Song of the Week: The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat
Friday, January 23rd, 2009Carmen Miranda
The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat
‘I have a major weakness for old musicals’ I confessed to the guy behind the counter at the Cinema Store the other week. ‘Then you will absolutely love this.‘ he enthused, waving a copy of The Gang’s All Here at me ‘It’s the campest film of all time. It. Is. Fabulous.’ So I dutifully bought a copy.
And he was right! It may have the worst plot ever, some terrible, terrible acting and Benny Goodman has all the pizzazz of a stressed IT manager, but The Gang’s All Here is fabulous. It does afterall, contain ‘The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat’, a work of musical genius if ever there was one. Busby Berkeley directing Carmen Miranda amongst a sea of oversized fake bananas and even faker smiles – it doesn’t get much better (or camper) than this.
‘The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat’ from The Gang’s All Here, 1943
