Red Garters (1954) User Reviews

Visually Inventive but Disappointing

[wglenn · 5/10 · 4 May 2006]

Red Garters receives deserved attention for its interesting visuals. The spare, stagy sets mostly feature two-dimensional building fronts placed against a brilliant red backdrop, with a few artificial trees and shining yellow dirt thrown in for good measure. The film has a stripped-down, cartoon-like quality that's enhanced by the camera-work, editing, and a general acting style that tends towards caricature. Frank Tashlin, who went from directing Porky Pig shorts to Jerry Lewis movies, worked on an earlier version of the project for a year qand half, and Red Garters shows his influence. As a visual experiment, it's fairly fascinating.

Unfortunately, as a musical, it's not that great. In fact, Red Garters is a downright preachy and annoying film by the end. Rosemary Clooney gets to use her wonderful voice on several songs, and for that we can all be thankful. Her singing is the best part of the film. But as much as I like Rosemary as a vocalist, she wasn't the most vibrant on-screen personality and can't really carry an entire movie. She was probably better suited for the kind of supporting role she had in White Christmas. Worst of all, her character is the one who preaches the most, and any film that can turn Rosemary Clooney into a grating presence is not a film for me.

In terms of song and dance, Red Garters doesn't offer much that hasn't been done better, or much better, somewhere else. The Evans and Livingston songs are pleasant enough, but you probably won't remember any of them the next day. At least Rosemary sings them, along with Guy Mitchell, who had a good voice. Nick Castle's choreography pales in comparison to Michael Kidd's work on another "Western" musical from 1954, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. And it's hard not to compare them. The best dancing in the film may be Buddy Ebsen's meager 20 seconds, which is a shame because he's one few people in the film with any zing. Though the actors are all okay, there's little chemistry between them, and little pizazz to this movie.

There are some funny moments here and there, but I found myself laughing less and less as the film progressively hammered away at its "message." Edith Head does fairly well with the women's costumes, thankfully, since there's not much else to look at in this film. I'm still not sure what she was trying to do towards the end with Joanne Gilbert's black dress and calico apron thing, but at least it diverted my attention somewhat from the moralizing finale.

For those offended by Hollywood racist portrayals, the token "Injun" in this film – Minnie Redwing – will probably be unbearable.

Finally, the vaunted visuals of the film only hold for so long. The sparse sets are, well, sparse, and they gradually become boring and a bit claustrophobic. I never thought I would miss Brigadoon or Yolanda and the Thief, but, Lord, if I didn't find myself yearning for the Baroque details of other soundstage worlds.

Vintage Hollywood Musical

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 9 November 2018]

For a change of pace - If you sometimes enjoy watching a "slap-happy" musical from Hollywood's heyday - Then - "Red Garters" is a Technicolor dream-come-true that really kicks up its heels.

Released back in 1954 - "Red Garters" is a clean and wholesome Western spoof that is imaginatively presented in the stylized fashion of an extravagant Broadway musical production.

In this singin', dancin', and romancin' comedy - (singer) Rosemary Clooney certainly gets plenty of opportunity to belt out a number of tunes that were specially scored to showcase her excellent vocal talents.

All-in-all - "Red Garters" is a high-energy musical production that is sure to please.

RED GARTERS (George Marshall, 1954) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 27 September 2008]

I'd been interested in this musical for a long time in view of its famously stylized look – bright yellow scenery, disembodied sets – which, in hindsight, is still the film's major asset (though, curiously, it's taken for granted throughout and never once commented upon!). The cast is low-key but undeniably engaging: lovely Rosemary Clooney is delightful and surprisingly sensuous at times (although the title's promise of naughtiness is not carried through); Jack Carson is amusing as her loudmouth womanizing beau (atypically, he's the object of Clooney's affection throughout); Guy Mitchell is the gauche stranger hero looking for his crook brother's murderer – simply because the Code Of the West, whom everyone takes off his hat to (which, actually, reminds me of a very funny Tex Avery cartoon!), demands it – and who falls for Carson's sheltered ward; and Gene Barry(!) as the archetypal Latin lover who strikes up an unlikely partnership with Mitchell (while, naturally, having his own romantic complications over the daughter of a judge from out-of-town played by veteran Reginald Owen).

Frank Faylen – emerging as the real villain of the piece – is typically weaselly, while Buddy Ebsen appears briefly as a bartender (but who still gets his own specialty number and is involved in an amusing fade-out gag); besides, there's resistible (but not particularly intrusive) comedy relief courtesy of a squaw character. After a funny introduction, too, Mitchell's horse – who hates its own species and really thinks itself human! – is simply forgotten about for the rest of the film. There are a couple of nice spoofs of barroom brawls and duels, but rather too many ensemble dance routines which don't really add anything new to the fold. The songs, while not especially memorable, are nonetheless fine – ironic and intimate as the case may be…but the plot itself is rather blah. The whole, then, is somehow less than the sum of its parts – if still highly enjoyable, even endearing; in retrospect, it's a pity that RED GARTERS has been overshadowed by other contemporaneous Western musicals such as ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1950), CALAMITY JANE (1953) and OKLAHOMA! (1955).

Clooney, who also co-starred in WHITE Christmas (1954), later ballooned into a really fat lady and is nowadays perhaps best-known as George Clooney's aunt; for eclectic film buffs, however, she is also Mrs. Jose' Ferrer and Mrs. Dante Di Paolo (from Mario Bava's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE [1964]). Incidentally, George Marshall was the ideal director for this Western musical spoof – having previously directed DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939) and FANCY PANTS (1950), and later still the color remake of DESTRY (1954) and THE SHEEPMAN (1958).

"Knock yer socks off Technicolor, pardner!"

[gregcouture · 25 May 2003]

Though the bright, almost garish hues of nearly everything in this musical spoof of the western genre might look like it, this one was not produced in VistaVision (as is erroneously stated in another comment), Paramount's "High-Fidelity" motion picture process which didn't make its debut until several months later with the release of "White Christmas" starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen and Rosemary Clooney.

Rosemary has center stage in this one and, though the songs aren't up to Irving Berlin's standards in the later hit, she holds her own against Guy Mitchell's vigorous attempts to upstage her. The overall tone is a bit on the bawdy side but one thing's "fer shure, pardner!", those people behind the Technicolor cameras were given free rein (and probably a pretty hefty budget) to create a look that defines the term: "primary colors." It's not for those who prefer a muted palette or anything subtle about any aspect of their entertainment. As I recall, the ever-prudish Legion of Decency objected to various "suggestive" elements in this one, including costuming and some song lyrics, such as a line about "Try(ing) to be a mother without a man!" (or something to that effect.) Yep! "Red Garters" is definitely one-of-a-kind and I'm hard put to recall anything that attempts to duplicate its uniquely artificial look and its very lively take on the cliches of Hollywood's version of the Old West.

thin plot: light and spirited though

[shortibird17 · 7/10 · 18 January 2007]

Its true, the plot is very thin. However this allows a viewer to focus on the dance numbers intricately woven into the rest of the film. Also, its star, who was, in fact at the peak of her first career, Rosemary Clooney,always helped lift the script when she comes on screen. Although the costumes are beautiful( designed by the famed Edith Head )the sets are bland, made that way to make it look like a smart Broadway production. The synopsis on the back of the cover is wrong, saying that Calaveras Kate tries to make Jason Carberry jealous with her involvement with Reb Randall. In fact, she tries to stop Reb and Rafael from killing each other and brings law and order to the county. Its a great movie, for all Rosie fans to experience...

Leers for the girls, Cheers for the sets, Jeers for the formulatic plot...

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 13 December 2013]

You know you're in for a unique film experience when the opening musical number is followed by a dozen or so garters flying into the air to spell out the film's title. The very svelte Rosemary Clooney is truly a looker as the leading heroine, a feisty dance hall diva who only has eyes for the town's oblivious sheriff (the hammy Jack Carson) while playing silent matchmaker for some of the town's other residents. The basic plot surrounds a stranger in town (Guy Mitchell) who is trying to find the killer of his brother whom he believes is the stereotypical Latin Lothario (Gene Barry). It's believed from the beginning that Mitchell is the good guy because he wears all light colored clothes while Barry wears basically all black. Mitchell and Barry also fight over Carson's innocent ward (Patricia Crowley) until the prissy Joanne Gilbert arrives with her judge uncle (Reginald Owen) who is intent on bringing law and order to Limbo County.

A mixed bag of stylized sets, songs great and weak and stereotypical characters spouting trite dialog, "Red Garters" is still a fun viewing experience. Clooney gives her best film performance as the golden hearted saloon performer, singing the film's two best songs given to her as solos. "Man and Woman", a duet between her and Mitchell, is basically a retread of "Annie Get Your Gun's" "Anything You Can Do" and the obnoxious "I Can Do Without You" from "Calamity Jane", while the energetic "Lady Killer" is the film's big dance number. Of the cast, only Cass Daley's Native American is a bit hard to take, her obviously bronzed make-up and stereotypical behavior sometimes obnoxiously over the top. Film viewers will be surprised to see a singing and dancing Buddy Ebsen as the bartender, probably tapping his toes for the last time on the big screen. Crowley and Gilbert's characters are almost indistinguishable, Gilbert perhaps more noticeable because her prim character is presented more comically, almost a parody, spouting out judgmental lines like "Must be the mating season!" while viewing the goings on in the small community.

Far from a failure, "Red Garters" is best with its reds and blues rather than the pastels of yellows which sometime overshadow the action. It looks like a view of what Broadway audiences might have been seeing in 1954 and at times comes off closer to an elaborate television special. Coming from the direction of George Marshall who directed many of the Bob Hope comedies (including "The Paleface"), this is certainly much more than a curio that may not have started a trend but definitely contains many effective moments.

A very odd musical...

[AlsExGal · 5/10 · 25 July 2023]

...and the opening credits say as much - but as a one of a kind it's entertaining. The sets are all done in primary colors and are highly stylized reminiscent of the UPA cartoons of the time, which had a considerable impact on art and design. They're more like theater sets than movie scenery.

The plot, such as it is, centers on Rosemary Clooney (who is very good) trying to convince a typically overbearing Jack Carson to marry her. We're expected to believe she would be more entranced by the beefy Carson over the handsome Guy Mitchill, who is a cowboy passing through town. The Jay Livingston and Ray Evans songs are lively if not memorable. Gene Barry does manage to enact a somewhat plausible Mexican. At any rate, he's far more convincing than Cass Daley as a Native American woman who has nothing to do with the story at all. She is covered in very dark "Indian" makeup and spends the film behaving like some kind of nut...it's an appalling performance.

Under-rated, unique western musical

[funkyfry · 7/10 · 13 July 2006]

You've never seen anything quite like "Red Garters".

Not that it's the greatest movie of the 50s, or the greatest movie musical of the 50s, or even the greatest western movie musical of the 50s (that would be "Annie Get Your Gun" or "Calamity Jane"). But the visual style of this film is quite unusual. There is even an introductory card at the beginning of the film basically warning you not to expect "realism" in the film. What we get is a set back lit with red, purple, yellow colors and with very bright costumes and objects in the foreground. It kind of makes "Star Trek" look bland by comparison -- basically the ultimate in Paramount color exploitation.

The element that I was most pleased with was the script. I've only seen it once so I can't comment specifically, but I just liked all the little details and the "business" they gave a lot of the actors. For example there was the scene where Jack Carson (recognizable from Capra's "Arsenic and Old Lace") kept tipping his hat to the girls walking by while Rosemary Clooney was trying to talk to him. Stuff like that is great, there isn't a minute of the movie that feels stagnant or stale. It's a very kinetic script, and the direction matches. I see that the writer Michael Fessier worked on some of the better Astaire films like "You Were Never Lovelier".

The only weak element in the film basically is the music. In my opinion it was rather sub-standard when compared with what you would hope for from a Broadway musical or even a Hollywood musical. The title song was rousing, there were a few other decent songs but on the whole it felt like TV music and not show music. Rosemary Clooney has a nice voice, I know some people who are very big fans of hers, but in this film her voice came off as fairly middle of the road, though I liked her screen presence. I think it took an awful long time in the movie for the good dancing to start, for a while I was thinking this was one of those musicals with decent singers but no dancers. Of course Buddy Ebsen is in the film, he's one of my favorites, but he only got a few dancing scenes. Even though they were sparing with the Ebsen, it was great stuff.

Speaking of which, it's an interesting aspect of the film -- I know this is the 50s and certainly the film wouldn't fit a modern criteria for "liberated" but it does fit into that western sub-genre with the "all knowing saloon gal" who kind of controls all the men in town without their knowing it. She was perfect for the role.

All in all, a pleasing film that I wouldn't mind showing to children. That said, the quality of the music is of the type that would make it appealing to children. The music doesn't advance to the level of sophistication that the script and dialog reaches. We have a script that is very ironic and "tongue in cheek" and basically spoofs not only Westerns but Hollywood in general, but it's matched by a rather pedestrian score that seems to be straightforward with no irony whatsoever. It's one thing that keeps the film from being "great" in my opinion, but this is one of the "all-time goods". Definitely worth viewing for fans of musicals.

It goes beyond camp!

[MOscarbradley · 3/10 · 18 July 2019]

It has to be seen to be believed and even then the chances are you won't believe it. This 'spoof-western-musical' is positively surreal, an explosion of Technicolour that announces itself with the title-card that 'life should be more like the movies' and then proceeds to be neither like life nor the movies; you might even call it Brechtian. The director of "Red Garters" was George Marshall but this is as far removed from "Destry Rides Again" as it's possible to get. The songs are by Jay Livingstone and Ray Evans so you know what to expect, (jaunty, heel-kickers with a few ballads thrown in), and the cast includes Rosemary Clooney, Jack Carson and Guy Mitchell, who should have stuck to the recording studio. It's awful but it's self-consciously awful; shamelessly, proudly awful. Did the producers really think there was an audience for this? Of course, Clooney and Mitchell were big recording stars at the time so perhaps it was aimed squarely at their fans. It certainly goes beyond camp and I don't mean in a good way.

Ham handed satire

[Reb9 · 6/10 · 18 June 1999]

Interesting and innovative settings and an excellent cast can't save this sophomoric satire. Clooney has a couple of nice songs and proves that she can act a little. Guy Mitchell has a couple of nice songs and proves that he was never meant to be an actor. Worth one viewing for the visuals but rent, don't buy!

Don't Forget the Soundtrack Album

[osbornekjj · 5/10 · 7 March 2010]

Red Garters certainly is a peculiar movie. I liked it as a child (where I didn't understand all of it), and not so much as an adult. It's a novelty, to be sure. The best part of this is not the film but the soundtrack. Anyone liking the movie should have the original album. The songs were released on a 10" Columbia red-label LP. This is the best presentation of the music and it really flatters the movie. Don't know about the re-issues and CDs; they often "improve" the sound by adding or removing re-verb, or altering the mix. Find the 10" LP on e-Bay and get the best. As an example, the song "Dime and a Dollar" in the movie is sung as a throwaway, too fast and offhand. On the record, it's presented much slower, more in the cowboy-song rhythm that does it justice. All the songs on the album are better in this kind of way.

MUSICAL WESTERN

[DEMILLE-2 · 8/10 · 5 December 1998]

One of the most uniques musicals ever made, Paramounts "Red Garters" with Rosmary Clooney, Guy Mitchell, Jack Carter and Gene Barry was made entirely on inside sets and the results are spectacular. Director George Marshall has surrounded his stars with splashes of colorful sand, trees and rock and a picture perfect all white town that has to be seen to be believed. The set design was nominated for an Academy Award and should have won hands down. The songs were written by Oscar winners Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. It's a rootin' tootin' western funfest made in Vistavision and it shows on your TV.

Fun, stagey Western operetta/spoof

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 25 December 2021]

In 1872, a jovial-but-formidable stranger (Guy Mitchell) rides into Limbo County, California, on an unknown mission where he engages in contention, friendship, romance and... potentially deadly gunfights. The cast includes the likes of Rosemary Clooney, Jack Carson, Gene Barry and Frank Faylen.

"Red Garters" (1954) is a colorful set-bound Western parody/musical. It's like "The Wizard of Oz" in the cinematic Old West, but without the fantastical elements and a focus on romance and quick-draw silliness, etc.

With a name like "Red Garters" you know one of the highlights is the women. Other than perky Rosemary Clooney (George Clooney's aunt), there's Pat Crowley (Susan), Joanne Gilbert (Sheila) and the several beautiful showgirls who perform inside and outside the saloon.

The movie runs 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was shot at Paramount Studios, Hollywood.

GRADE: B-

Stars And Garters

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 26 December 2020]

A one-off that never caught on but worth an 'e' for effort. Helmer George Marshall already had one spoof western under his belt in Destry Rides Again and now he spoofs two genres with one stone adding musicals to the mix. At the time - early fifties - both genres were still putting bums on seats, in fact that very same year MGM released one of the finest 'western' musical hybrids in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers so arguably both genres were ripe for satirising and it's nobody's fault if it doesn't quite come off. The BLM Brigade will go into spasm when they get a load of Minnie Redwing and Gene Barry's Gilbert Rowland has to be seen to be believed. Worth a look to see what might have been.

Looks like a movie version of 1950s Live TV

[bekayess · 4/10 · 3 May 2006]

This Paramount version/ripoff of OKLAHOMA!/ANNIE GET YOUR GUN/CALAMITY JANE isn't all that unusual or innovative. The marketing and intro comments may be there to salvage what is really a pretty bad movie musical western shot on a soundstage and like a live TV show. I don't find the use of the background cyclorama, lit in various scenes with yellow, or pink, or red, or....all that innovative. As noted, it looks more to me like a movie that was produced on a TV budget: All soundstage, with minimal sets backed by the lighted cycs! (Compare to NEW FACES (OF 1952). The actors come off reasonably well, though. And this style was much better realized when Paramount shot LI'L ABNER in 1959. Of couorse, this movie suggests the often repeated question: "what were they thinking?"

Worst movie of all time!!!!!!

[bob-3038 · 1/10 · 10 August 2007]

I will never forget the night I saw this movie. We were on a submarine on patrol in the North Atlantic and this was the scheduled movie of the evening. We ALL gave up after the second reel. They did not even try to show it at the mid-night showing. Opting for a rerun instead...... This is all I really have to say but they have this stupid rule that my comment must contain ten lines. I'm not supposed to pad the comment with random words so I will just continue to ramble until I get my ten lines of BS. I could not find George Goble listed in the credits but I remember him in the movie. The sining was terrible and the songs even worse.

I liked it

[rdfarnham · 10/10 · 27 August 2011]

Westerns were huge box office at the time this was made as were musicals. Red Garters was designed as a masterful spoof of both genres. There was the good guy, Reb Randall (Guy Mitchell), the saloon singer, Calaveras Kate (Rosemary Clooney), the OK but not all the way good guy, Rafael Moreno (Gene Barry), the blustering blow-hard Mayor, Jason Carberry (Jack Carson), the token "injun", Minnie Redwing (Cass Daley), the villain, Billy Bucket (Frank Faylen), and the two love interests played by Pat Crowley and Joanne Gilbert. Toss in every cliché from every western movie you have seen (all played straight but tongue in cheek) and a couple of decent, though not highly memorable songs, and you had a fun film. This is not a movie to be taken seriously and it spoofs itself as much as anything. The real star is, of course, Rosie Clooney who was in full voice and at the peak of her career. A great movie? No. A fun movie? Yes. As it says at the beginning of the film "They said that movies should be more like life, but a wise man said, 'No, life should be more like the movies'".

Fine Art

[harrysdixonjr · 10/10 · 8 April 2011]

You might like to see "Destry Rides Again" first to see a similar satire of a western in black-and-white with a more realistic feel. This movie is a scathing and witty attack on the macho western and on the Cold War.

But if you are not interested in seeing what can be done with color, sets and costumes if one ignores realism, don't bother. The movie is an experiment in kinetic art and is fascinating for those who want to see what can be done with color, costumes and sets.

Again, the production numbers are fascinating if one wants to see how one can fill the screen with moving colors.

Part of the comedy comes from the fact that the movie is the reverse of The Taming of the Shrew. It is the Taming of the Macho Fool.

It was a parody

[drdotson2000 · 8/10 · 3 June 2008]

It was good to see that a few of the commented above realized that this was not a musical, not a western,and not a rip-off. It was a spoof, a parody in musical format. Both westerns and musicals were really big back then.

When we watched it we laughed our heads off. But we were submersed in the culture and understood the jokes. This movie took things we had noticed and giggled at in other movies. "The Code of the West", the guns that never needed reloading, the good guy never wearing black, and macho posturing that led to fight after fight with never a bruise were just a few of the things on which we had commented to one another while watching the reel McCoy.

I was never bothered by the "injun" stereotype in this movie because it was a spoof of the other movies. Check out some of the stuff Bing Crosby did if you want horrible stereotypes. If you were bothered by the "injun" stereotype you almost got the point.

A Must for RC Fans!!

[singjohn · 8/10 · 16 January 2006]

Rosemary Clooney was without a doubt at the peak of her young beauty and vocal skill when "Red Garters" was made. If you're an RC fan like me, then "RG" will be like a box of valentine candy for you. Much has been said about the minimalist Technicolor sets and "stagey" feel of this movie. It was surely intentional not only to spoof the western genre which was HUGE at the time. But I'm sure also it was intended to showcase the performances of the actors. Many surprises abound:

1.) Gene Barry's remarkable dancing ability. 2.) Joanne Gilbert (a beautiful Fairuza Balk look-alike) 3.) The adorable Pat Crowley who went on to fame on TV in "Please Don't Eat the Daisies". 4.) Buddy Ebsen's charming scarecrow-like dance number. 5.) Hunky Guy Mitchell ('nuff said!) 6.) Jack Carson's delivery that seems somewhere between Clark Gable and W.C. Fields. 7.) The Agnes DeMille-style choreography by Nick Castle. 8.) Gorgeous costumes by Edith Head (who else?)

Yes, it's corny. Yes, it seems like a ripoff of Oklahoma at times. Yes, the Native American racial stereotypes are horrendous!

Truly this film is about Rosie. When she looks directly into the camera and sings her heart out, it is truly a sight to behold!