IT HAPPENED IN BROOLYN. No, really.

Viewed this again recently for the ump-teenth time, and found it more entertaining than ever.  I sat with a silly grin on my face through the most of the whole picture, particularly every time Durante said anything, and sang anything.   I delighted in the mixture of classical music with the popular in this silly story.  Damn, the movie made me feel good.   I was truly entertained.

Ah, now there's an interesting word, isn't it?   "Entertainment."   To me, it is filled with all the magic of what was once called "show business."   Great singers, dancers, actors, comics, doing what they did best, for an audience who wanted to be entertained.  Those days seem to be long gone, don't they.   Something happened in the 1960's.   All of a sudden a play, a film, most any endeavor before an audience had to be "relevant."  Even, God help us, TV shows!   Problem was that in gaining relevance we lost "funny."   We lost timing, pace and writing."   We lost entertainment.  The important thing was to be "impressed," impressed with the writing, the acting, or the "message," or all three and almost always, the "message."   Now, we are so bombarded by the relevance and realism, in films, theater, and TV today that "mere" entertainment has been lost, a forgotten craft, almost to be held in contempt.    I remember hearing the very talented Bebe Neuwirth speaking about a theater work (one cannot call it a "musical") she was to be in in NYC.   During the creative process before opening she had this revelation that what she was singing was very much like a traditional "number," from a standard Broadway show.  In other words, it was a song.    Well, they decided, we can't have that.   "We didn't want to do the same old thing," she said.    I thought, "Oh, no.   Why do something that has been successful for what, hundreds of years?   First thing you know you will be communicating something and before you know it, people will be entertained.   Can't have that!"   

Sadly, the lessons of Preston Sturges' John L. Sullivan have to be learned over and over again, and so, with "It Happened In Brooklyn," I was reminded of what made entertainment entertaining. Great songs, funny little bits, charming scenes and characters, and most of all, nothing especially challenging or serious. Fun.

A wonderfully tuneful the soundtrack provides a diverse score of popular and classical numbers all, perfectly appropriate to the action and, in the case of Sinatra and Grayson's rendering of Mozart, "La Ci Darem La Mano," a delightful curiosity not to be missed.  Sinatra's delivery of the duet is one way to successfully portray the character: a non-threatening seduction, beginning innocently with, "Give me your hand," or, as the Beatles would say years later, "I wanna hold your hand," and it works very well. Sinatra's easy manner, lets the melodies flow out of him as though he were speaking them, and it is charming. Grayson's voice is grating at times, but her presence is so sweet and delectable that we forgive it.   The vocal highlight for Sinatra would become a big hit, and that is, "Time After Time," still a wonderful song. 

There is also a delightful setting of a Bach Invention for Grayson and her music students, and the setting is note-for-note true to the original and with taste and is, in itself, quite lovely. Grayson also has a chance to shine in the "Bell Aria," from Delibes, "Lakme." She impresses, though not overwhelmingly. For the part in this movie, it's perfect. And it's ENTERTAINING, dammit! 

The highlight musical number is Durante/Sinatra's, "The Song's Gotta Come From Da Heart!" -- a perfect vehicle for Durante's wild, vaudevillian antics, which remain awfully funny to this day.  What a pro! The likes we have none of today, for we have no entertainment today.   Or, precious little.    

Sinatra's Brooklyn Bridge, "love song," is another priceless moment, filmed on location ON the Brooklyn Bridge.    Peter Lawford is appropriately stuffy and does not interfere with the fun.

All in all it is not Sinatra's film, or Grayson's or Durante, who comes closest to "stealing" it. It is ours.  For it is we who find ourselves charmed  and fully satisfied of being simply entertained, and by the light airiness, the joy, of "the movies."

Bravo!