I first saw this film when I was 7 years old. I've remembered the title and the feeling of the movie ever since. I just saw it again tonight courtesy of Fox Movie Channel. And what an extraordinary piece of work it is. Fox was well known for its vaudeville backstage musicals which hewed to a comfortable and expected pattern - act starts with kids, act grows, act breaks up and then act reunites gloriously/ I love this formula. But " I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now" is something different. The focus is on Joe Edwards, songwriter, the acts- the female singers who work with him are front and center but oddly uncompelling. The songs, "Hello, My Baby", Goodbye, My Lady Love ", and the title song are used so powerfully that they transcend the performers. The songs themselves and the guy behind them are the point of the film. While there is an abrupt ending with Joe suddenly giving up a trip to Alaska for matrimony with June Haver, it just doesn't make sense. None of the female leads have any chemistry with Mark Stevens who seems to be passionate only about his music and his freedom to wander.
The vaudeville milieu is as authentic as any in any film of the periond, but the characters and their behavior break the pattern and give this film an edge that no other musicals of the time seem to have. The title song, strangely enough, seems to be completely contemporary and could be recorded today by some adventurous artist. " I wonder who's teaching her how." Hmmm.
What does Joe give up a trip to Alaska for?
matrimony