MovieChat Forums > Panama Hattie Discussion > Must be Ann Sothern's worst film

Must be Ann Sothern's worst film

posted 8 years ago by brbroose
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Until I saw Panama Hattie, I thought Ann Sothern could make any film enjoyable, or at least watchable. Well, not this stinker. Her character was charmless and more pathetic than sympathetic. They certainly botched the ending with the story resolution happening off screen, and unless I'm mistaken they never did conclude Virginia O'Brien's story line. Seems they sacrificed the last five minutes in order to add on the WWII propaganda bit. I actually appreciate some propaganda from that era, but not at the expense of the rest of the movie.

[–] steshot 8 years ago

Yes, it's such a stinker. It registers in my memory as the worst musical movie I've ever seen. If it's not that -- we do have selective memories after all -- it's at least the most disappointing. And that's because I'm a big Ann Sothern fan, and among my favorite films of hers is the musical she did just before this, Lady Be Good. Amazingly, I just discover here that these two films, one excellent one awful, share some of the same writers and directors.

You're right about the character Ann plays, which scarcely resembles a human being at all. And the comic trio, so prominently featured throughout, is painfully unfunny. Surely, this is Red Skelton's worst film as well.

It seems to me Ann had some bad career luck in the 40's. This stinker, obviously, but also, as I understand, some health and personal issues interfered at times. For example, did you know she was supposed to star in The Harvey Girls in the role that ultimately went to Angela Lansbury? Angela did fine, but Ann would have been quite a bit more interesting in that part. (And she wouldn't have needed dubbing.)