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Du Barry Was a Lady

Play trailer Poster for Du Barry Was a Lady Released May 30, 1943 1h 41m Musical Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 2 Reviews 47% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In this adaptation of a Cole Porter Broadway musical, star singer May (Lucille Ball) wants to marry a rich man, but her heart belongs to a penniless dancer named Alec (Gene Kelly). Louis Blore (Red Skelton), who has just won a fortune through a sweepstakes, promptly marries May. However, after Louis accidentally has a laced drink, he has a fantastic dream in which he, May and Alec are members of the royal French court. Once Louis awakens, he begins to reconsider his relationship with May.
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Du Barry Was a Lady

Critics Reviews

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy It’s a full hour of this 100-minute movie before Louis finally gulps the drugged drink, making the whole raison d’etre of the stage show feel almost like an afterthought. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 10, 2023 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Hollywood ruined another wonderful Porter effort by cutting out most of his songs from the stage production. Rated: C Mar 9, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Twiggy H A nice hollywood classic, maybe not the best taste in colour scheme or pick of some actors (though the actresses were great!) but singing and dancing performance had some impressive moments. Film writing wise, a tad bizarre at times but i guess it was still early hollywood and comedy of those times was never my cup of tea, still a pleasure to watch especially in modern time. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/08/24 Full Review bobfv1 I loved this movie, not because of the plot (it didn't really have one) but because it was a wonderful period piece featuring all of the music that "The Greatest Generation" enjoyed (its a 1943 film). Tommy Dorsey and his big band play several songs and I am pretty sure that includes cameos by Buddy Rich, Artie Shaw, and Harry James. Dorsey even has a couple of lines! This is a rare movie that Gene Kelly danced in to someone else's choreography but as always, his dancing is amazing. In an early performance, Lucille Ball is a sexy redheaded song and dance girl and she's great, Res Skelton has some dance numbers and is great, and a lesser known actress/singer/dancer named Virginia O'Brien doesn't quite steal the show, but she is a delight to watch too. Zero Mostel's first film role (before he was blacklisted). This is just a tour de force of 40's entertainment and you owe it to yourself to watch and enjoy the movie! Pure entertainment! One note, and the reason it only got 4 stars from me, it was adapted from the long running stage show which was scored by Cole Porter. For the movie, most of Porter's music has been replaced with songs written by others, but there are still three Porter songs in the movie. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/21/23 Full Review Audience Member LOL, the funniest 01 hour: and 41 minutes for a musical comedy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Glorious technicolor is what captivated audiences then and now. It's too bad some of MGM's better "musicals" weren't made in technicolor so that this one could have been given the traditional black and white treatment. But this one is beautiful looking -- although the plot is not up to contemporary standards. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review panayiota k Too much singing and not that funny but it has its cute moments. Awesome cast too: Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, Red Skelton,Virginia O'Brien and that Lana Turner cameo. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member just not much there. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Du Barry Was a Lady

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this adaptation of a Cole Porter Broadway musical, star singer May (Lucille Ball) wants to marry a rich man, but her heart belongs to a penniless dancer named Alec (Gene Kelly). Louis Blore (Red Skelton), who has just won a fortune through a sweepstakes, promptly marries May. However, after Louis accidentally has a laced drink, he has a fantastic dream in which he, May and Alec are members of the royal French court. Once Louis awakens, he begins to reconsider his relationship with May.
Director
Roy Del Ruth
Producer
Arthur Freed
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre
Musical, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 30, 1943, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 41m
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