Best Foot Forward (film)
| Best Foot Forward | |
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Original window card
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| Directed by | Edward Buzzell |
| Produced by | Arthur Freed |
| Written by |
Irving Brecher Fred F. Finklehoffe Dorothy Kingsley |
| Based on |
Best Foot Forward 1943 book by John Cecil Holm |
| Starring |
Lucille Ball William Gaxton Virginia Weidler |
| Music by | Lennie Hayton |
| Cinematography | Leonard Smith |
| Edited by | Blanche Sewell |
| Distributed by | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,162,000 |
| Box office | $2,704,000 |
Best Foot Forward is a 1943 American musical film adapted from the 1941 Broadway musical comedy of the same title. The film was released by MGM, directed by Edward Buzzell, and starred Lucille Ball, William Gaxton, Virginia Weidler, Chill Wills, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, and Nancy Walker.
The actors did their own singing, except for Lucille Ball, whose singing was dubbed by Gloria Grafton, Virginia Weidler, whose singing was dubbed by Louanne Hogan, and Jack Jordan, whose singing was dubbed by Ralph Blane.
The story centers around Lucille Ball who plays herself against the backdrop of a military academy full of frisky boys. Ball is the reluctant guest of a diminutive cadet, Bud Hooper (Tommy Dix), who wrote her a "mash note" and invitation to be his date at a school prom.
Ball's publicity man, Jack O'Riley (William 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 (Virginia 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 themselves. 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"), "Wish I May," "Three Men on a Date", "Alive and Kickin'", "The Barrelhouse", "The Boogie-Woogie and the Blues", and "Ev'ry time." [The soundtrack CD also includes the cut "What Do You Think I Am?"]
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