Thousands Cheer
| Thousands Cheer | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | George Sidney |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Written by |
Paul Jarrico Richard Collins |
| Starring |
Kathryn Grayson Gene Kelly Mary Astor John Boles Ben Blue Frances Rafferty |
| Music by |
Irving Berlin Lorenz Hart Jerome Kern Nacio Herb Brown Richard Rogers George Gershwin Ira Gershwin Max Steiner Dmitri Shostakovich |
| Cinematography | George J. Folsey |
| Edited by | George Boemler |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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125 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,568,000 |
| Box office | $5,886,000 |
Thousands Cheer is a 1943 American comedy musical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Produced at the height of the Second World War, the film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families.
The film is essentially a two-part program. The first half consists of a romantic comedy storyline involving an aerialist, played by Gene Kelly, who is drafted into the US Army but really wants to join the air force. During training, he falls in love with Kathryn (played by Kathryn Grayson), the daughter of his commanding officer, who has similarly put her singing career on hold in order to serve by providing entertainment for the troops. Unusually for this type of a film (and for this era of Hollywood), the character Kathryn has only recently met her father for the first time since she was a baby, her parents having divorced. A related subplot has Kathryn conniving to get her parents (played by John Boles and Mary Astor) to reconcile. During the first part of the film, Grayson sings several numbers and Kelly performs one of his most famous routines, dancing with a mop as a partner.
The secondary plot involves preparations for a major live show for the soldiers which will feature many MGM musical and comedy stars. For the second half of the film, all pretenses of a storyline are effectively abandoned as the film instead becomes a variety showcase of comedy, song, and dance, with all of the performers (save Kelly and Grayson) appearing as themselves. The show portion is hosted by Mickey Rooney.
Performing as "guest stars" in the film's show segment were: Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Red Skelton, Ann Sothern, Lucille Ball, Frank Morgan, Virginia O'Brien, Eleanor Powell, Marilyn Maxwell, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, Donna Reed, Margaret O'Brien, the Kay Kyser Orchestra and others. Pianist-conductor José Iturbi appears as himself in both segments of the film; this was his first acting role in a film and he would go on to make several more appearances (usually playing himself) in MGM musicals.
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