Burlesque queen Doll Face Carroll is dismissed from an audition for a legitimate Broadway show because she lacks culture. Her boss/manager Mike decides that she can get both culture and plenty of publicity by writing her autobiography. He hires a ghost writer to do all the work, but doesn't count on the possibility that Doll Face and her collaborator might have more than a book on their minds.
Costume
Sequins, feathers, and Miranda's fruit hat dreams.
Score
Perry Como crooning—six 'sweet song hits,' allegedly.
Acting
Vivian Blaine's wink-wink warmth carries the fluff.
Director
Lewis Seiler
Vivian Blaine
Mary Elizabeth 'Doll Face' Carroll
Dennis O'Keefe
Michael Francis 'Mike' Hannegan
Perry Como
Nicky Ricci
Carmen Miranda
Chita Chula
Martha Stewart
Frankie Porter
Stephen Dunne
Frederick Manly Gerard (as Michael Dunne)
Reed Hadley
Flo Hartman
Stanley Prager
Flo's Aide
Charles Tannen
Flo's Aide
George E. Stone
Stage Manager
Frank Orth
Peters
Donald MacBride
Lawyer Ferguson
Lex Barker
Jack, Coast Guardsman (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Perry Como was so uncomfortable acting that he reportedly asked to be shot only from the waist up. The director ignored him.
Released the same year as WWII ended, the film's obsession with 'classing up' a working woman reflected anxious postwar social mobility dreams—and its casual sexism aged like milk.
US
