THE I DON'T CARE GIRL (1953)

Entertainer George Jessel (playing himself) is producing a movie at Twentieth Century Fox about the early 20th century vaudeville performer Eva Tanguay. An elderly man keeps coming to Jessel's office to talk about Eva but Jessel, assuming he's just an old fan, keeps ignoring him away, instead sending his screenwriters off to find people who knew her to flesh out their story. First they find Eddie McCoy (David Wayne), the man who gave Eva her start. In his flashback, we see Eddie, at odds in his career, finding Eva (Mitzi Gaynor), an energetic waitress who loves to sing and dance while she works. On the night Eddie meets her, she accidently breaks some dishes while dancing and is fired, but Eddie goes after her and asks her to partner with him in his act. They are successful, but soon cocky songwriter Larry Woods (Bob Graham) puts the moves on her and an on-and-off relationship begins, hindered by the fact that he's married. Eddie says his weak heart caused him to leave the act, which allowed her to go solo, but the next person the writers talk to, Larry's former songwriting partner Charles Bennett (Oscar Levant) tells a different story: Eddie had a strong heart but a debilitating alcohol problem. Despite a few bumps, Eva's career goes upward and soon she is a star of the Ziegfeld Follies. Larry is in the midst of finally getting a divorce, but Eva becomes jealous when he makes plans to work with Stella, a rival singer who has hurt Eva's career in the past. When she finds out that Larry and Stella will be on stage together at a benefit show, she arranges to have a big, juicy tomato thrown at Larry, but when it happens, he's wearing an army uniform—the U.S. has joined World War I and he's about to ship out. She's mortified and makes a sudden decision to retire from show biz. The story is finished by the old man who's been visiting Jessel, who turns out to be Larry who gives Eva's story a happy, if nebulous, ending.

Based on a glance at a Wikipedia page, this musical biopic has little to do with the real Eva Tanguay, and generally it's not a particular standout in the genre. It's colorful, and Gaynor is fun and energetic, even if the character of Eva never really comes to life. Money was spent on the sets and costumes, though the supporting cast is mostly B-range talent: Wayne and Graham are fine, but neither is known for song-and-dance talents—in fact, Graham only made four movies before apparently leaving Hollywood—and Wayne is particularly underwhelming in his musical numbers. Craig Hill and Warren Stevens are appealing as the screenwriters. The one thing that makes this movie unique is the frame story with the real George Jessel, who was producing movies at Fox at the time, and who was the actual producer of this film. For a mind-spinning meta-topper at the conclusion, in the 1920s final scene, a production number with Eva, the 1953 Jessel shows up backstage saying he wanted to see how the movie turned out. Worth watching for the elaborate musical numbers. Gaynor is pictured above with background dancers. [TCM]