The Gang's All Here is a 1943 musical film produced and released by Twentieth Century Fox. Its stars included Alice Faye, James Craig, Edward Everett Horton, Charlotte Greenwood, Benny Goodman, and, in one of her most memorable roles, Carmen Miranda. It was directed by Busby Berkeley. Related articles FOX Television Network Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Entertainment Group List of Hollywood movie studios List of movies Variant of current 20th Century Fox logo External links 20th Century Fox Movies official site Twentieth Century Fox is also the punning title of a song by The Doors on their... Alice Faye from her official website, http://www. ... James Craig (February 1, 1912-June 28, 1985) was a Nashville, Tennessee-born American actor. ... Edward Everett Horton (March 18, 1886 - September 29, 1970) was an American actor with a long career including motion pictures, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons. ... Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman, (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was a famous Jazz musician, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, and Swings Senior Statesman. // Childhood and early years Goodman was born in Chicago, the son of poor Jewish immigrants who lived on... Carmen Miranda, circa 1940 Carmen Miranda (b. ... Busby Berkeley (November 29, 1895–March 14, 1976), born William Berkeley Enos in Los Angeles, California, was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer famous for his complex musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns Berkeleys quintessential works used legions of chorus girls as geometric...

The film exhibits both the strengths and weaknesses of the musical films produced at Fox in the 1940s. It is visually striking, making lavish use of the period's saturated color-film technology, extravagant sets that range from an ocean liner that morphs into a New York nightclub stage to eye-popping musical number fantasy sets (including a multi-story version of Miranda's trademark banana hat), and costumes that showcase the era's exaggerated fashions.

The performances range from the competent -- James Craig, and, as an annoying debutante, Sheila Ryan -- to the inspired. Greenwood, in her element as a Matron With A Past, and Horton, as a befuddled plutocrat, add a welcome comic boost to the proceedings. Faye was rarely better showcased, with songs including the moving wartime ballad "No Love, No Nothin'" and the boisterous "Polka Dot Polka" (which proves the setting for some of Berkeley's most surreal choreography, including a roster of chorus girls dancing with neon hula hoops). Miranda, as a rapacious cabaret star, gleefully mangles the English language, romances any man who crosses her path, and performs both "The Tutti-Frutti Hat" and a chorus of Goodman's "Paducah," as well as an insinuating, witty version of "You Discover You're in New York" that lampoons contemporary fads, fashions, and wartime shortages. Topeka, Kansas-born Sheila Ryan was a film actress. ... The hula hoop is a toy hoop that promotes physical activity. ...

In the end, though, The Gang's All Here succeeds better as a collection of wild moments (Greenwood, on seeing Miranda for first time: "I'd better watch out for my bell pulls and lampshades!") and wilder visuals (Miranda amidst a sea of chorines carrying vast strawberries and bananas they arrange into Berkeley's familiar patterns) than as first-rank musical. The plot (playboy soldier falls for singer; is promised to debutante; comes to his senses) is serviceable at best and, in the end, simply stops, as if enough time had been filled, to make way for a swift resolution of the Faye-Craig romance and a big finale.

The film has, as of 2005, never been commercially released on video or DVD; a LaserDisc release seems to have had only limited circulation. Privately made copies in all formats are circulated among collectors.