemorable songs. Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson can certainly do much better than this.The script, alas, is also no more than routine - and even that is probably an exaggeration of its merits. Louise Hovick's stage play is that old chestnut about the guy who hires a male teacher for his fiancé and suspects the two are two-timing him!However, I must admit that if you're not expecting anything special and your mood is indulgent rather than critical, you will probably enjoy the movie to some extent. It is certainly enthusiastically played by a surprisingly good cast headed by Dennis O'Keefe, Vivian Blaine, Perry Como and Carmen Miranda.All in all, "Doll Face" certainly passes an agreeable - if unmemorable - 80 minutes.

blanche-2 To call "Doll Face" dated would be an understatement. First of all, it deals with burlesque. Secondly, Dennis O'Keefe recommends hitting women to keep them in line. And third, and most egregious, lyrics of one song celebrate the bombing the Japanese.Vivian Blaine, called Doll Face, real name Mary Elizabeth, plays a queen of burlesque who auditions for a Broadway musical, only to be recognized by one of her patrons. Though she's a lovely singer, she's rejected for the show because the producers don't feel she has enough class for their production. Nowadays they would put a chimpanzee in a Broadway musical if they thought he could make money, so there's another indication that this is an old movie.Her boyfriend (O'Keefe) decides she should ghost-write her autobiography and, after using a lot of high-faluting language, she'll be classy enough for Broadway. The man he hires, however (Michael Dunne), becomes interested in Doll Face, and not just as a client. Problems ensue.For me, this film was interesting because of the presence of a very young, extremely adorable Perry Como. I grew up with him, every Saturday night, and it was a delight to see him and hear him sing. He had a beautiful voice, singing "Red, Hot, and Beautiful," "Here Comes Heaven Again," and "Dig You Later." Martha Stewart, a vivacious performer, did an energetic job as someone wanting to take Doll Face's place. And Carmen Miranda was...Carmen Miranda, singing "Chico Chico."There were lots of numbers in this film and not much story. The music was by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson and was pleasant. It was just hard to get past extolling domestic abuse and bombing innocent people. Don't get me wrong. The Japanese government was very aggressive against the U.S., and what they did in China was atrocious. But that was their government, and not its citizens, who were told Japan was winning. The bombing remains controversial. And it doesn't belong in a song.

vincentlynch-moonoi This is a very B picture. Nothing spectacular about it, although the story is fairly decent, and is based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee (played here as "Doll Face" Carroll by Vivian Blaine). Of course, it's highly fictionalized...and I do mean HIGHLY fictionalized! Top billing goes to Blaine, which was a pretty decent actress and singer. No, not "A" line, but darned pleasing. Dennis O'Keefe is Blaine's love interest...another B actor, not as impressive as Blaine. Carmen Miranda is along for some fun, though I never understood the attraction. As mentioned, Joe E. Lewis's wife -- Martha Stewart -- plays Como love interest; also she does "okay", it's clear she was not destined to have a very extensive movie career.But as I mentioned, for nearly 2 years Perry Como had been a rapidly rising singing star with multiple million sellers. This was his first film, and his role was only third billing. Como was a natural on television, and television shows starring male vocalists were all patterned after his success. But, he was far from being a "natural" on the big screen, and while he does okay, his acting leaves a bit to be desired. But his voice here is a strong baritone, and he does nicely soloing or dueting on several numbers -- Perry Como and Martha Stewart on "Somebody's Walking in My Dream", Perry Como solo on "Red Hot and Beautiful", Perry soloing on "Here Comes Heaven Again", Perry and Vivian Blaine on "Here Comes Heaven Again", and Perry Como and Martha Stewart on "Dig You Later (A-Hubba Hubba Hubba)" (which became a Como solo and million seller on RCA Victor records).So, sit back and enjoy a rising Como, a halfway decent story, and a nice performance by Vivian Blaine.

weezeralfalfa The back of my DVD jacket features a large picture of Carmen Miranda wearing a lighthouse attached to a turban. Curiously, this doesn't appear in the film! However, there is an outtake on my DVD of Carmen prancing around on a burlesque stage in her signature platform sandals, a shimmering skimpy outfit, and this lighthouse headpiece, singing "True to the Navy", with a sailor group backup. According to this web site, somebody at Fox forgot to get permission from Paramount to use the featured song until it was too late to cut out some of the advance film publicity shots when Fox learned that Paramount refused to let them use their song. Thus, we are left with only one Carmen specialty number, and in B&W, whereas in her previous Fox films, she had 2 or 3 specialty numbers, all in gorgeous Technicolor. Her number : "Chico, Chico" is lively , with quite a few 'colorful' background characters. Carmen dances around in bare feet, in a Puerto Rican peasant market place-themed production. She wears a simple turban, but many of the extras have various imaginative headpieces. As in "The Gang's All Here", her changing background occasionally appears to greatly extend her headpiece. Actually, it's one of her best productions. Still, for a woman who practically singlehandedly induced Fox to start filming many of its musicals in color, it must have felt like a slap in the face to have her last 2 Fox musicals done in B&W, and to have, in her last 4 films, some of Fox's "B" musical stars, rather than her accustomed "A" team costars. Perhaps the thinking at Fox was that Carmen, as an established star, could guarantee an audience for films otherwise featuring their "B" leads. On the other hand, it was also true that the need to promote FDR's 'good neighbor ' policy toward Latin America was nearing its end, and the perception was that the novelty of Carmen's outrageous screen persona was beginning to wane with audiences. This is the 3rd of a series of 4 musicals released in 44-46, in which Carmen was teamed with new "B" musical leading lady Vivian Blaine, who basically replaces Alice Faye or Betty Grable in Fox's "A" team, getting to sing the romantic ballads and participate in the main romantic entanglements. Also, established singer, but newcomer to Hollywood, Perry Como was included in 3 of these films, as either primarily a singing specialist or a leading character in the plot. Here, it looks like they wanted him to be the leading romantic man, but knew his acting was stiff and bland, and he often looked sleepy. Hence, better when his screen time and role was limited, as in "Something for the Boys". He sings the slow ballad "Here Comes Heaven Again", once solo, and again with Vivian in the finale. He also sings twice the up tempo romantic piece "Red Hot and Beautiful", with female chorus. But, the hit of the film was the upbeat novelty "Hubba, Hubba, Hubba", also featuring Martha Stewart, in her film debut. A former band singer, Martha would remain a supporting actress in a limited Hollywood career. I remember her as a significant presence in the musicals "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now?" and "Are You with It?". At least she actually sang her songs, while some much more hyped actresses were mostly dubbed. After Perry sings his sleepy version of "Somebody's Walking in My Dream", she steps off a crescent moon in the background and does a sexy up tempo version. She again upstages Perry, following his staid 2nd rendition of "Red Hot and Beautiful", with an appropriate sexy version, while prancing around the burlesque stage in mimicry of Vivian's prior performance. Actually, I think she outdoes Vivian as well, being an excellent actress as well as singer. Incidentally, the Wikipedia site and this site fail to credit Martha with this performance, only mentioning Vivian's prior performance! I can't really fault any of the songs. Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson did a good job with the all original score. There weren't a lot of songs, so several were used several times, often by more than one soloist. That's better than more songs, but half stinkers!Returning to the hit "Hubba, Hubba, Hubba": Perhaps more than any other song of the times, it expresses the jubilation over the recent conclusion of WWII, thumbing their noses at the defeated Japanese, and telling the servicemen to go home, have some frivolous fun, then find a girl to marry, and get ready for a bright future. The expression "Hubba Hubba" was then in vague as an alternative to a 'wolf whistle', or to denote excitement about anything. In this production, both usages are evident. Vivian used it informally in her next film: "If I'm Lucky".As others have detailed, the screenplay is rather trifling and standard fare, with the lead female going back and forth between 2 men, and with the much repeated ambition to rise from low class performances to Broadway status. Unlike most of her other Fox films, Carmen doesn't have anyone with comedic talent to interact with. Too bad someone like Bob Hope, Red Skelton,or Phil Silvers wasn't included, as she had great comedic talent, given the right setup. Instead of comedy between the musical numbers, as in "Something for the Boys", we get mostly lackluster drama. Yep, the male leads and supports were all pretty faceless, save for Perry, and their romance with 'Doll Face' unconvincing. Nor does Vivian make a convincing stripper. If you have a DVD, fast forward between the musical numbers, and you won't miss much.