AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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Music in Manhattan
Alternate Title: Cocktails for Two
Director: John H. Auer (Dir)
Release Date:   1944
Premiere Information:   New York opening: week of 6 Oct 1944
Production Date:   mid-Mar--late Apr 1944
Duration (in mins):   80-81,
Duration (in feet):   7,273
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Cast:   Anne Shirley (Frankie Foster)  
    Dennis Day (Stanley Benson)  
    Phillip Terry (Capt. Johnny Pearson)  
    Raymond Walburn (Professor)  
    Jane Darwell (Mrs. Pearson)  
    Patti Brill (Gladys)  
    Charlie Barnet   and His Orchestra
    Nilo Menendez   and His Rhumba Band
    Minerva Urecal (Landlady)  
    Don Dillaway (Major Hargrove)  
    Edmund Glover (Officer)  
    Carl Kent (Officer)  
    Michael Road (Officer)  
    Steve Winston (Officer)  
    John Shaw (Officer)  
    Mary Halsey (Operator)  
    Margie Stewart (Airplane hostess)  
    Sherry Hall (Chauffeur)  
    Chris Drake (Bellboy)  
    John Hamilton (Banker)  
    Gerald Pierce (Elevator boy)  
    Ralph Peters (Truck driver)  
    Jason Robards (Desk clerk)  
    David Thursby (Clancy)  
    Harry Clay (Photographer)  
    Bert Moorhouse (Photographer)  
    Tom Bryson (Photographer)  
    Frank Mayo (Doorman)  
    Robert Homans (Justice of Peace)  
    Georgia Cooper (Judge's wife)  
    Chester Carlisle (Business man)  
    Bob Mascagno (Dance specialty)  
    Italia DeNublia (Dance specialty)  
    Byron Foulger (Ticket agent)  
    Bert Roach (Fat man)  
    Joan Barclay (Chorus girl)  

Summary: Engaged song and dance team Frankie Foster and Stanley Benson take their act to Broadway, but when ticket sales are insufficient to support the show, Frankie decides to fly to Washington, D.C. to ask Mr. Bradley, the trustee of her father's estate, for her inheritance. Upon discovering that the flight to Washington is full, the Professor, Frankie's friend and fellow performer, tells the ticket agent that Frankie is married secretly to war hero Johnny Pearson and must fly to Washington to see her husband receive a medal. The hoax works, and Frankie is issued a ticket under the name of Mrs. Pearson. At the Washington airport, she is met by a chauffeur, who drives her to a hotel, where she is greeted as Mrs. Pearson and ushered to her room. Later that night, Johnny returns to his hotel room and is surprised to find Frankie sleeping in his bed. After Frankie wakes up and begins to scream upon finding a man in her room, Johnny thinks that an innocent mistake has been made and aware that there is a shortage of hotel rooms in the city, offers to sleep on the couch. In the morning, Frankie visits Mr. Bradley, and after he denies her request for the money, she hitchhikes back to New York. There, newspaper headlines heralding Frankie's marriage to a war hero have resulted in a sell-out for the show. Upon discovering the reason for her sudden popularity, Frankie intends to tell the audience the truth, but changes her mind when she realizes that it would kill the show. Meanwhile, Johnny reads about his "wife's" smash success and follows her to New York, and when Frankie returns home that night, she finds Johnny in her bed. Although Frankie tries to explain the situation to Johnny, he accuses her of using the war for her personal publicity campaign and pretends to fall asleep. The next morning, however, Johnny accepts Frankie's apology and agrees to leave after taking a shower. Johnny's plans are derailed when his mother, Mrs. Pearson, arrives at Frankie's door and announces that news of her son's marriage helped speed her recuperation from a serious illness. Concerned about his mother's health, Johnny asks Frankie to play along with the ruse. After Mrs. Pearson informs the newlyweds that she plans to stay for the entire week, however, Stanley, who lives in the same building as Frankie, climbs into her bedroom window. When Mrs. Pearson knocks on the bedroom door, Stanley hides under the bed, and after she leaves, he escorts Johnny down the fire escape and into his apartment. The next day, pictures of the newlyweds are plastered over the front page, prompting the Professor to suggest that they end the hoax by getting married and then having the marriage annuled. Frankie and Johnny follow the Professor's advice, and after a quick ceremony, Johnny signs a document consenting to an annulment and hands it to Frankie. Frankie, who has fallen in love with Johnny, breaks into tears and runs out the front door and into Mrs. Pearson. After Johnny informs his mother that he is leaving on a speaking tour and that he and Frankie have decided to separate, Mrs. Pearson tries to reconcile the couple by telling her son that Frankie is pregnant. When Johnny, who has fallen in love with Frankie, finds a note to her from Stanley addressed to "my wife," he thinks that Frankie has married Stanley. After the show that night, Stanley senses that Frankie has fallen in love with Johnny and releases her from their engagement. Shortly afterward, Johnny, thinking that Frankie is pregnant with Stanley's baby, bursts into the dressing room, slugs Stanley, and storms out the door. After completing his speaking tour, Johnny returns to Washington and receives a letter from his mother explaining the whole situation. Johnny asks the hotel operator to contact Frankie, and when she answers the phone, she tells Johnny that she is in love with him and has torn up their annulment. In response, Johnny says that he is packing his bags to come to her, but when he opens the door to his bedroom, he finds Frankie already in his bed, waiting for him. 

Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.  
Distribution Company: RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.  
Director: John H. Auer (Dir)
  James Casey (Asst dir)
Producer: John H. Auer (Prod)
  Sid Rogell (Supv prod)
Writer: Lawrence Kimble (Scr)
  Maurice Tombragel (Story)
  Hal Smith (Story)
  Jack Scholl (Story)
Photography: Russell Metty (Dir of photog)
Art Direction: Albert S. D'Agostino (Art dir)
  Al Herman (Art dir)
Film Editor: Harry Marker (Ed)
Set Decoration: Darrell Silvera (Set dec)
  Emile Kuri (Set dec)
Costumes: Renie (Gowns)
Music: C. Bakaleinikoff (Mus dir)
  Leigh Harline (Mus)
  Gene Rose (Orch arr)
Sound: Bailey Fesler (Rec)
  Terry Kellum (Re-rec)
Special Effects: Douglas Travers (Mont)
Dance: Charles O'Curran (Mus numbers staged by)
Make Up: Mel Berns (Makeup artist)
Country: United States

Songs: "When Romance Comes Along," "I Can See You Now," "One Night in Acapulco," "I Like a Man Who Makes Music" and "Did You Happen to Find a Heart?" words by Herb Magidson, music by Lew Pollack.
Composer: Herb Magidson
  Lew Pollack

Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. 11/8/1944 dd/mm/yyyy LP13004

PCA NO: 10056
Physical Properties: b&w:
  Sd: RCA Sound System

 
Genre: Comedy
Sub-Genre: with songs
 
Subjects (Major): Entertainers
  Impersonation and imposture
  Marriage--Secret
  Publicity stunts
  Ruses
 
Subjects (Minor): Engagements
  Hitchhiking
  Hotels
  Housing shortages
  Inheritance
  Marriage--Annulment
  Mothers and sons
  Mothers-in-law
  New York City--Broadway
  War heroes
  Washington (D.C.)

Note: The working titles of this picture were Here Comes the Bride and Cocktails for Two . According to a pre-production news item in HR , Leon Errol was initially slated to star in the picture. This film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Recording. 

Bibliographic Sources:   Date   Page
Box Office   29 Jul 1944.   
Daily Variety   26 Jul 44   p. 4.
Film Daily   27 Jul 44   p. 7.
Hollywood Reporter   21 Feb 44   p. 3.
Hollywood Reporter   17 Mar 44   p. 19.
Hollywood Reporter   14 Apr 44   p. 12.
Hollywood Reporter   26 Jul 44   p. 3.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest   24 Jun 44   p. 1959.
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest   29 Jul 44   p. 2017.
New York Times   7 Oct 44   p. 11.
Variety   16 Jul 44   p. 10.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.
 
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