Richard Whorf directed Luxury Liner, a romantic musical comedy in Technicolor, written by Richard Connell, Karl Kamb and Gladys Lehman.
Jeremy Bradford, an ocean liner captain, takes his teenaged daughter Polly to see the opera Aida, featuring the great singers Olaf Eriksen and Zita Romanka.
When Olaf and Zita become passengers of her father’s voyage to Rio de Janeiro, she begs her him to come along, but he refuses.
Stubborn Polly gets on board his ship as stowaway, and her dad puts her to work in the ship’s galley.
Also on board is Laura Dene, a jilted bride, and her undecided fiancé Charles. Polly and Laura become friends, though Laura isn’t aware that Polly is the captain’s daughter.
Later on, a forgiving Captain Bradford allows her to sing a duet with Olaf. Predictably, Polly’s father and Laura fall in love.
In 1933, Lothar Mendes directed a version of the story, starring George Brent and Zita Johann.
A modest commercial hit for MGM, Luxury Liner nonentheless catapulted the young Jane Powell into a major player of the studio’s musicals in the next decade, reaching her career climax with the 1954 musical Seven Bride for Seven Sisters.
Cast
George Brent as Captain Jeremy Bradford
Jane Powell as Polly Bradford
Lauritz Melchior as Olaf Eriksen
Frances Gifford as Laura Dene
Marina Koshetz as Zita Romanka
Xavier Cugat as Himself
Thomas E. Breen as Denis Mulvy
Richard Derr as Charles G.K. Worton
John Ridgely as Chief Officer Carver
Connie Gilchrist as Bertha
Credits:
MGM
Directed by Richard Whorf
Produced by Joe Pasternak
Screenplay by Gladys Lehman, Richard Connell, and Karl Kamb
Music by Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography: Robert H. Planck
Edited by: Robert Kern
Release date: September 9, 1948
Running time: 99 minutes
Budget: $2,178,000
Box office: $4,128,000
Note:
TCM showed this film on December 10, 2019.