WEIRDLAND: Betty Grable: "I'm going to kiss that Payne lad"

Friday, September 21, 2012

Betty Grable: "I'm going to kiss that Payne lad"

Betty Grable & John Payne in Modern Screen magazine (1942) December issue

"Feeling, no doubt, that Miss Grable and Miss Haver, decked out in bright costumes, are sufficiently overpowering to knock anybody for a loop, the producers have coyly neglected to put much else into the film. Oh, sure—they have chosen John Payne to play the romantic foil and sing two songs ad infinitum—"I Can't Begin to Tell You" and "Chasing Rainbows." They have also included S. Z. Sakall for jowl-waddling comic relief and have lined up a couple of show-girl numbers which are simply grotesque and dull. But mainly "The Dolly Sisters" is Miss Grable and Miss Haver back and forth—or the purely mechanical agitations of a couple of modern pin-up girls. Source: movies.nytimes.com


June Haver and Betty Grable. June Haver was nicknamed "the Pocket Grable" for her resemblance to the star.

Betty Grable and John Payne dancing in "Springtime in the Rockies"  (1942) directed by Irving Cummings

Betty Grable during "Springtime in the Rockies", 1942

Twentieth Century Fox Press Release - On the set of "Springtime in the Rockies"- July, 8, 1942: Betty is appointed "Captain" by the Screen's Actors Guild for the current film industry charity drive for contributions to the Navy, Chinese, Dutch and Russian relief funds. She will be responsible for soliciting money from her co-workers and has devised some new charity-raising tactics: "Just wait till this love scene", Betty discloses, I'm going to kiss that lad Payne (co-star John Payne) as he's never been kissed. When I finish with him he'll be so dizzy that he'll sign on the dotted line for his shirt and everything else." -"Betty Grable: A Bio-Bibliography" by Larry Billman

Promotional stills of Betty Grable, June Haver and John Payne in "The Dolly Sisters" (1945) directed by Irving Cummings


A touching scene from the movie The Dolly Sisters (1945) Starring Betty Grable, June Haver and John Payne. This is one of Betty Grable's best films. As always, she shines in glorious technicolor, she is definetely one of the most beatiful and talanted actresses of all time... The song 'I'm Always Chasing Rainbows' was introduced in 1918 in the Broadway show 'Oh, Look!', and was actually sung by the real Dolly Sisters (this movie is of course based on their lifes and career).

The music is by Harry Carroll, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy.

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