Diamond Horseshoe
Encyclopedia
Diamond Horseshoe is a 1945 Technicolor
musical film starring Betty Grable
, directed by George Seaton
, and released by 20th Century Fox
.
in 1928 and the second was Hoop-La
in 1933. Grable played the role previously played by Dorothy Mackaill
in The Barker and Clara Bow
in Hoop-La. All are based on the 1928 Kenyon Nicholson play, "The Barker."
was one of Fox's highest grossing films of 1945.
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
musical film starring Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
, directed by George Seaton
George Seaton
George Seaton was an American screenwriter, playwright, film director and producer, and theatre director.Born George Stenius in South Bend, Indiana, Seaton moved to Detroit after graduating from college to work as an actor on radio station WXYZ. John L...
, and released by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
.
Background
Diamond Horseshoe is a remake of two previous films derived from the same story. The first was The BarkerThe Barker
The Barker is a 1928 romantic drama film which tells the story of a woman who comes between a man and his estranged son. It stars Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, Betty Compson, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and released by First National Pictures in December 1928...
in 1928 and the second was Hoop-La
Hoop-La
Hoop-La is a 1933 drama film notable as both a pre-code film and as the final appearance of actress Clara Bow. It was directed by Frank Lloyd and released by Fox Film Corporation, with Preston Foster, Richard Cromwell, and Minna Gombell also in the cast...
in 1933. Grable played the role previously played by Dorothy Mackaill
Dorothy Mackaill
Dorothy Mackaill was an English-born American actress, most notably of the silent film era and into the early 1930s.-Early life:...
in The Barker and Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
in Hoop-La. All are based on the 1928 Kenyon Nicholson play, "The Barker."
Plot
Joe Davis Sr. owns a big nightclub called the Diamond Horseshoe. He is visited by his son Joe Jr. who is a medical student. Joe Jr. tells his father that he wants to be in show business, much to his father's disapproval. Nevertheless, Joe Sr. gives his son a job at his club where Joe Jr. then becomes smitten with Bonnie Collins; the club's headlining act. Joe Sr. is spending too much time worrying about his son that he starts to neglect his own girlfriend Claire. Claire promises to give Bonnie a mink coat if she pretends to like and go out with Joe Jr., so that Joe Sr. will pay more attention to her. Things take a complicated turn when Bonnie actually does fall in love with Joe Jr. and they get married, again much to his father's disapproval.Cast
- Betty GrableBetty GrableElizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
as Bonnie Collins - Dick HaymesDick HaymesRichard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
as Joe Davis Jr. - William GaxtonWilliam GaxtonWilliam Gaxton was a star of vaudeville, film, and theatre.Born as Arturo Antonio Gaxiola in San Francisco, he appeared on film and onstage. He debuted on Broadway in the Music Box Revue on October 23, 1922...
as Joe Davis Sr. - Beatrice KayBeatrice KayBeatrice Kay was an American singer, vaudevillian, music hall performer, stage and film actress...
as Claire Williams - Phil SilversPhil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
as Blinkie Miller
Reception
The film was very successful when it was released. Grable's other picture that year The Dolly SistersThe Dolly Sisters
The Dolly Sisters is a 1945 American biographical film about the Dolly Sisters, identical twins who became famous as entertainers on Broadway and in Europe in the early years of the twentieth century. It starred Betty Grable as Jenny and June Haver as Rosie.-Cast:*Betty Grable as Yansci "Jenny"...
was one of Fox's highest grossing films of 1945.