Marilyn Monroe Was Already Lighting Up the Screen in 1948
Today’s Vintage Watchable takes us back to 1948 for Ladies of the Chorus, the Columbia Pictures musical romance starring Adele Jergens, Marilyn Monroe and Rand Brooks.
Directed by Phil Karlson, the film gives Monroe one of the first major roles of her career as Peggy Martin, a chorus girl working alongside her mother, Mae Martin, played by Jergens. When Peggy gets a chance to move into the spotlight, her personal life quickly becomes just as complicated as the show.
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Vintage Watchable: Ladies of the Chorus
Marilyn Monroe, Adele Jergens and a compact 1948 Columbia musical romance — exactly the kind of old-Hollywood detour Vintage Watchable was made for.
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The setup is pure studio-era melodrama: mother and daughter working in burlesque, romance arriving from the upper crust, and class prejudice threatening to spoil everything. Nana Bryant, Eddie Garr and Steven Geray round out the supporting cast, while Monroe also gets to sing — including “Anyone Can See I Love You” and “Every Baby Needs a Da Da Daddy.”
It is slight, romantic, musical and very much of its era — but that is exactly the appeal. You can already see the screen presence that would soon become unmistakable. So yes: transport back, settle in, and let Vintage Watchable do what it does best.
Watch “Ladies of the Chorus” (1948) Starring Marilyn Monroe and Adele Jergens
The supplied YouTube upload presents the 1948 Columbia Pictures musical romance featured in today’s Vintage Watchable.
Source: AFI Catalog / Columbia Pictures records for Ladies of the Chorus (1948).
