Carmen Miranda marathon

In another sign that somebody at FXM Retro seems to be thinking at least a little bit, I see that the programmers there have decided to put all of the Carmen Miranda movies they currently have in the rotation together. So, if you like Carmen Miranda -- and sometimes she's the most interesting thing in an otherwise subpar movie -- you're in luck.

The mini-marathon starts tomorrow morning at 8:50 AM with If I'm Lucky, a movie I've more or less panned here before mostly because Perry Como is such a bland actor, even more bland than he was as a singer. Even Miranda can't save this stuff.

Next up is That Night in Rio at 10:10 AM. This one has Alice Faye in Brazil, getting involve in a plot to have an American impersonator (Don Ameche) impersonate her husband (Ameche, in a double role) to help a business deal go through. Miranda is the girlfriend of the impersonator.

Then we get might be Miranda's best musical number (although I admit to not having seen every Miranda movie) in The Gang's All Here at 11:45 AM. This is the "Lady With the Tutti Frutti Hat" number, which has to be seen to be believed. The plot is a silly one about a nightclub singer falling in love with a rich guy about to go off and fight World War II. Complications ensue when he returns home a hero, since his parents have other ideas for him than marrying a showgirl.

Finally, at 1:30 PM, there's Something for the Boys, which has Fox's ladies playing army wives who take over an old home near an army base and turning it into a place for the wives to stay, putting on a show to raise the money for the necessary renovations and to keep the place going. Where are Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland when we need them? Oh, that's right, they're still over at MGM.

If you miss the marathon tomorrow, don't worry -- all four movies are on the Saturday schedule too, although not all of them are back to back. That Night in Rio kicks off the FXM Retro schedule at 3:00 and the other three start from 7:10 AM Saturday.