Step Lively (1944 film)

Theatrical producer Gordon Miller is keeping his fingers crossed that his newest play will be a success so that he can pay off his massive hotel bill. Miller and his entire cast can live at the hotel on credit thanks to the generosity of the hotel manager, Joe Gribble, who is Miller's brother-in-law.

Wagner, a company auditor, arrives unexpectedly, as does playwright Glenn Russell, who has left his small town hoping to collect a large amount of (non-existent) royalties on his play. Russell ends up taking a lead musical role in his own production.

Miller suddenly has mixed feelings about his own play, as his girlfriend Christine Marlowe has fallen head-over-heels for playwright Russell; and to break up the romance means sabotaging his own production.

• Frank Sinatra as Glenn Russell
• George Murphy as Gordon Miller
• Adolphe Menjou as Wagner
• Gloria DeHaven as Christine Marlowe
• Walter Slezak as Joe Gribble
• Eugene Pallette as Simon Jenkins
• Wally Brown as Binion
• Alan Carney as Harry
• Grant Mitchell as Dr. Gibbs
• Anne Jeffreys as Miss Abbott
• Richard Davies

All songs composed by Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics).

• Where Does Love Begin? – Performed by Gloria DeHaven, George Murphy and chorus;  Reprised by Frank Sinatra and Anne Jeffreys

• Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are – Performed by Gloria DeHaven, Frank Sinatra and chorus

• As Long As There's Music – Performed by Frank Sinatra

• Some Other Time – Performed by Frank Sinatra and Gloria DeHaven

• Why Must There Be an Op'ning Song? – Performed by Anne Jeffreys

• Ask the Madame – Performed by George Murphy, Gloria DeHaven and chorus

Bosley Crowther, reviewing for The New York Times, called Step Lively a star vehicle for Frank Sinatra; although the scenes with Sinatra "perceptibly hobble[d] the farce." Crowther compared him unfavorably to Eddie Albert, stating that "when [the remaining cast] are left alone to play 'Room Service' they make this an up-and-coming film."[1]

The film was nominated an Academy Award for Best Art Direction (Albert S. D'Agostino, Carroll Clark, Darrell Silvera, Claude E. Carpenter).[2]

• Step Lively at IMDb
• Step Lively at the TCM Movie Database