Two Girls and a Sailor
Encyclopedia
Two Girls and a Sailor is a 1944
musical film about two singing sisters who are helped to set up a canteen to entertain soldiers by a mysterious wealthy admirer. It featured a host of celebrity performances, including Jimmy Durante
doing his hallmark "Inka Dinka Doo
", Gracie Allen
, and Lena Horne
. Richard Connell
and Gladys Lehman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Conducted by Albert Coates
1944 in film
The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
musical film about two singing sisters who are helped to set up a canteen to entertain soldiers by a mysterious wealthy admirer. It featured a host of celebrity performances, including Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
doing his hallmark "Inka Dinka Doo
Inka Dinka Doo
Inka Dinka Doo is a 1933 popular song with words and lyrics written by Jimmy Durante and Ben Ryan. By 1934 the song was a major hit record and it became Durante's theme song for the rest of his life....
", Gracie Allen
Gracie Allen
Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
, and Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
. Richard Connell
Richard Connell
Richard Edward Connell Jr. was an American author and journalist, probably best remembered for his short story "The Most Dangerous Game". Connell was one of the most popular American short story writers of his time and his stories appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and Collier's Weekly...
and Gladys Lehman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Cast
- June AllysonJune AllysonJune Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
as Patsy Deyo - Gloria DeHavenGloria DeHavenGloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
as Jean Deyo - Van JohnsonVan JohnsonVan Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
as John Dyckman Brown III - Tom DrakeTom DrakeTom Drake , born Alfred Sinclair Alderdice in Brooklyn, New York, was an American actor. Drake made films starting in 1940 and continuing until the mid-1970s, and also made TV acting appearances....
as Sergeant Frank Miller - Henry StephensonHenry StephensonHenry Stephenson , sometimes credited as Harry Stephenson, was a British character actor....
as John Dyckman Brown I - Henry O'NeillHenry O'NeillHenry O'Neill was a film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s.-Life and career:...
as John Dyckman Brown II - Ben BlueBen BlueBen Blue , born Benjamin Bernstein, was a Canadian-American actor and comedian.Born to a Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec, at the age of nine, Blue emigrated to Baltimore in the United States where he won a contest for the best impersonation of Charlie Chaplin...
as himself - Carlos Ramírez as himself
- Albert CoatesAlbert Coates (musician)Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses...
as himself - Donald MeekDonald MeekDonald Meek was a Scottish-born American character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish-American War and...
as Mr. Nizby - Amparo IturbiAmparo Iturbi-Early career:Amparo Iturbi was born in Valencia, Spain, the younger sister of José Iturbi. She gave her debut concert at the age of 15 in Barcelona. In 1925, she gave her first important concert outside of Spain. She played in Paris, at the Salle Gaveau. This was followed by dual piano recitals...
as herself - José IturbiJosé IturbiJosé Iturbi was a Spanish conductor, harpsichordist and pianist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh...
as himself - Jimmy DuranteJimmy DuranteJames Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
as Billy 'Junior' Kipp - Gracie AllenGracie AllenGrace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
as herself - Lena HorneLena HorneLena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
as herself
Soundtrack
- Sweet And Lovely - words music by Gus ArnheimGus ArnheimGus Arnheim was an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s...
, Harry Tobias, Jules Lemare - Performed by June AllysonJune AllysonJune Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
and Gloria DeHavenGloria DeHavenGloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child... - My Mother Told Me - Sung by Gloria DeHaven
- In A Moment of Madness - words by Ralph Freed, music by Jimmy McHughJimmy McHughJames Francis McHugh was a U.S. composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs...
- Sung by Helen ForrestHelen ForrestHelen Forrest was one of the most popular female jazz vocalists during America's Big Band era. She was born Helen Fogel to a Jewish family in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917...
, accompanied by Harry JamesHarry JamesHenry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
and His Music MakersMusic MakersThe Music Makers was a 1940s band from Saint Kitts and Nevis. They were among the most popular of the Carnival bands from that era.... - A Tisket, a Tasket - words music by Al Feldman and Ella FitzgeraldElla FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
- Performed by June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven - Babalu - words music by Margarita Lecuona - Performed by Lina RomayLina RomayFor Singer, See Lina Romay Lina Romay is a Spanish actress who often appears in films directed by her long-time companion Jesus Franco.-Movie career:...
with Xavier CugatXavier CugatXavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
and His Orchestra - Charmaine - by Erno RapeeErno RapeeErnö Rapée was one of the most prolific American symphonic conductors in the first half of the 20th Century...
and Lew PollackLew PollackLew Pollack was a song composer active during the 1920s and the 1930s.Pollack was born in New York. Among his best known songs are "Charmaine" and "Diane" with Ernö Rapée, "Miss Annabelle Lee", "Two Cigarettes in the Dark", "At the Codfish Ball" , and Go In and Out The Window, now a...
- Performed by Harry James and His Music Makers - Concerto for Index Finger - Performed on piano by Gracie AllenGracie AllenGrace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
with orchestra
Conducted by Albert Coates
Albert Coates (musician)
Albert Coates was an English conductor and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg where his English father was a successful businessman, he studied in Russia, England and Germany, before beginning his career as a conductor in a series of German opera houses...
- Estrellita - music by M. M. Ponce - Performed by Harry James and His Music Makers
- A Love Like Ours - words by Mann Holiner, music by Alberta NicholsAlberta NicholsAlberta Nichols was a popular songwriter of the 1930s and 40s. Together with her husband, lyricist Mann Holiner, they composed over 100 songs, of which their most famous were "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" and "A Love Like Ours".-Biography :Nichols was born in Lincoln, Illinois on December 3,...
- Performed by June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven, with Harry James and His Music Makers - Granada - words music by Agustín LaraAgustín LaraAgustín Lara was a Mexican singer and songwriter.-Biography:Lara was born in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz. Later, the Lara family had to move again to Mexico City, establishing their house in the borough of Coyoacán. After Lara's mother died, Agustín and his siblings lived in a hospice run by their...
- Performed by Carlos RamírezCarlos RamírezCarlos Alberto Ramírez Castillo is a Mexican footballer. He plays for Deportivo Irapuato, wearing #13. He is nicknamed "Tin-Tan" because of an apparent physical likeness to the Mexican actor....
, with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra - Paper Doll - words music by Johnny S. Black - Performed by Lena HorneLena HorneLena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
- Rumba Rumba - words by Sammy Gallop, music by José Pafumy - Performed by Lina Romay with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
- Take It Easy - words music by Al DeBru, Irving TaylorIrving Taylor (songwriter)Irving Taylor , was a Jewish-American composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He enlisted in the US Navy the day after Pearl Harbor...
, Vic MizzyVic MizzyVic Mizzy was an American composer for television and movies whose best-known works are the themes to the 1960s television sitcoms Green Acres and The Addams Family. He also penned top-20 songs from the 1930s to 1940s.-Biography:Vic Mizzy was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended New York...
- Performed by Virginia O'BrienVirginia O'BrienVirginia Lee O'Brien was a popular American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic roles in MGM musicals of the 1940s.-Life and career:...
, Lee Wilde, Lyn Wilde, and Lina Romay with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra - Anchors Aweigh - Performed by an unidentified marching band in the dream sequence
- Did You Ever Have the Feelin'? - Written and performed by Jimmy DuranteJimmy DuranteJames Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
- Inka Dinka Doo - words music by Jimmy Durante, Ben RyanBen RyanBen Ryan is the England Rugby Union Sevens head coach and also a National Academy Coach, looking specifically after scrum halves....
, Harry Donnelly - Performed by Jimmy Durante - Thrill of a New Romance - Played by Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra. Danced by Ben BlueBen BlueBen Blue , born Benjamin Bernstein, was a Canadian-American actor and comedian.Born to a Jewish family in Montreal, Quebec, at the age of nine, Blue emigrated to Baltimore in the United States where he won a contest for the best impersonation of Charlie Chaplin...
and Lina Romay - You, Dear - words by Ralph Freed, music by Sammy Fain - Performed by Harry James and His Music Makers
- Who Will Be with You When I'm Far Away - Performed, words, music by Jimmy Durante
- The Young Man with a Horn - words by Ralph Freed, music by Georgie StollGeorgie StollGeorgie Stoll was a musical director, conductor, composer and jazz violinist, associated with the Golden Age of MGM musicals and performers from the 1940s to 1960s. Born George Martin Stoll, he was also later credited as George E...
- Performed by June Allyson and Harry James and His Music Makers - Ritual Fire Dance - by Manuel de FallaManuel de FallaManuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
- Performed on pianos by José IturbiJosé IturbiJosé Iturbi was a Spanish conductor, harpsichordist and pianist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh...
and Amparo IturbiAmparo Iturbi-Early career:Amparo Iturbi was born in Valencia, Spain, the younger sister of José Iturbi. She gave her debut concert at the age of 15 in Barcelona. In 1925, she gave her first important concert outside of Spain. She played in Paris, at the Salle Gaveau. This was followed by dual piano recitals... - Flash - by Harry James
- I Gotta Go, I Gotta Stay words music by Jimmy Durante