Down to Earth (1947 film)
Down to Earth is a 1947 musical comedy film starring Rita Hayworth, Larry Parks, and Marc Platt, and directed by Alexander Hall. The film is a sequel to the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan, also directed by Hall. While Edward Everett Horton and James Gleason reprised their roles from the earlier film, Roland Culver replaced Claude Rains as Mr. Jordan.
| Down to Earth | |
|---|---|
 Original theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Alexander Hall |
| Produced by | Don Hartman |
| Written by | Harry Segall Edwin Blum |
| Starring | Rita Hayworth Roland Culver Larry Parks James Gleason Marc Platt |
| Music by | George Duning Heinz Roemheld Doris Fisher (songs) Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Greek ballet) |
| Cinematography | Rudolph Mate |
| Edited by | Viola Lawrence |
Production company | Columbia Pictures |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | August 21, 1947 |
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.5 million (US rentals)[1] |
Plot
Hayworth stars as the Muse Terpsichore who is annoyed that popular Broadway producer Danny Miller (Parks) is putting on a play which portrays the Muses as man-crazy tarts fighting for the attention of a pair of Air Force pilots who crashed on Mount Parnassus. She asks permission from Mr. Jordan to go to Earth and fix the play. Jordan agrees and sends Messenger 7013 (Horton) to keep an eye on her.
Terpsichore uses the name Kitty Pendleton and quickly gets an agent, Max Corkle (Gleason), and a part in the show. As the play is being rehearsed, Kitty takes every chance she gets to tell Danny that his depictions of the Muses are wrong. Danny, who has fallen madly in love with Kitty, is soon persuaded to her point of view and alters the play from a musical farce to a high-minded ballet in the style of Martha Graham, scored by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
The revised play debuts on the road and is a complete flop. Danny, who is in debt to gangsters who will kill him if the show isn't a success, has no choice but to go back to his original concept. He and Kitty quarrel over this, and Kitty is ready to leave when Mr. Jordan shows up and explains the whole situation. Despite her argument with Danny, Kitty still loves him and decides to save him even if it means damaging her and her sisters' reputation.
Max Corkle hears Kitty talking to Mr. Jordan and realizes this is the same heavenly messenger he had heard about in Here Comes Mr. Jordan. (Corkle makes a reference to the previous movie and tells Mr. Jordan that his old friend Joe Pendleton, now living his life as K.O. Murdock, is doing just fine - and has a wife and two children.)
Kitty returns to the musical and performs "Swingin' the Muses" the way the producer had intended. When the musical becomes a hit, Terpsichore learns her time on Earth is up and she must return to Heaven. After getting Corkle to tell the police about the gangsters, she says she wants to stay with Danny—but she is now invisible to mortals. Mr. Jordan says that she will see Danny again and grants her a vision of their eventual reunion in the Afterlife.
Cast
- Rita Hayworth as Terpsichore / Kitty Pendleton (singing voice was dubbed by Anita Ellis)
- Roland Culver as Mr. Jordan
- Larry Parks as Danny Miller (singing voice was dubbed by Hal Derwin)
- James Gleason as Max Corkle
- Edward Everett Horton as Messenger 7013
- Adele Jergens as Georgia Evans and & New Terpsichore (singing voice was dubbed by Kay Starr)
- William Haade as Spike
- James Burke as Detective Kelly
- Marc Platt as Eddie
- Kathleen O'Malley as Dolly
- Frank Darien as Janitor (uncredited)
- Ethan Laidlaw as Stagehand (uncredited)
Remakes
The title "Down to Earth" was used for the comedy film Down to Earth (2001) starring Chris Rock, which is a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan.
Down to Earth was remade as Xanadu (1980) starring Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck and Gene Kelly (in his final feature film role).The remake performed poorly at the box office but has since become a cult classic.