My Wild Irish Rose (1947)

The rise of 19th century Irish tenor Chauncey Olcott (Dennis Morgan) from a tugboat skipper to performing in blackface in minstrel shows to co-starring on Broadway with Lillian Russell (Andrea King). Directed by David Butler (CALAMITY JANE), this is the kind of musical biopic that gives musical biopics a bad name (as if they needed help). The Irish blarney is laid on thick as a brick and it feels like you've been hit with one. If Irish schmaltz and songs like When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Mother Machree and Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie warm the cockles of your heart, this may appeal to you. The minstrel sequences with white actors in blackface may be historically accurate but that doesn't make it any the less uncomfortable. With Arlene Dahl (looking luscious in Technicolor in her film debut), George O'Brien, Alan Hale, Sara Allgood, George Tobias, Ben Blue and Peggy Knudsen.