April Showers 🌦️☔ starring Jack Carson and Ann Sothern! with Robert Alda, S. Z. Sakall, Robert Ellis and Richard Rober!

I love Carson!

And I love Ann Sothern! Both are great candy coated actors!

Aw schucks! ️

Yes Ann Sothern is great!

For some actresses they had to toil for years until finally receiving the recognition they long deserved one such actress was the multi-talented Ann Sothern who could play comedy, drama, and could sing with a lovely voice. Starting out as a redhead Ann decided to beach her hair blonde to play the type of woman who could turn heads and delivery sharp dialogue with verve and comedic bite. After appearances in Broadway musicals, Sothern earned her keep in B-movies at first Columbia then at RKO, but when independent producer Walter Wanger cast Sothern as as the Sadie Thompson-like tart in Trade Winds (1938, United Artists), the second lead to Wanger's then wife Joan Bennett. Ann received the best notices of her career and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer then signed Sothern to a long-term contract. After signing with MGM they assigned her to play the character named Maisie (1939, MGM). MGM was thrilled that the film Maisie was a huge success that Ann Sothern would go one to portray the Brooklyn-born chlorine with the provably heart-of-gold. MGM's choice of Ann as Masie was a good one and when Maisie became a series the series ran into nine more films, taking Ann literally around the world while playing her as a saucy, scatterbrain, but ever resourceful Maisie Ravier.When given a good role Ann was remembered with satisfaction by the critics and the movie going public alike in films like: Lady Be Good (1941), Panama Hattie (1942), Cry Havoc (1943) as one of the nurses trapped on a Japanese held island during the war. In 1949 Ann Sothern got the best role of her career in the film A Letter To Three Wives (1949, 20th Century-Fox) . The critically lauded film showcased Sothern, Jeanne Crain and Linda Darnell as friends who must figure out which one of their husbands may have run away with a woman from town, Addie Ross. The film was a major hit with critics and the public. As a successful writer for radio soap operas, Sothern was nicely paired with rising star Kirk Douglas as a teacher from a local school. The film's screenplay was by Joseph L. Mankiewicz who's perceptive dissection of three doomed marriages would garner an Academy Award for best screenplay. Ann's character Rita Phipps was hilarious trying to juggle the sponsors of her radio show and her incompetent maid Sadie played by Thelma Ritter who went uncredited here for the last time. Her last film for MGM was a total change of pace she plays a vindictive murderess in the noirish Shadow On The Wall in 1950.In 1948 Ann played the role of Joyce Harmon and finally had the chance to sing in the musical biography of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart in MGM's Words And Music for it was the musical numbers that are the high spots of the film. We have the opportunity to see Ann Sothern in a gorgeous Technicolor number (wearing a Citrine chiffon dress with matching picture hat) “Where’s That Rainbow?,” June Allyson performs with spunk and gumption in the “Connecticut Yankee” number “Thou Swell,” one critic amusingly described Allyson's singing, "as a foghorn calling to it's mate." While Lena Horne gives the definitive rendition that ever existed of “The Lady is a Tramp.” which became a song that was closely associated with her.

"For some actresses they had to toil for years until finally receiving the recognition they long deserved one such actress was the multi-talented Ann Sothern" - which disappoints me they make her name second and Jack Carson's first in the credit and billing...She was famous before him and started lead roles before Jack. I guess it all depends on who is more popular at the time to get top billing and if the actor is a man. Both are great to watch, so it's just a tiny tiny complaint.

Bette Davis fought hard to get what was called "Star Billing" name above the title but when you had two superstars starring together in a film for example Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn his name always came first. Billing was important to each actor's ego I suppose.