Meet Me After the Show (1951) User Reviews

Kind of Forgettable

[timothymcclenaghan · 5/10 · 11 May 2006]

This 1951 film is another backstage musical, a typical format for Betty Grable. Unfortunately, this musical suffers from a mediocre score. Even though the composers were the well-known Jule Styne and Leo Robin, none of the songs in this film come anywhere close to the quality of their other compositions (e.g. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes).

In part of the first production number, Grable does a very good, skillful tap dance joined by two male dancers. This was the time when tap dancing was giving way to jazz as the predominant style of dance in film, brought on by Jack Cole and Bob Fosse. While Grable was certainly technically proficient enough for that style in the other production numbers, in my opinion, it just doesn't seem to suit her persona.

What is choreographer Jack Cole's production number, "No Talent Joe", all about? With a chorus of muscle men attired in classical Greek costumes and tan makeup suggesting statuary, and herself wearing a beachcomber outfit, Grable sings a Latin/Calypso song. What a mishmash!

I suggest this might have been a homo-erotic fantasy interjected by choreographer Cole. He did a similar thing when choreographing 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", with Jane Russell surrounded by gyrating nearly naked athletes.

Two other interesting points of trivia. The Miami film sequence is footage lifted directly from Grable's 1941 film, "Moon Over Miami". Also, take a good look at the set, props and the women's costumes in the last production number of the film. You will see very similar in 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" in the "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" production number. This probably due to the fact that Charles Le Maire and Travilla did costumes for both films, while Cole did the choreography for both.

While most musicals are excusably weak in the plot department, the plot is this film is downright dumb. Viewing this film would be enjoyable only for the die-hard Betty Grable fan. It's been resurrected recently on the Fox Movie Channel. Record it and skip everything but the musical numbers.

Betty's boffo but plot holes abound

[jjnxn-1 · 7/10 · 30 August 2014]

Later period Betty Grable picture gives her a chance to hoof and sing in a succession of glamorous outfits so for her fans there is plenty to enjoy within.

The problems start when the picture moves offstage. The first issue is Betty's leading man. It's not just that he's played by the less than fascinating MacDonald Carey but the character is a buffoonish, offensive sexist. It's difficult today to listen to several of the characters refer to how Carey's Jeff molded Betty into a star out of so much raw clay, as if Grable wasn't talented or intelligent enough to make it on her own. But even back in the 50's his character's condescending attitude must have made him come across as a sexist jerk.

The second problem is the script's absurd set of circumstances which stretch the bounds of logic by using the tired amnesia trope. The picture is full of quality support, Eddie Albert, Irene Ryan and Fred Clark all add a bit of spice, but it's all in the service of a weak scenario.

Bright, cheery and shallow but if you have a rainy afternoon to fill there are worse ways.

You won't get out of that alimony that easy

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 11 September 2017]

From the racetrack to the Broadway stage Meet Me After The Show is a remake of the 1940 screwball comedy He Married His Wife. The original film was pleasant, but nothing to write home about. This one has the addition Betty Grable and some song and dance which is a plus though the songs are most forgettable.

Grable has been married and divorced to producer MacDonald Carey who discovered her and made her a star and his wife in that order. But the two couldn't live with each other or apparently without each other.

Carey is slow on the alimony and Betty fakes some amnesia and loses 7 years back to when she was working nightclubs before Carey discovered her. She's also got Rory Calhoun making a big play for her as well.

At one point Carey sings a song. Like Tyrone Power in Second Fiddle he was not a good singer. Whose idea at 20th Century Fox was that?

Meet Me After The Show is a pleasant enough Betty Grable musical comedy.

Musical sitcom

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 17 September 2014]

Some people look at Betty Grable's career at Fox and think her popularity started to wane in 1950...that she was mainly a star of the 1940s who became less relevant in the postwar years. Well, it's true she didn't transition to television. And it is also true that some of the vehicles Fox put her in during the early 1950s may have been better.

But Miss Grable was still turning out hits for her home studio, and on one occasion, she was loaned out to Columbia. When she made MEET ME AFTER THE SHOW, she was enjoying box office success with WABASH AVENUE. She still had HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE ahead of her. So she was not by any stretch of the imagination someone on the downswing.

Where I think she loses a bit of her mojo at this time is when she is given scripts that seem overly formulaic. However, even the most standard plots feature her considerable charms and talents. And those gorgeous legs.

MEET ME AFTER THE SHOW was written and directed by Dick Sale, and while sluggish in a few spots, it still has enough oomph to sustain its 87-minute running time. It's presented in Technicolor with the musical numbers and flourishes associated with a Grable picture.

The production relies in large part on an exaggerated comic premise. It all begins when Grable's character separates from a manipulative Broadway producer husband (Macdonald Carey). Their union has hit a few snags, and she relocates from New York to Florida to reinvent herself. Part of this involves amnesia, which is a convenient excuse to do outrageous things that would ordinarily be out of character.

Made just as television was gaining traction with audiences, I would say this is a movie sitcom with music. Though not all the story elements come off convincingly, Miss Grable is nonetheless served well by the outstanding dance routines that enliven the proceedings...including gyrations with a muscular hunk.

Mr. Sale's production is a slight adaptation of an earlier hit at 20th Century Fox called HE MARRIED HIS WIFE (1940). In addition to the entertaining song-and-dance segments, there is dependable acting from the men supporting Grable in this endeavor: Mr. Carey and costar Eddie Albert.

Most remember Mac Carey for SHADOW OF A DOUBT or Days of Our Lives...but he was bonafide movie star and a most underrated performer. He has a knack for delivering lines in a way that makes a man a wolf in sheep's clothing and a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Carey gets the chance to sing to Grable during a scene on a boat, which is a bonus. He would go on to collaborate with Dick Sale in three more films...LET'S MAKE IT LEGAL with Claudette Colbert; MY WIFE'S BEST FRIEND with Anne Baxter and MALAGA with Maureen O'Hara. Meet me after this review, and I can recommend more Mac Carey movies.

**1/2

[edwagreen · 6/10 · 15 July 2017]

I'll always remember that amnesia is the cause for the film becoming quite inane. Besides, MacDonald Carey was never exactly a leading man, even though he can get by in this one as Bette Grable's producer-husband. Grable was really showing her age here and even up against Eddie Albert and a very young looking Rory Calhoun.

The first part of the film is funny when a woman-backer of the show comes on to Carey and Grable walks out in disgust.

The songs and staging of the dances were both well done and Fred Clark is there as the attorney who eventually winds up with the backer.

Albert is effective as the former flame who introduced the two and is now trying to woo Grable back.

A bit tiresome

[marcslope · 6/10 · 7 February 2024]

A standard Betty Grable Fox musical, with some swell Jack Cole choreography and a below-par Jule Styne-Leo Robin score, this backstage frolic compromises itself somewhat in the casting and a lot in the plotting, a tortured screenplay by director Richard Sale and Mary Loos. Betty's starring in a hit musical (good opening number) produced by hubby MacDonald Carey. MacDonald Carey? He's hardly an expert at musicals, though he does warble a little at one point, and he's playing a rotter, romancing a wealthy backer who happens to look like Lois Maxwell. Betty's also receiving heavy attention from her leading man, Eddie Albert, who did do musicals, but the casting still seems a little odd. Meantime the central couple gets a separation (but he's paying her alimony, without her divorcing him-how does that work?), and after a minor accident, she develops amnesia, or appears to, sending her down to Miami, where she lives like it's 1944 again and begins a romance with a buff Rory Calhoun. The contrivances pile up on top of one another, and the ending is rushed. Certainly the dances are the best thing, including a production number with Betty and a just-starting-out Gwen Verdon, who does get billing in the program insert. But you have to slog through some dreary story to get to them.

Some Fine Moments with Betty Grable

[LeonardKniffel · 6/10 · 13 April 2020]

Alimony and amnesia are the movers of the lame plot that makes this film almost ridiculous. Almost, but Betty Grable saves the day. She shimmies and shakes and shows off her million-dollar legs delivering wisecracks that typify the times, frequently surrounded by a bevy of hunks. While the music is not particularly memorable, the dance sequences are full of fun. The battle of the sexes being the film's theme, "The Male Sex" is a clever switch on the male complaint that women are double-crossing two-timers. The final production number ("I Feel Like Dancing") teams Grable with the great Gwen Verdon; the first part of the number casts them as athletic ragamuffins and evolves into a ballet-like dream sequence showcasing Grable at her most glamorous. Favorite line, uttered by Grable as she suspected her husband of an affair with his show's sexy financial backer: "Why did you have to get a bankroll with a body by Fisher?"-a reference to a logo used on automobiles produced by General Motors. Runner up, when Grable's character has reverted to her old unsophisticated self: "Let's go back to the hotel and tie on a feed bag."

Mid-budget Fox musical with amnesia plot...Oh, Me! Oh, Mi-ami!

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 16 September 2009]

Soon-to-be divorced Broadway musical performer is involved in an auto accident and acquires amnesia; estranged husband and best friend follow her to Miami, where she has reverted to her salad days of seven years prior and booked herself into a nightclub. Rather strange cut-price extravaganza from Twentieth Century-Fox has Betty Grable in and out of cockamamie outfits, singing tunes by Jule Styne and Leo Robin which include "It's a Hot Night in Alaska" (!) and a thudding number called "No Talent Joe" which surrounds Grable with muscle men dressed as Roman guards. Gwen Verdon pops up uncredited (except in the on-screen program!) for a duet with Betty in the movie's most bizarre number, a vaudeville-styled routine about bandits which turns into a ballroom blitz complete with candelabras and tuxedoed men in black masks. With so much nonsense taking place on-stage, one can easily ignore the contrived amnesia-line, which doesn't amount to anything anyway. Script was "suggested by" a story from Scott Darling and Erna Lazarus, the same story Fox filmed in 1940 under the title "He Married His Wife". *1/2 from ****

Betty Grable's best dancing role; she shines as a comedienne.

[dmarie-4 · 9/10 · 11 November 2001]

Released in 1951, Betty Grable's star was beginning to fade. Fox cast her in this role, which demanded a great deal more dancing than the usual Grable fair. Working with choreographer, Jack Cole, Betty gives one of her finest dancing performances on film. The film is funny, fast paced and delightful. Grable shines not only as a hoofer, but as a comedianne is this light-hearted romp of love and amnesia. Gwen Verdon appears alongside Grable in several dance numbers. McDonald Carey, Rory Calhoun and Eddie Albert are all superb in their roles of the past and present loves of Kitty Lee (Betty Grable). Memorable lines and songs are abundant in this film. This is a must-see for all Grable fans.

Pretty dopey.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 20 May 2017]

Through the 1940s, Betty Grable was a top star with Twentieth Century-Fox. However, by the 50s her star started to dim somewhat and soon the quality of her pictures began to slip significantly. "Meet Me After the Show" is one of these films...with a script that really seemed second rate.

When the story begins, Delilah (Grable) and Jeff (MacDonald Carey) are happily married and very successful. He's a Broadway producer and she stars in his productions. However, when she starts to become jealous, she separates from him and makes his life difficult. In fact, I would go so far as to say she was a terrible person-- backing out of his show and destroying the production...and putting a lot of folks out of work. Naturally, Jeff is angry and before he can get revenge, she is involved in a minor traffic accident. She's bumped her head and now has amnesia!! She disappears--appearing where she used to be before she met Jeff...as if the last seven years have never taken place. The doctor insists she's faking it...Jeff isn't so sure. What I am sure of is that Grable completely embarrasses herself and the second portion of the film is just plain stupid....and seeing Grable ACTING like an 18 year-old when she looks significantly older is very sad. At this point, the film just tries too hard to be kooky...and it completely lost my interest.

Sadly, with films like this and a few other huge disappointments, soon her career would be over...over by about age 40.

Gotta See This Movie!

[trisht · 10/10 · 20 September 2003]

I first saw this movie back in 1985 on cable and video taped it. What a wonderful performance by the cast of this movie! Betty Grable was fantastic, as usual. And yes, I agree that this was probably her best dancing role ever. It features many wonderful costumes and beautiful set design. The entire cast is to be commended on a job well done.

Well, being the nice person that I am, I allowed a friend of mine to borrow my video tape. Well, her husband recorded a football game that started right after the 20th Century Fox introduction and ended with "THE END". I have not been able to see this wonderful movie since and am anticipating the re-release of it in the near future.

Dr. Tom Horton talks down to his wife.

[gkeith_1 · 10/10 · 7 October 2017]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.

First, some negative critiquing: Dr. Tom Horton talks down to his wife. This is not Alice Horton, MacDonald Carey's wife's character on Days of Our Lives, but it is Betty Grable to whom he speaks as if she were the biggest idiot dunce in the entire world. In post-World War Two USA, Mac and Betty have capitalized on the American yearning to get back to frivolity and the make-believe backstage world. Honey, let's put on a show. I'll play the genius, and you play the dummy, "dummy". (Mac to Betty).

I liked Tom Horton. He was Days' solid anchor and a nice person. In Meet Me After the Show, however, MacDonald Carey portrays a pompous, obnoxious cad and a husband who treats his wife as less than someone honorable (Alice will roll over in her grave).

Now, some positive observations: Betty Grable (Delilah, Sheba, Kitty) lets go of her ingrate husband and takes off for tropical parts along the beach. She has starred in her husband's show up north. Has he appreciated that she helped make him a lot of money? No. Of course not. Let him suffer. She goes back to her old trashy dive venue. Yay, Betty.

Jack Cole choreography: Excellent. Condos, Betty and the other guy make a great dance trio. The production numbers are nice.

This gets a 10 for color alone, as you know I hate black and white musicals.

Nice to see Irene Ryan. Later, she got Beverly Hillbillies. Eddie Albert was good, later to get Oklahoma and Green Acres (Lisa: I'm in the bathtub, dahling!). Mac Carey, of course, was the stalwart lead of Days of Our Lives.

About me: I am a university degreed historian, actress, singer, dancer, fashion designer, stage makeup artist, film critic and movie reviewer. I am interested in the history of film and theatre. Song and dance films are my favorites.

Macdonald Carey?

[rdbqpaul · 8/10 · 24 October 2021]

This is a delightful Grable flick with great music and fine production numbers. But whomever decided Carey would be the perfect husband for her deserves the Golden Raspberry.