An oldie but goldie for that Christmas ass. The musical film “Coney Island” starring Betty Grable circa 1943.
Betty was deep in her Technicolor reign when this one dropped — the kind of studio‑polished spectacle Fox loved to crank out when America needed a little razzle‑dazzle. Coney Island leans all the way into that 1890s carnival‑barker chaos: saloons, sequins, showgirls, and Grable doing what Grable did best — lighting up the screen like she had a personal contract with the sun.
The film was a full‑blown hit in its day, riding the wave of wartime escapism and Grable’s unstoppable box‑office pull. She was the era’s golden goose, the poster girl taped inside every soldier’s locker, and this movie only cemented that. Fox even doubled down and remade it twice because when something works, Hollywood milks it like a Christmas cow.
And tucked behind the glitter, you get that classic studio magic: lush musical numbers, a little romantic scheming, and a Brooklyn dreamscape that looks nothing like the real Coney Island but everything like 1940s Hollywood pretending it knew what Brooklyn looked like. It’s camp, it’s charm, it’s holiday‑season comfort food.
🦵INYIM Did You Know?
- Grable’s WWII pin‑up photo became so iconic the studio insured her legs for a million dollars.
- Betty Grable was the top‑earning female star of the early ’40s, thanks to her Technicolor musicals.
- Coney Island (1943) was a major hit for 20th Century Fox and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Music.
- Grable’s singing was partially dubbed by Lillian Randolph in select scenes.
- The film was remade twice by Fox because the formula kept printing money.
Drop your thoughts below, carebears. Did this Technicolor throwback scratch that holiday itch or send you down a Golden Age rabbit hole?
