Film Review: THE HEAT'S ON (1943)

THE HEAT'S ON (1943 Columbia) Starring Mae West, Victor Moore, William Gaxton, Lloyd Bridges, Hazel Scott, Lester Allen, Joan Thorson, Xavier Cugat.  Directed by Gregory Ratoff.

Broadway producer Gaxton schemes to get free publicity for his show, and star West, by having Moore's "Decency" Foundation get his show temporarily closed for content.  Unfortunately the plan backfires as West takes advantage of the opportunity to move to another theatre and Gaxton's show ends up permanently closed.  It's back to the drawing board for the producer as he now tries to concoct a way to lure West back into the fold.

It's fitting that Mae West--a pre-Production Code icon if there ever was one--is the star of a satire on the effect of censorship on the entertainment industy in general.  Unfortunately, THE HEAT'S ON turns out to be toothless.  By having Moore's organization focused on cleaning up Broadway instead of Hollywood, an opportunity is missed for West to get digs in at the Code and the Hays Office.  To be fair, it probably would have been impossible to get THE HEAT'S ON past the film censors in 1943 if it had that kind of bite.

In addition to her typical post-Code problems, West wasn't given her usual creative input on THE HEAT'S ON, which certainly would have helped.  Mae's dialogue lacks the zing her fans will be accustomed to (its akin with watching Groucho deliver his lines during ROOM SERVICE) and she's onscreen for less than one-third of the film's 79 minutes.  All in all, not enough Mae, and as a result, probably the weakest of her starring vehicles--until the Seventies, that is.

Hazel Scott at the piano

THE HEAT'S ON was one of only five feature film appearances for legendary jazz pianist Hazel Scott, and she is dazzling, undoubtedly the picture's musical highlight.  Scott's second scene resulted in her famous confrontation with Columbia studio head Harry Cohn.  Protesting the intention to show the sweethearts and wives of African-American soldiers sending their men off to war wearing unkempt hair and ragged clothes, Scott went on a three day strike and effectively shut down production.  Scott got her way--the costumes were changed (see photo above)--but Cohn told her she'd "never work in this town again".  Regardless, Scott was right, and she was dynamite in both of her scenes.  You can read more about Hazel Scott here.  Suffice to say it's our loss she wasn't onscreen more often.

Victor Moore (right); dude was a pre-Viagra playa, ya'll!

Veteran character actor Moore adds quite a few laughs doing the rumba with West (and fighting a losing battle to keep his toupee on).  Hey, Moore, then 66, might not have looked virile enough for Mae West, but don't judge the book by the cover--his real life wife at the time was 22!  (They stayed together until his death in 1962, too.)  A young Lloyd Bridges is also in the supporting cast.

It's too easy to say The Heat's Off, and also unfair--the picture has a few bright spots.  Just not nearly enough of them.  Mae West completists will certainly want to check it out, but to everyone else, I'd recommend sticking with MY LITTLE CHICKADEE, SHE DONE HIM WRONG and I'M NO ANGEL.

DVD Availability?

Yes, on demand through Amazon.  

The Horn Section Salutes: HAZEL SCOTT (1920-1981)

Friday, June 11th would have been the late, great Hazel Scott’s 90th birthday. A child prodigy who learned the piano by ear at age 3 and was allowed to enroll in the Juillard School of Music at age 8 (16 was normally the minimum age!), Scott was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in New York City. By the time she was a teenager a she was hosting a radio show on WOR; by her 21st birthday, she’d made her Broadway debut in SING OUT THE NEWS.

Along with her contemporary Lena Horne, Hazel Scott refused to perform for segregated audiences. It was only the start of a lifetime of activism for the jazz legend, who continued to stand up for Civil Rights when Hollywood came calling in 1942.  Hazel Scott entered the film world on her terms: she turned down the stereotypical and subservient roles Tinseltown was offering.  Insisting on playing and being billed as herself, the outspoken pianist soon had a reputation for "being difficult" that (along with her 1945 marriage) shortened her film career.  Scott's very accurate protest regarding wardrobe in 1943's THE HEAT’S ON proved particularly damaging.

But the courageous stand taken by Hazel Scott unquestionably helped pave the way for the greater opportunities black actresses would receive in the decades that followed. She would appear in only five features before returning to recordings and concerts full time: SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT, I DOOD IT and THE HEAT'S ON (with Mae West) in 1943; BROADWAY RHYTHM (1944) and in perhaps her most memorable appearance, RHAPSODY IN BLUE (1945).

Bet you didn’t know Scott was a pioneer on TV too.  The first African-American performer to host a network series was not Leslie Uggams (1969) or Nat “King” Cole (1957)—it was Hazel Scott.  In 1950(!) when Uncle Miltie was still TV’s top attraction and I LOVE LUCY was still a year into the future, THE HAZEL SCOTT SHOW aired on the original “fourth network”, DuMont, and featured Ms. Scott as the solo star in three 15 minute programs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.

The clip at the top is from a later TV appearance in 1955, with Hazel Scott supported by legendary bassist Charlie Mingus and Rudy Nichols and singing in English AND French (just two of her seven languages) for the March of Dimes. Do yourself a favor: don’t stop with that highlight, or the other two clips from Ms. Scott's films linked above. Go to YouTube and check out more of Hazel Scott.  For example, this terrific clip from 1943:

She was a jazz legend whose 1955 album Relaxed Piano Moods is regarded as an undisputed classic.  A 1978 inductee into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame despite the fact that she only appeared in 5 feature films.  A bold, independent lady who fought against both segregation and McCarthyism--her HUAC testimony was particularly courageous and powerful.

There’s so much more to tell about Hazel Scott and I can really only scratch the surface with a blog post.  For further reading about her, I give my highest recommendation for Karen Chilton’s terrific 2008 biography Hazel Scott: The Pioneering Journey of a Jazz Pianist from Cafe Society to Hollywood to HUAC to learn more about a true groundbreaker.