Amazon.co.uk Review
The 1944 musical
Cover Girl charts the story of a Brooklyn chorus girl (Rita Hayworth) who becomes a big star when she is put on a magazine cover. She is torn between a glittering Broadway career under the aegis of elderly sugar-daddy tycoon (Otto Kruger) and real life with the roughneck he-man choreographer (Gene Kelly) she really loves. Columbia were so intent on showing off their prime asset in this vehicle that Hayworth is sometimes in danger of being swamped by sheer production values and Charles Vidor's ever-so-slightly stuffy direction. However, gorgeous Technicolor and the even more gorgeous Rita make the creaking plot not only bearable but also sparkling. There are oddly unsentimental and unsettling flashbacks with Hayworth playing her character's turn-of-the-century grandmother offering a cut-down of the main story and energetic comedy support performances from Phil Silvers (who proves himself an unexpectedly adept dancer) and the fabulously hated cynic Eve Arden (not to mention the wonderfully-named Jinx Falkenberg). One stand-out performance is the Jerome Kern-Ira Gershwin duet ("Long Ago and Far Away") enlivening an otherwise so-so score (other tunes: "Make Way for Tomorrow", "Put Me to the Test", "Sure Thing", "That's the Best of All", "The Show Must Go On", "Who's Complaining?" and "Poor John"). Of course, the film becomes magical in its dance sequences, with the young Kelly staging and performing several wonderful routines--including the famous "Alter Ego" turn, in which he dances with his own reflection--and finding, in the trim Rita, one of his most perfect partners: although Martha Mears dubbed Rita's singing voice, she impressively delivers all her own dance moves. --
Kim Newman
Synopsis
A beautiful nightclub dancer wins a coveted 'Cover Girl' title and goes on to achieve fame and fortune at the expense of love. Musical featuring the music of Jerome Kern and lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
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