Musical Numbers & Grable Star Power Outweigh Uninspired Material
20th Century Fox had an impressive track record with musicals during the 1930s and 1940s, turning out one box office smash after another--but for all their great popularity at the time they were not usually liked by the critics and most film historians tend to be dismissive of them even to this day. There is a reason for that: although they were well designed and well crafted, they were seldom innovative and they existed as star vehicles plain and simple, flyweight creations shot through with lots of American boosterism and jingoism and designed to show off a female star. And in the 1940s that star was Betty Grable.

Grable (1916-1973) knocked around Hollywood for a decade without gaining much attention--but after a stint on Broadway led to the popular 1940 movie DOWN ARGENTINE WAY she was suddenly 20th Century Fox's hottest property. It seems unlikely: she wasn't classically pretty, had a pleasant but not outstanding voice, and was a good rather than excellent dancer--and her acting chops were very limited. But she had that sparkle that can only be described as "star quality," and the public adored her. She became the single most bankable motion picture star of the 1940s.

The 1945 THE DOLLY SISTERS is typical of 20th Century Fox musicals. The story and script are merely serviceable; the production values are expert rather than innovative; the music and choreography are pleasant but not inspired. But absolutely everything about the film works to show case Grable at every possible turn. Everything revolves around the star from start to finish, and although she shares the screen with either June Haver or John Payne in every musical number, neither of them even come close to the status of co-stars. There is only one star in this movie, at that is Betty Grable. Everyone else is merely there for support.

The musical numbers are fun, but this is partly due to the way we look at them today as opposed to how they were received by audiences in 1945; seen today the two major production numbers, "Old Fashioned Girl" and "The Darktown Strutters Ball," are nothing short of screaming high camp, the former featuring a vanity case come to life and the latter a truly jaw-dropping minstrel show with showgirls in blackface and some of the most "do what?" costumes imaginable. Brace yourself for the girl with the watermelon muff and the woman with a stuffed cat on her head!

The musical numbers are fun, and when they come onto the stage the rather prefunctory lighting suddenly surges into brillance, setting off the wild array of color and shape to absolute perfection. But in truth, the musical numbers are only reason to watch THE DOLLY SISTERS, which is so incredibly flyweight that most viewers will find it hard to supress a yawn during the film's so-called "dramatic" moments. The DVD offers a very handsome print of the film, and a few extras--most notably an audio commentary by Drew Casper, whose comments are entertaining if a shade too uncritical for complete acceptance. Yes, I do recommend the movie, but only for 1940s musical fans and Grable fans in particular.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

The Dolly Sisters
If you like old-time musicals you'll enjoy this. I loved "The Dolly Sisters" as a kid and later on wondered if VHS or DVD existed but doubted it. I was happy to find a copy at a decent price. I still love it but see that it's not as "glitzy" as I thought it was when I was young. I still love the music and always liked the Stars who were in it. I'm very happy that I bought it.

lavish remake of "Tin Pan Alley"
Essentially a lavish technicolor remake of the B&W 1940 film "Tin Pan Alley", including 2 of the stars of the original: John Payne and Betty Grable. Both films have their relative pluses and minuses. I enjoyed the many outlandish costumes of the female stars and various extras, a common feature of many 1940s musicals. Grable and Haver are much more of a sister act than Alice Faye and Grable were in the original, where they mostly performed their own numbers. The troubled on again off again romances in the present film, which fill in between the musical shows, get awfully tedious, more so than in the original. If Alice Faye had taken the part of June Haver, as originally planned, it would have been interesting to see if she were again cast as the dominant sister(I doubt it). To me, Faye has more charisma than Haver, but the latter makes a more look alike sister for Grable. I really missed Jack Oakie in this one. Frank Latimore was simply not an adequate substitute for Oakie's cheerful comic relief from Payne's serious demeanor. Payne's character is much more of a heel than in the original. That poor gorgeous woman he led on to believe he cared more for than Grable, left alone in the audience in the final scene, when he was reunited with Grable on the stage!

loves to read
Super oldtime mucical with wonderful top shelf actors and a lovely story line.

fluffy little diversion
For an afternoon of sunny nostalgia, you can't do much better than THE DOLLY SISTERS, featuring the fabulous talents of Betty Grable and June Haver.

Loosely-based on fact, the story follows the loves and fortunes of the Dolly Sisters, Jenny (Betty Grable) and Rosie (June Haver), from small-time Budapest emigrees to the bright lights of Broadway and international fame. Along the way, Jenny falls in love with handsome composer Harry Fox (John Payne), but quickly realises that any relationship is fated to come second-place to her career.

John Payne and Betty Grable were frequent co-stars in many musicals for Twentieth Century-Fox, but THE DOLLY SISTERS is their greatest pairing by far. Grable also has a great screen rapport with June Haver (Alice Faye was to have been her initial co-star, but she decided instead to retire from the screen--ironically in part because Grable had superseded her as the reigning star of the studio).

There are several musical numbers which take full advantage of the richly-saturated Technicolor photography: "The Vamp", "We Have Been Around", "Carolina in the Morning", "Powder, Lipstick and Rouge", "Sidewalks of New York"; and, for all it's non-PC attitudes, "The Darktown Strutters Ball".

A very entertaining bit of fluff.