Best Foot Forward

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This article is about the film. For other uses, see Best Foot Forward (disambiguation).

Best Foot Forward
Best Foot Forward movie poster
Directed by	Edward Buzzell
Starring	Lucille Ball William Gaxton Virginia Weidler
Distributed by	Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Release date(s)	8 October 1943
Running time	94 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Best Foot Forward is the 1943 American film version of the hit 1941 Broadway musical comedy. The film was released by MGM, directed by Edward Buzzell, and starring Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler, Chill Wills, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, and Nancy Walker.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Plot

The story centers around Lucille Ball who plays herself against an unlikely backdrop, namely, a military academy full of frisky boys. Ball is the reluctant guest of a diminutive cadet, Bud Hooper (Dix), who wrote her a mash note and invitation to be his date at a school prom.

Ball's publicity man, Jack O'Riley (Gaxton), seizes upon the situation as a perfect PR stunt and convinces her to travel 3,000 miles to join Hooper at Winsocki Military Academy's dance. When Ball actually shows up, mayhem ensues. Hooper, who never dreamed she would accept, has to disinvite his girlfriend, Helen (Weidler), and ask Ball to pretend to be Helen, lest the actress herself not pass muster with the institution's screening committee.

Helen fights back while Hooper tries to keep Ball from the clutches of other cadets who want to steal her for their dates of their own. Meanwhile, Harry James and his orchestra perform various songs, including "The Flight of the Bumblebee" . The cast also sing and dance their way through such numbers as "Buckle Down, Winsocki" (the tune co-opted in the 1960s for "Buckle Up for Safety"), "Three Men on a Date", "Alive and Kickin'", "The Barrelhouse, The Boogie-Woogie and the Blues", and "What Do You Think I Am?"

[edit] Cast

Lucille Ball as Herself
William Gaxton as Jack O'Riley
Tommy Dix as Bud Hooper
Virginia Weidler as Helen Schlesinger
Nancy Walker as Nancy
June Allyson as Ethel
Chill Wills as Chester Short
Gloria DeHaven as Minerva
Henry O'Neill as Major Reeber
Sara Haden as Miss Talbert
Donald MacBride as Captain Bradd
Darwood "Waldo" Kaye as Killer
Morris Ankrum as Colonel Harkrider
Kenny Bowers as Dutch Miller
Bob Stebbins as Greenie
Jack Jordan as Hunk
Beverly Tyler as Miss Delaware
Nana Bryant as Mrs. Dalrymple
Harry James and His Music Makers as Themselves

[edit] References

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