San Antonio Rose (1941) DVD-R

Starring Jane Frazee, Robert Paige, Eve Arden, Lon Chaney Jr., Shemp Howard
Directed by Charles Lamont

Print: black/white
Runtime: 63 min.
Genre: musical

San Antonio Rose is an amiably wacky mini-musical evenly divided between its "official" stars, The Merry Macs, and a strong cast of supporting clowns. Robert Paige plays roadhouse operator Con Conway, whose establishment is in danger of being squeezed out by its competition. Stranded entertainers Hope Holloway (Jane Frazee) and Gabby Trent (Eve Arden) decide to revivify Conway's establishment by staging an energetic floor show built around the talented Merry Macs. A rival club owner dispatches his two top hooligans Jigsaw Kennedy (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Benny the Bounce (Shemp Howard) to wreck Conway's club by posing as waiters, but the two stupes are easily cowed into submission--by the leading ladies! San Antonio Rose never stops moving, not even during the closing credits, as the Merry Macs reprise the energetic novelty tune "Mexican Jumping Beat".