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Diamond Horseshoe

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This article is about the film. For the former nightclub the film references, seeSony Hall.
Diamond Horseshoe
Directed byGeorge Seaton
Written byGeorge Seaton
Kenyon Nicholson(play)
Produced byWilliam Perlberg
StarringBetty Grable
Dick Haymes
CinematographyErnest Palmer
Edited byRobert L. Simpson
Music byHerbert W. Spencer(uncredited)
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • May 2, 1945(1945-05-02)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2.6 million[1]
Box office$3,150,000 (US)[1][2]

Diamond Horseshoe(also billed asBilly Rose's Diamond Horseshoe) is a 1945 Americanmusical filmstarringBetty Grable,Dick HaymesandWilliam Gaxton(in his final feature film role), directed and co-written byGeorge Seaton,and released by20th Century Fox.It was filmed inTechnicolorinBilly Rose's Diamond Horseshoe,a nightclub located in the basement of theParamount Hotel.The film's original score is byHarry WarrenandMack Gordon,introducing the pop and jazz standard "The More I See You".[3]

Plot[edit]

three men in suits standing in from of a brick wall.
Publicity Still fromDiamond Horseshoefeaturing from left to rightWilliam Gaxton,Phil Silvers,andDick Haymes

Joe Davis Sr. performs in a big nightclub calledBilly Rose's Diamond Horseshoe in theParamount Hotelin Manhattan. He is visited by his son Joe Jr. who is a medical student. Joe Jr. tells his father that he wants to be in show business, much to his father's disapproval. Nevertheless, Joe Sr. gives his son a job at his club where Joe Jr. then becomes smitten with Bonnie Collins, the club's headlining act.

Joe Sr. is spending so much time worrying about his son that he starts to neglect his own girlfriend Claire. Claire promises to give Bonnie a mink coat if she pretends to like and go out with Joe Jr., so that Joe Sr. will pay more attention to her. Things take a complicated turn when Bonnie actually does fall in love with Joe Jr. and they get married, again much to his father's disapproval.

Cast[edit]

Background[edit]

Diamond Horseshoeis a remake of two previous films derived from the same story,The Barker(1928) andHoop-La(1933). Grable played the role previously played byDorothy MackaillinThe BarkerandClara BowinHoop-La.All are based on the 1928 playThe BarkerbyKenyon Nicholson.

In the chorus line, an 18-year oldJulie Londonmakes an unbilled appearance in her first or second major studio film. During a production number, the bizarredouble-talkcomic and screeching singer Willie Solar (1891-1956) has a rare onscreen cameo as a filmed record of his stage act.

Reception[edit]

The film was very successful when it was released, but because of its high cost struggled to make a profit.[1]Grable's other picture that yearThe Dolly Sisterswas one of Fox's highest-grossing films of 1945.

References[edit]

  1. ^abcMemo fromDarryl F. Zanuckto all producers at 20th Century Fox, 13 June 1946,Memo from Darryl F. Zanuck,Grove Press, 1993, pp. 108–109
  2. ^Aubrey Solomon,Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial HistoryRowman & Littlefield, 2002 p 220
  3. ^Monahan, Patrick.The Diamond Horseshoe, the World War II-Era Nightclub Resurrected by Randy Weiner and Simon Hammerstein.Vanity Fair.January 24, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2020.

External links[edit]

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