An intriguing entry whichever way way you look at it, unavailable for many years and even now I caught it in what may well be a one-off screening. In my case I had several reasons for catching it: 1) The score, which boasts two standards, 2) a chance to see Gypsy Rose Lee, 3)William Marshall had a featured role, and that's about it. The score was the work of composer Jimmmy Van Heusen and lyricist Johnny Burke, who got together in the early forties and were staff writers at Paramount supplying songs for five of the seven 'Road' pictures (Burke did the first, Singapore, with James V. Monaco and Van Heusen did the last, Hong Kong, with Sammy Cahn) plus virtually everything Crosby did in the forties at Paramount, so this was a rare sortie to another Lot. William Marshall was married to two outstanding French Actresses, Michele Morgan and Micheline Presle and I'm a French movie buff and thirdly I have never actually seen Gypsy Rose Lee herself although I have seen both the Broadway Musical and Film adaptation of Gypsy albeit it centres on her mother. I'm glad I finally got to see it if only to hear Dinah Shore - who they contrive to make look like a freak - perform Like Someone In Love and Sleighride In July.
Review of Belle of the Yukon
