DU BARRY WAS A LADY: Blu-ray (MGM, 1943) Warner Archive

The usually impeccable pedigree of MGM/Arthur Freed-produced musicals was to make one of its irrefutably awkward blunders with director, Roy Del Ruth’s Du Barry Was A Lady (1943) – a lavishly appointed misfire, clumsily to usurp, then replace the Broadway show’s pizzazz with too little of that show’s finesse and too much Hollywood glitz. On stage, the 1939 stagecraft was a song and dance extravaganza running a whopping 408 performances. It was also a cavalcade for composer, Cole Porter’s risqué double entendre. Regrettably, Del Ruth’s cinematic reincarnation fails to assail such meteoric heights, partly as Porter’s prose had to be tamped down to satisfy Hollywood’s self-governing code of ethics. Despite having half its original score shorn in favor of a more antiseptic – if nevertheless melodic - series of musical offerings, the plot was also to steadily devolved into a would-be/light-hearted confection, trampled by a rather leaden screenplay by Irving Brecher to utterly waste its stellar talent. Interestingly, the movie is noted today more for MGM hairstylist, Sydney Guilaroff’s henna dye job on Lucille Ball’s platinum tresses, forever to alter the trajectory of her career.

For this, Ball’s first picture in Technicolor, the flaming coiffeur stuck, dubbing the actress, ‘Technicolor Tessie’ and establishing the tint as her signature trademark. The role of May Daly (a.k.a. Du Barry) ought to have gone to Ann Sothern. Only she became pregnant and had to bow out. Ball, however, was not a singer, and so, Martha Mears dubbed much of score – all except the raucous ‘Friendship’ – which Ball performed as rather clever pantomime, and would later reprise in a 1951 episode of I Love Lucy. Of the three surviving numbers not cut from the original show – ‘Katie Went To Haiti’, ‘Do I Love You?’ – only ‘Friendship’ remained the standout. Interestingly, the song, ‘Well Did You Evah?’, while heard only orchestrally here, would later resurface as one of the irrefutable musical highlights in MGM’s sublime remake of The Philadelphia Story (1940) – 1956’s High Society.

Du Barry Was A Lady also marked the cinematic debut of Zero Mostel as the irrepressible swami. In revamping the material for the movies, the character of bathroom attendant, Louis Blore (originally played on the stage by Bert Lahr) was heavily rewritten to suit the more congenial temperament of Red Skelton. This character’s blue humor in the stagecraft was deemed unacceptable by Hollywood’s self-governing code of censorship. And so, it too went out with the bathwater. Gene Kelly, who had made a big splash in MGM’s For Me and My Gal (1942) the previous year, danced up a storm here too. Alas, the choreography was not his own, nor entirely to his liking. Beginning with 1943’s Thousands Cheer, Kelly would insist upon total creative control over his dance routines. In one of those Hollywood ironies that never fails to impress, the numbers in Du Barry were all choreographed by Charles Walters, who had appeared opposite Bette Grable in the original Broadway production, with Kelly, now in the part Walters had made famous on the stage. For reasons only clear to its director, the movie version delayed the stage show’s dream sequence teleportation back to the court of Louis XV by almost an hour. On stage, this transition occurs barely fifteen minutes in and carries the rest of the show. Delaying the fantasy created an odd narrative vacuum, as much of the star-studded action was now to take place in a weirdly ‘unpopular’ Manhattan nightclub instead.

Time has been rather unkind to Du Barry Was A Lady, and for good reason. It remains more an anomaly than a bona fide classic for its producer, Arthur Freed – his first movie in Technicolor, yet, in hindsight, a fairly odd choice for the added expense, considering the mangling of the show’s lithe structure and its rather tepid offerings in song and dance. Moreover, the story is bizarre within the confines of the musical genre. Hat check boy, Louis Blore (Red Skelton) has a colossal crush on nightclub vamp and chanteuse, May Daly (Lucille Ball). May is all about money – a commodity Louis lacks until he wins the Irish sweepstakes. Vying for May’s affection is Alec Howe (Gene Kelly, looking uncharacteristically elfin), a dancer at the club. May’s heart is for Alec. But her conviction to be a lady of leisure results in a fleeting alliance with rich patron, Willie (Douglas Dumbrille). On the sidelines is Louis’ deadpan heartthrob, Ginny (Virginia O’Brien) – who patiently waits for the chips to predictably fall so she can claim Louis for her own.

Now, the wrinkle; Louis succumbs to the elixir of a spiked cocktail and dreams he is really King Louis XV with May predictably reincarnated as the infamous woman behind the throne, Madame Du Barry. This plot point allows MGM to utilize many of the sumptuous sets and costumes first designed for the lavish B&W melodrama, Marie Antoinette (1938). In that film, Du Barry (Gladys George) was an embittered hard-nosed shrew – indeed, a ‘lady’ in name only and with feminine wiles and the power to laud them over Louis to his everlasting detriment. By comparison, Ball’s Du Barry is a lazy fop in a wig - a flashy gal lacking substance, who cavorts and primps. She is a superficial courtesan with her eye on the dashing rogue and libertarian, the Black Arrow (Gene Kelly). But this alliance is thwarted prematurely when Louis comes to his senses – awakens with May at his side, only to recognize Ginny is the only one for him. So much for plot.

Du Barry Was A Lady never comes to life. There are moments where one can see the old MGM magic remotely flickering, particularly during the many musical sequences that are gamely staged, bright and colorful. Red Skelton is delightfully wacky, maintaining a comedic presence even when the material is less than on par with his talent. Lucille Ball, while undeniably ravishing in Technicolor, is uncharacteristically wooden. Her best number, the title track (obviously dubbed) is also regrettably truncated – the camera cutting to crowd inserts and conversations between Alec and his best friend, Rami (Zero Mostel) with only the briefest glimpse of this elegant comedian in all her French finery. Worse, the numbers are statically staged. Del Ruth’s camera remains a safe distance from the actors, thus preserving the proscenium of the original stagecraft. At varying intervals some of the principals address the camera directly – a device meant to bring the audience into the show, but instead to further alienate them with the artificiality of this show within a show. The most satisfying moment is owed Gene Kelly’s Do I Love You – a tour de force for his athleticism, the soles of his shoes seemingly infused with hidden springs as he effortlessly flies through the air, exercising Terpsichorean grace.

The Warner Archive’s new-to-Blu satisfies on almost every level. The DVD contained a handful of fleeting examples of 3-stip misalignment in the original Technicolor records. These instances have been mostly, if not entirely corrected. And thus, the image here is vibrant, sharp and thoroughly satisfying...except when it's not. What a beautiful 1080p transfer when it all snaps together. The lavishly appointed ‘French Court’ sparkles – our only chance to imagine what 1938’s Marie Antoinette (originally planned for Technicolor, then scrapped for traditional B&W to keep costs down) might have been if producer, Irving Thalberg had lived to prevail and preside over that production. Crop marks between actual sets and matte-painted ceilings are rather clumsily visible here. Contrast is more appealing this time around. On the old DVD it was slightly boosted. The audio is DTS 2.0 mono, presented at an adequate listening level. Extras are limited to two vintage short subjects and the film’s original theatrical trailer.

Bottom line: Du Barry was a Lady will never be a winner. Personally, I am getting rather tired of WAC favoring lesser catalog over some truly grand entertainments still MIA in hi-def. If they were after a Red Skelton musical, they could have gone with Bathing Beauty (1944 – also Esther Williams aquacade debut) or Lovely To Look At (1952), and if, going for the Lucille Ball angle, Best Foot Forward (1943) or Easy to Wed (1944) would have more memorably sufficed. Do not even get me started on how many fine MGM musicals remain left out in the cold. High Society, The Student Prince, Royal Wedding, Thousands Cheer, Words and Music, Holiday in Mexico, Till The Clouds Roll By, The Belle of New York, The Barkeleys of Broadway…need we say more? Bottom line: for those who think Du Barry is in this same class, WAC’s Blu is up to par from a technical standpoint. 

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

2.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

1