The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946) User Reviews

Pleasant trifle...typical Warner Bros. formula musical...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 18 December 2004]

While THE TIME, THE PLACE AND THE GIRL never rises above being a pleasant little "let's put on a show" musical, it does feature a few sprightly song numbers that are easy on the eyes and ears--and all of the performances are genial and appealing.

Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson are ideal as show biz guys willing to put something over on Martha Vickers in order to get backing for their enterprise. Vickers comes across as even more appealing than she was in THE BIG SLEEP as the nymphomaniacal daughter. And for good measure, there's the always vivacious Janis Paige doing her standard musical comedy thing with finesse. Donald Woods does a standout job as the stuffy tutor of musical pupil Vickers.

Comic relief from Florence Bates and S.Z. Sakall is a big help--especially since the script itself is none too witty. But what really makes the film a special delight are the handsome production values which went into this formula musical and two outstanding songs that are given first-rate treatment: A GIRL FROM CALICO and A RAINY NIGHT IN RIO.

If you like backstage musicals, you'll enjoy this minor delight.

Color, more than Paramount did for Bing and Bob

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 27 February 2017]

Warner Brothers did for Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson something that Paramount until the Road To Bali never did for Bing and Bob. The Time, The Place And The Girl was done in some really nice technicolor and they gave the musical numbers by Arthur Schwartz and Leo Robin full production numbers. They could do this because a great deal of the film has a nightclub setting.

A nightclub setting that Morgan and Carson own and are trying to open. But they are next door to S.Z. Sakall and Florence Bates and their townhouse. Sakall is a symphony conductor and their granddaughter Martha Vickers is studying grand opera. Funny we hear no operatic notes from her.

What to do but send the old lady killer Morgan into action. But he really falls for Vickers. I think you can figure the rest out.

The musical numbers are not as elaborate as Busby Berkeley stuff in the Thirties, but are more elaborate than Road films numbers which only had the Crosby/Hope personalities to put them across and they certainly didn't do a bad job.

One interesting bit of casting is that of Donald Woods as Sakall's business manager who plays it like Edward Everett Horton and threatens to close the whole club down and ruin Morgan and Carson. A change of pace for Woods who was never quite a leading man, but was a chameleon like actor who fit into many characters without a bit of personality usually. Here he borrows Horton's.

Dennis's light tenor and Carson's antics are always entertaining.

"I don't want the best, I want you!"

[sabata · 7/10 · 24 January 1999]

A very funny movie. Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson are two guys who want to put on a musical, but they need a backer. Also hindering their plans is an orchestra conductor (S.Z. Sakall) who lives next door and doesn't like their "noise". Morgan simply has the conductor's daughter (Martha Vickers) - who is also an opera singer - fall in love with him. Then everyone gets along fine. Lots of good one-liners - Sakall gets a lot of the laughs. One of my favorite actresses, Janis Paige, also appears, as one of the show's stars (and Carson's girlfriend, if I remember correctly). There's one number that Morgan sings in blackface and there's a big production number with all the dancing girls dressed as cows that has just got to be seen to be believed! The only time I was bored was during the tap dancing - I have trouble watching that. Keep your ears clear for the best line, spoken by Vickers to Morgan - "I don't want the best, I want you!". I could say something similar to this film.

The songs make it

[marcslope · 6/10 · 8 October 2006]

A boilerplate Warners mid-'40s musical, but a triumph for the Great American Songbook, this backstager has some gorgeous Arthur Schwartz melodies married to Leo Robin lyrics wittier than anything in the script. The Oscar-nominated "Oh, But I Do" is one of Schwartz' loveliest melodies ever, and the little-known "A Thousand Dreams" isn't far behind. There's "A Gal in Calico," which once it gets in your head simply won't leave (it's been in mine for days) and "A Rainy Night in Rio," part of the South American craze then hitting the Hit Parade. There's "A Solid Citizen of the Solid South," done in grimace-inspiring blackface, but actually a pretty good number if you can get past that. All are "diegetic" numbers, meaning they're part of the stage entertainment in the film rather than related to plot or character, and they're backed by luscious Warners orchestrations, which were brassier and jazzier than what the arrangers turned out at Paramount or 20th or MGM. To get to these goodies you have to sit through a lot of inconsequential backstage plot, not to mention the tiresome jowl-shaking of S.Z. Sakall and the badly dated comedy of Jack Carson. But there's Martha Vickers, pretty and appealing, and Janis Paige, always reliable for sex appeal and a tart way with a good line. And Dennis Morgan, a Warners staple in the '40s, who had more presence and testosterone than most of the singing-capon tenors movie musicals of the day typically turned out. Carson and Morgan were sort of Warners' Hope and Crosby and were teamed many times. This is one of their more tolerable efforts, thanks almost exclusively to the efforts of Messrs. Schwartz and Robin.

a technicolor remake of a 1920's movie

[Dunham16 · 6/10 · 28 February 2017]

A two hour technicolor musical featuring romantic comedy storyboard cultural preferences the dialogue and storyline seem among the weaker of those surviving. Cuddles Szakall and the less known today Florence Bates play their familiar comic shtick of the busybody older gent and his controlling wife with perfect coming timing, one of the best aspects of the film. Dennis Morgan who often poses and croons and Jack Carson, who often gets into trouble and clowns around play familiar roles when co-cast though this time in one of the weaker plots. The formula puttin' on a show plot of the era does not work as smoothly as it does in other films with the three female leads none today remembered each playing stock characters in the formula plot. Well technically crafted in technicolor it lacks the direction or interest maintaining format of its competitors.

Pleasant Musical, But Little More

[dougdoepke · 4 March 2017]

Pleasant musical, colorfully produced, but with more plot and talk than necessary for a musical. The plot's well worn—the guys and gals want to put on a musical in spite of a couple of killjoys (Bates & Woods). Seems the money needed for the show keeps getting passed around between good guys and not-so-good guys. Anyway, count on Morgan and Carson to get things right. The musical numbers are eye-catching, especially the rope-twirling "Calico", along with tap-dancing whirlwinds the Condo Brothers. I expect one reason for the talk is the large number of featured players, from Morgan to Bates. Each name player has to get enough dialogue to maintain status and pay-rate.

This is still early in the Morgan-Carson pairing, so fans may be disappointed they don't get more shtick. Nonetheless, their chemistry shows promise. And, of course, there's Cuddles Sakall doing his ain't-I-adorable bit, which of course he is. But the real surprise, to me at least, is noir vamp Martha Vickers. None of that here; instead, she shines in a sparkly role I would never have suspected. Too bad she never rose to the level her talent clearly warranted. For those fans of 40's women's big hats, catch Paige's menacing flower combo early on. I'm surprised the actress kept her head.

Anyway, it's an eye-catching 100-minutes, and if not memorable, at least entertaining.

Pleasant musical piece of fluff from post War Warner Brothers

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 3 March 2017]

I watched this because it had a middling rating on IMDb and yet was nominated for at least one Oscar because it was on Turner Classic Movies' 31 Days of Oscar. I always watch these and then look afterwards at what nominations the film got to see if I correctly guessed. This time I came up empty.

It's a good film to watch if you are recovering from a nervous breakdown because there is little to no real conflict of consequence going on. Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson - the Hope and Crosby of Warner Brothers - are going to open up a club next door to the home of opera singer Victoria Cassel and symphonic conductor Ladislaus Cassel, granddaughter and grandfather, played by Martha Vickers and S.Z. Sakall, respectively. I guess we can talk about the bizarre zoning that would allow a nightclub next to a mansion another time. Their manager (Donald Woods sporting a ridiculous looking mustache) tells Morgan and Carson that he will have them shut down because they are hindering his clients' ability to practice their kind of music in peace.

So Morgan and Carson invite Victoria and her grandfather over to listen to "their kind of music" and they admit there is nothing wrong with it. The real instigators of the trouble are the manager and the grandfather's wife, an ex opera singer herself, so the club is still shut down over the ignored protests of grandfather and Victoria.

The rest of the film is about Morgan and Carson attempting to "put on a show" instead of opening their club. Of course there are complications. Vicki and Morgan's character begin a romance of sorts, but Morgan tells her he is not the marrying kind. That issue is never settled by the way. There is a gold digging woman who is the image of Scarlet Johansson who is either helping or hindering the show financially depending on whether or not she thinks Morgan's character is sweet on her versus her desire take a Texas oilman (Alan Hale) for all he is worth. The eternal struggle of muscles versus money. So the main issues are will the show ever get enough financial backing to open and how will that happen, and will the trouble-making manager, who seems to be doubly threatened since he seems to have a thing for Vicki, thwart Vicki's involvement in the show and her involvement with Morgan.

One weird thing about the music - it turns out the film was nominated for best song for a very forgettable number. In fact, all of the numbers are pretty forgettable with the exception of the very hummable "Rainy Night in Rio". Also, all through this film, there is supposed to be a running argument about swing/jazz music versus symphonic music, with the swing music being what the show is supposed to be about and why the original nightclub was closed in the first place. The "show" that is the creation of Carson's and Morgan's characters consists of what I would call pseudo-symphonic music and production numbers tame enough for any garden variety MGM musical at the time.

Summarizing - I wasn't at all impressed by the music, although Dennis Morgan's voice is always pleasant to listen to. So it's both Morgan and Carson doing their usual comic schtick with Morgan being the smooth one and Carson being the cruder and more forward of the two that is the draw along with the well intentioned S.Z. Sakall also being pretty amusing.

WB musical comedy? Where's the laughs.

[raskimono · 6/10 · 24 September 2003]

What can be said about this WB boxoffice hit of 1946? The word inconsequential comes to mind. The formula for the WB musical is in full effect here, slight, fluffy story, plain and unsubtle vaudeville pastiche and affable leading men with slightly jarring crooning voices, a couple of hit songs by the top writers of the day and the best of them in the WB movies, impressively photographed, lit and well executed musical numbers to match the songs. If this is your cup of tea, so be it. Carson and Morgan do have a Crosby/hope chemistry and were supposed to be WB answer to the Road movies. They made a couple more but the success waned creating the end of the team.

Standard WB Musical

[leslieadams · 4/10 · 17 December 2004]

The beautiful "Oh, But I Do," is the Arthur Schwartz theme song of this Warners entry, with "Calico" and "Rainy Night in Rio" completing the tuneful bill.

These fine numbers are given full production numbers to their credit, which are colorful and pleasing.

There's nothing wrong with the casting either, headed by the lovable Dennis Morgan and versatile Jack Carson.

If only the scripting were better. It's really quite stock writing, with formula lines and situations--nothing special.

Don't know about you, but having "blackface numbers" pop up from nowhere for laughs is increasingly irksome in these period pieces.

All in all, a slight pastiche in the WB stock company folio.

A rather standard Warner musical...with Cuddles Sakall!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 31 August 2022]

"The Time, the Place and the Girl" is a pretty typical sort of Warners musical, though it's improved with the presence of one of Hollywood's most beloved character actors, S. Z. 'Cuddles' Sakall. Without him, the film probably isn't worth your time.

The film begins with a nasty stuffed shirt announcing to the nightclub located next door that they must stop immediately. Well, they can't, as they are a nightclub...and so the guy somehow has the club shut down. Does this make any sense? Nope. Well, it soon turns out that the guy is the manager for Vickie and she's being readied for a career as an opera star. And, the manager and Vickie's grandmother are bullies who make her do what they demand. Additionally, Vickie's adorable grandfather (Sakall) is bullied by them as well. Now considering Vickie is super-talented and her Grandfather is paying the bills, the fact that the manager and grandmother bully them makes little sense.

When Grandma and the manager are away, Grandpa and Vickie visit the nightclub...and they have a marvelous time. Soon Vickie is in love with the owner (Dennis Moore) and she loves enjoying a bit of freedom. But when the bullies return, they discover that the pair were out having fun (oh, lord no!!!) and they manage to completely close the nightclub. How? I have no idea.

Later, the owner and his buddy (Jack Carson) have a brainstorm...to make a Broadway show with their music, Vickie's talent and Grandpa's money. Of course, this doesn't go exactly as planned...but by the end, it naturally all seems to work.

The film has a lot of musical stage numbers. I personally felt they were a problem as they often completely derailed the plot....but this IS a musical after all. However, I must warn you that the first big musical number is awful...complete with all the singers in black-face! The other numbers aren't so much offensive as glossy and dull.

As for the story, I enjoyed the characters and felt it needed more story and less fancy song and dance numbers....but again, it IS a musical. Overall, a decent enough film but one that seemed too glossy, too musical and features a few one-dimensional characters (such as the manager and Grandma) and as a result, lacks heart...making it more a time-passer instead of a must-see film.

SZSuxballz sinks another one

[ArtVandelayImporterExporter · 1/10 · 25 April 2023]

Is there a more obnoxious comic relief in Hollywood history than SZSuxalot?

I mean, granted, it's stiff competition: Gabby Hayes, toothless Walter Brennan, Falsetto Chill Wills, Bart Giamatti's twerp dwarf of a kid, Jane Darwell, Oirish Barry Fitzgerald, screeching Elsa Lanchester, Easter Ham Edmond O'Brien, One-Note Eve Arden, everybody who ever used a Brooklyn accent in movies, and Robin Williams in Disney cartoons. That's just a taste.

And yet, SZSuxoxygen is the worst of all: jittery, double-chinned, ugly, half-wit and an indecipherable pan-Euro accent that is neither here nor there nor at all interesting. He's not funny. He's not enlightening. He's not entertaining. He's just an all-time movie ruiner.

Which is too bad b/c the cast features Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan. Easy to see why those two cats were so popular in their day. Couple of good lookin' dames in this one too.

I would like the next UCLA Film Library project to create edited cuts of every movie featuring SZSuxballz and then have TCM run them in a Sux-free marathon one night/week to see whether the movies have anything to offer.

Delighful Bit of Fluff

[rube2424 · 9/10 · 30 April 2003]

For what it is, and it is simply a well crafted ball of fluff, THE TIME,THE PLACE and the GIRL is a delight. From Dennis Morgan crooning to Jack Carson clowning there are worse ways to spend a few hours. Best though is the Arthur Schwartz score with RAINY NIGHT IN RIO and A GAL IN CALICO rolling around in your brain days after the film is over. Check your brain at the door and sit back and relax. THE TIME THE PLACE AND THE GIRL is a real old fashioned charmer!!!!!!!!!!

That woman in the pink T-shirt & flowers has 0 stage presence!

[imdb-25288 · 7/10 · 30 August 2022]

Not sure who she was to name her as an actress, but she came out with her face foundation so dark it was distracting and looked like she needed a good washing. Zero stage presence, who cast her and why? Makes you realize what they mean by the "It" factor and none of these performers have it. The colors are nice and the singing isn't half bad. But these performers are dull as the cliche of 'watching paint dry'.

Not even SZ Sakall can save this film. He is very awkward in this, doing his usual schtick. After he delivers his lines in his customary (and usually funny) manner, he has this awkward look on his face, seeking approval from his co-stars...that never comes. I guess he is only funny if he has good leading men and women (think Bogart and Natasha Henje). They don't give him any feedback and his antics fall flat.

Back to the woman in the pink T-shirt, blue skirt and too dark makeup: her female dancers come out and they're all wearing the dark makeup. What is going on? They look like they all need a good washing, did they put that on in the dark? Then the man comes out: he's outright wearing blackface! YIKES! Is that what the women were going for? They didn't have any other features painted on (nor hair) that would indicate this is what they were going for. There wasn't even a warning at the start. Shouldn't these films be rated BL or something to warn us?

The colors are very pretty, good cinematography and set decor. The costumes are rather mediocre. I had to remove several stars for the blackface and the inept leads (especially that woman!! But the men are dull too!) This is probably a 3/10 but the decor and colors deserve more stars, and it's very well filmed, some good cameramen they used, who never get any praised but without them, there would be no movie. To me, they're often more important than the scripts and writers.

One can't help but wonder if that woman was the only one who auditioned or maybe she was the best in the producer's sack? Your guess is as good as mine. It's fast paced, so that get another star. This could have been a success if Debbie Reynolds or Mitzi Gaynor would have played the lead, if they'd been old enough. Not bad but watch out for the female lead: she is dreadful. (Both girls are!)

Brilliant

[tinarojas-1 · 10/10 · 13 November 2004]

My Mother, Martha Vickers was in this wonderful movie , that I love to this day and still sing " Met a Gal In Calico"...I lost my mother Martha when I was 16 and now I will be 50 in June...so many moons ago but I can still get this movie to view at Eddie Brandts on Vineland and watch it and smile and still sing the songs from this wonderful movie....as it is her best I feel she has done....even better then the Big Sleep!....go and get it and enjoy!... This movie was never put on video but you can get it from Eddie Brandt on Vineland as long as you rent another movie...so if you are there then get my mothers other movie, " That Way with women" another great classic and then you get these two for free and just have to rent tow other movies..do it!...

A Beautiful Song-Filled Musical!

[steveareno · 9/10 · 27 March 2000]

This movie is excellent.The cast was wonderful..Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson,Janis Paige,Martha Vickers,S.Z. Sakall and more... WOW!!I especially noticed that Dennis Morgan looked very relaxed in this film.It seemed like he was having lots of fun!He always is excellent in movies with Jack Carson.They performed easily with each other because they were such good friends.It shows!! Janis Paige and Martha Vickers are very lovely and great actresses.My favorite parts in this film are the romantic scenes with Dennis and Martha and when Janis accidentally sprays Jack in the face with a bottle of seltzer.Dennis couldn't help but giggle in that scene!This movie is full of songs and very highly enjoyable!

1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 13 March 2017]

The most delightful musical with a very funny story-line despite the fact that S.Z. Sakall doesn't fracture the English language that much other than mispronouncing Philadelphia and saying from finish to start. Jack Carson, enjoyable here as always, is less subdued when it comes to comical farce.

A maestro with a heart, Sakall, wants to close down the night club next door to his home. His prim and proper daughter, Martha Vickers, wants more of life and invariably she meets up with Dennis Morgan. Morgan and Carson again prove that they were absolutely terrific together.

There are some wonderful dancing numbers along with the songs, particularly the opening of various loves on letter-named streets.

Donald Woods as Vickers' manager and Florence Bates, wife to Sakall, add to the fun with their stuffiness, though Bates yields at the end. Enjoyable fanfare.

A major treat for music lovers!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 22 September 2017]

Songs by Arthur Schwartz (music) and Leo Robin (lyrics): "I Happened To Walk Down First Street" (Carson, Morgan, Paige and Greene), "A Solid Citizen of the Solid South" (Carson and Paige), "Through a Thousand Dreams" (Morgan and Vickers, accompanied by Cavallaro), "A Gal in Calico" (Morgan, Carson, Paige, Vickers), "A Rainy Night in Rio" (Morgan, Carson, Paige, Vickers), "Oh, But I Do" (Morgan). Miss Vickers' singing voice dubbed by Sally Sweetland. Dances directed and staged by LeRoy Prinz. Music adapted by Frederick Hollander, arranged by Dudley Chambers, orchestrated and conducted by Ray Heindorf. Music director: Leo F. Forbstein.

Copyright 28 December 1946 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. A Warner Brothers-First National picture. New York opening at the Strand: 26 December 1946. U.S. release: 28 December 1946. U.K. release: 26 May 1947. Australian release: 22 January 1948 (sic). 9,483 feet. 105 minutes.

SYNOPSIS: A musical highbrow (well played by Donald Woods) tries to stop the next-door nightclub from putting on a show.

NOTES: "A Gal in Calico" was nominated for the year's Best Song award, but lost out to "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" from Song of the South.

COMMENT: Engagingly acted by all concerned (especially by the lovely Martha Vickers and gold-digging Angela Greene), this is a bright, colorful musical comedy with two standout songs: "A Gal in Calico" and "A Rainy Night in Rio".

The plot provides some amusing variations on the standard putting- on-a-show ploy and does tend to become a bit overloaded with material, presumably to ensure that all six of the principals (Morgan, Carson, Vickers, Paige, Sakall and Greene) enjoy a fair share of the action.

Intending viewers are warned, however, that S.Z. Sakall manages to figure in rather more than a strictly equitable shake. For instance, he's not just a spectator of the musical numbers, but also tries to conduct the orchestra (whilst getting dressed, yet). I thought he was entertaining, but if you're not particularly partial to S.Z.'s visual and aural shenanigans, better give this Place a miss.

On the other hand, everyone's favorite pianist (and mine), Carmen Cavallaro (later to win fame for his superlative dubbing for Tyrone Power in "The Eddy Duchin Story") is present both in person and on the sound track — and that is a major treat that surely no fan in his right senses would want to miss.

Nice costumes.

[gkeith_1 · 10/10 · 27 February 2017]

Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.

Nice costumes. In the large group dance scenes on stage, there is quite a beautiful rainbow of costuming. The Latin theme is apropos to the period, right after World War Two when audiences liked South American-type dance pastiches.

The stereotypes avail. I like Jack and Dennis films. This is one of the typical ones. Jack is the buffoon and sidekick, and Dennis is the ladies' man. As cowboys on stage, Jack carries the heavy equipment while Dennis croons on endlessly.

I don't like those stereotypes, but they happen a lot with Jack and Dennis.

Broke guys want to put on a show, and they find wealthy people to foot the bill. The wealthy people all of a sudden get thrifty, and trouble ensues. $30,000. Oh, my! That might be $300,000 today.

Classical music loving people get introduced to swing and jazz. They are having a hard time. Imagine in the mid nineteen fifties, ten years later, that their beloved swing and jazz get upended by that nasty little rock and roll.

Sakall is cute in his jammies. He gets all the best lines. Double-jointed checking account, indeed.

Lambie Pie has got some money. He is from the real Texas, not the fake one. He shows up during the theatrics of the phone call, to much hmmmmpf and hilarity. Lamb Chop even offers more money. Take it!