Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Don't listen to the negative reviews

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

I noticed that one reviewer called this film 'choppy' and I think this is a very apt description. Unlike the typical musical, "Du Barry Was a Lady" was very choppy--mostly because there was scant plot and too many songs. Because of this, it often comes off like a talent show more than a movie.This is a very unusual film in that Lucille Ball is cast as a sex symbol. Now I am NOT trying to be mean, but Ball was mostly considered to be a goof-ball in films--a lightweight second banana, not a star...and not a siren. It's also odd because it's a musical and in some numbers, she's clearly being dubbed. Because of this and her later "I Love Lucy" persona, it is hard today to see why all the guys are going gaga over her in the film...but they are. Her main admirers are Red Skelton and Gene Kelly. Because Kelly was very much a newcomer in films, he gets third billing. A very odd fourth was Zero Mostel (in his first film). I say odd because he was cast in a role much like you'd expect to see Phil Silvers--as the goofy friend. This role just didn't work well and his part seemed rather forced. Plus, with him, Skelton and Rags Ragland, the film was made up almost exclusively of comic relief! About 2/3 of the film was set in the present--wartime USA. The only Du Barry is a character Lucile Ball plays in a nightclub. As I said above, all the guys seem nuts for her. She loves one of them (Gene Kelly) but won't give him the time of day because he's poor--and she wants a rich husband. The other (Red Skelton) is poor but unexpectedly wins the Irish Sweepstakes and because of this, Lucille seems very willing to marry him. However, before they marry, Red accidentally slips himself a Mickey Finn and in his delirium, he dreams he's Louis XV and Lucille is really Madame Du Barry. And, when he awakens, he realizes that he should NOT marry a lady who doesn't love him and gives Gene and Lucille his blessing.The film has a few funny wartime jokes (such as references to tires and taxes) but the humor is so little and far between that it cannot possibly save the film. With more humor, it might have worked--or if the entire film had been set during the reign of Louis. Instead, it's one song after another after another and the plot just doesn't seem important at all. And, because of this, there are just too many lulls to make this worth your time unless you are insanely devoted to Skelton, Ball or Kelly...insanely.By the way, the DVD is not a total loss. The two shorts on the disc ("Seeing Hands" and "Bah Wilderness") are very good--very, very good.

Well, there's not that many laughs despite Skelton and Mostel, while the music and dance numbers are pretty spotty despite Dorsey and Kelly, and even the queen of slapstick Lucille Ball seems a tad on the stiff side. No, the material is not up to the level of talent involved. Even the screenplay comes across like a series of hasty compromises. Now, if any other studio were in charge, I would say the results are only for hardcore fans of any of the above. But this is big-budget MGM, and this is a musical, so the production values are simply superb even when all the rest falters. In short, the color is lavish, the costuming exquisite, and the dream-sequence sets ornate down to the smallest detail. Thus, whatever other shortcomings, the movie amounts to a literal feast for the eyes. Now, I'm no particular fan of that famously detached studio, but this is precisely the kind of production where MGM's dream-factory values excelled. So there are real compensations to the general mediocrity of the material.In passing—I expect wartime audiences really enjoyed this lavish brand of escapism. However, I worry about it's being shown to our troops abroad—all those full-color close-ups of ravishing girls spreading the glamour on a mile thick. One of two results is going to happen—either the boys are going to win the war in short order, or there'll be more guys swimming the oceans than you can count. Fortunately, it looks like the boys decided to win the war first.

Mild fanfare with Red Skelton, Lucille Ball and Gene Kelly in this farce about what's going on at a local nightclub.Lucy is Lucy and Red does his usual nonsense. Kelly tries to play it straight but isn't given the substantial material needed. Zero Mostel, young and chubby looking, is along for the ride as a seer. You may not recognize him here but after all, it's 1943!The film begins to take off during Skelton's dream sequence of being transported back to revolutionary France as Louis XV. The costumes of that period along with the singing and dancing of modern music are a joy to watch.While Red, as Louis, has been over-taxing his subjects, he's in for a rude awakening when he gets up. Tax man Donald Meek is there to take away most of the money that he won in the sweepstakes.Much more of Cole Porter's fine music is missing in the film version.

This film is best-appreciated if seen as a series of skits and songs, a vehicle for the actors. It provides a chance to see Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien and Zero Mostel in comedic action. Gene Kelly only does one solo dance number, but his agility as The Black Arrow foreshadows greater roles like that of D'Artagnan. And seeing Tommy Dorsey dressed up and dancing (or trying to) with the rest of the cast is delightful! There are funny parts as well as parts that presume themselves funny and come off as annoying, but the movie is fun to watch if you don't expect it to be a masterpiece.