Mother Wore Tights Reviews

Bouncy domestic fluff featuring Betty Grable as Myrtle McKinley Burt, turn-of-the century vaudevillian, wife (to Dan Dailey), and mother, who takes time off from work to raise two daughters, played as adults by Mona Freeman and Connie Marshall. Once they're able to take care of themselves, Grable decides to tread the boards again. The rest of the movie is a nostalgic look at the way it was, interrupted by a bit of crisis when Freeman, who is attending an exclusive finishing school, is embarrassed to learn that her parents are going to perform at a nearby theater. In the end, all the snotty kids who come to the theater to hoot stay to cheer and Iris learns a valuable lesson. The story is told through the eyes of Marshall and the voice of narrator Anne Baxter. Alfred Newman and Charles Henderson won an Oscar for musical direction, and Harry Jackson's cinematography and "You Do" took nominations. The Walter Lang-directed film, which Grable called her favorite, also offers some good specialty work by ventriloquist Senor Wences. A raft of songs from several writers include: "You Do," "Fare Thee Well Dear Alma Mater," "There's Nothing Like a Song," "Rolling down to Bowling Green," "Kokomo, Indiana," "This is My Favorite City," (Mack Gordon, Joseph Myrow), "Burlington Bertie from Bow," (William Hargreaves), "Tra-La-La-La-La," (Harry Warren, Gordon), "Swingin' Down the Lane," (Gus Kahn, Isham Jones), "Lily of the Valley," (L. Wolfe Gilbert, Anatole Friedland), "Stumbling," (Zez Confrey), "Choo'n Gum," (Mann Curtis, Vic Mizzy), "Daddy, You've Been Like a Mother to Me," (Fred Fisher), "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey," (Junie McCree, Albert von Tilzer), "M-O-T-H-E-R," (Theodore F. Morse, Howard Johnson), "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay," (Henry J. Sayers), "Silent Night" (Joseph Mohr, Franz Gruber).