Summary
Presenting Lily Mars is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, produced by Joe Pasternak, starring Judy Garland and Van Heflin, and based on the novel by Booth Tarkington. The film is often cited as Garland's first film playing an adult type role (although For Me and My Gal, released the previous year, is also often credited thus). Tommy Dorsey and Bob Crosby appear with their orchestras in this Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production.
| Presenting Lily Mars | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Norman Taurog |
| Written by | Jack Mintz (comedy construction) |
| Screenplay by | Richard Connell Gladys Lehman |
| Based on | Presenting Lily Mars 1937 novel by Booth Tarkington |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Starring | Judy Garland Van Heflin |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Edited by | Albert Akst |
| Music by | George Stoll |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,045,000[1] |
| Box office | $3,255,000[1] |
Plot edit
Lily Mars (Judy Garland) is a small-town girl with big-city ambitions. She contrives to audition for a Broadway producer whose father was the local physician and whose family piano her father also happened to tune. However, the producer wants nothing to do with her. She then heads to Broadway hoping to convince him to cast her, but after a series of disappointments, the best she can manage is an understudy job.[2]
Cast edit
- Judy Garland as Lily Mars
- Van Heflin as John Thornway
- Fay Bainter as Mrs. Thornway
- Richard Carlson as Owen Vail
- Spring Byington as Mrs. Mars
- Marta Eggerth as Isobel Rekay
- Connie Gilchrist as Frankie
- Leonid Kinskey as Leo
- Patricia Barker as Poppy
- Janet Chapman as Violet
- Annabelle Logan as Rosie
- Douglas Croft as Davey
- Ray McDonald as Charlie Potter
- Charles Walters as Lily's Dance Partner in Finale (uncredited)[3]
- Lillian Yarbo as Rosa, Isobel's maid (uncredited)
Soundtrack edit
The soundtrack includes:
- "Every Little Movement (Has a Meaning All Its Own)"
- "When I Look At You"
- "Tom, Tom The Piper's Son"
- "Three O'Clock in the Morning" and
- "Broadway Rhythm" featuring Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra.
The finale, "Where There's Music", originally included parts of "St. Louis Blues", "In The Shade of the Old Apple Tree", and "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", which were deleted from the final version.
Reception edit
According to MGM records the film earned USD$2,216,000 in the US and Canada and $1,039,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,211,000.[1][4]
References edit
External links edit
- Presenting Lily Mars at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Presenting Lily Mars at IMDb
- Presenting Lily Mars at AllMovie
- Presenting Lily Mars at the TCM Movie Database
- The Judy Room "Presenting Lily Mars" Section.
