Watch Du Barry was a Lady For Free

Let's be realistic.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Nightclub singer dreams of marrying into money but is in love with a poor fellow. Fluffy musical comedy plays like a variety show, with minimal plot holding together musical numbers and comedy skits. The film looks good in Technicolor, with red hairs of Skelton and Ball (dyed for this film and kept so thereafter) featured prominently. It's nothing special, but it's not terribly painful to watch either. Lucy mostly plays it straight while Skelton provides the comedy as a hat check man who wins the sweepstakes and woos Lucy. In only his second film, Kelly completes an unlikely love triangle as Lucy's poor and sullen boyfriend.

How much you enjoy this will depend heavily I would think on how much you enjoy the verbal and physical shtick of Red Skelton, the star (along with Gene Kelly, Lucille Ball and the great if largely forgotten Virginia O'Brien) of both the main storyline (typical backstage musical farce with Kelly and Skelton vying for Ball's hand) and an extended dream sequence (Louis XV fending off a rebellion). I find Skelton quite irritating, and Ball's charm, Kelly's dancing, and the music of Tommy Dorsey just don't quite make up for it. I rarely like to use the word "dated", but if there's any film I've seen lately that it applies to, this be it brother. The way in which the dream sequence basically takes over the film is rather neat, and the color is nice, but on the whole I was not enthralled. I won't be searching out any best-of-Red Skelton sets anytime soon...Watched on VHS

Mild fanfare with Red Skelton, Lucille Ball and Gene Kelly in this farce about what's going on at a local nightclub.Lucy is Lucy and Red does his usual nonsense. Kelly tries to play it straight but isn't given the substantial material needed. Zero Mostel, young and chubby looking, is along for the ride as a seer. You may not recognize him here but after all, it's 1943!The film begins to take off during Skelton's dream sequence of being transported back to revolutionary France as Louis XV. The costumes of that period along with the singing and dancing of modern music are a joy to watch.While Red, as Louis, has been over-taxing his subjects, he's in for a rude awakening when he gets up. Tax man Donald Meek is there to take away most of the money that he won in the sweepstakes.Much more of Cole Porter's fine music is missing in the film version.

This film is best-appreciated if seen as a series of skits and songs, a vehicle for the actors. It provides a chance to see Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien and Zero Mostel in comedic action. Gene Kelly only does one solo dance number, but his agility as The Black Arrow foreshadows greater roles like that of D'Artagnan. And seeing Tommy Dorsey dressed up and dancing (or trying to) with the rest of the cast is delightful! There are funny parts as well as parts that presume themselves funny and come off as annoying, but the movie is fun to watch if you don't expect it to be a masterpiece.