While Ray Bolger may seem an odd choice for leading man for Doris Day after Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson and even Jack Carson, they work well together here in this show business musical about a government error that has a chorus girl named Ethel Jackson chosen to represent America at an art's festival in Paris over the intended and unseen Ethel Barrymore. While both share theater backgrounds, one is a leading lady whose corn was green, the other whose experience was. Bolger plays the government representative who must try to rectify the mistake, but ends up taking Day there anyway. On the ship, she proves herself to be an affable public relations representative, entertaining the ship's restaurant staff with a big production number, "I'm Gonna Rock the Boat Tonight", and wins over a Parisian singer (Claude Dauphin).
Bolger, at the top of his game here after the success of "Where's Charley?" on Broadway, could have broke into a chorus of "Once in Love With Doris" here and scored, because the movie came out the same year after he had briefly returned to Broadway in the touring production of that Frank Loesser show. Both "Where's Charley?" and "April in Paris" were released by Warner Brothers who had previously employed Bolger in their Marilyn Miller bio musical "Look For the Silver Lining". Bolger scores with his solo "State of the Union" musical number where he fantasizes about being President of the United States, giving huge refunds to all Americans because of an excess of cash (!), and dances with huge portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Even if that was the only highlight of this movie, Bolger would have scored, because it is as equally memorable as Gene Kelly's solo "Singin' in the Rain" the very same year. This may not rank up there in overall excellence as that MGM masterpiece, but individual performances do put it on top, and Bolger truly scores an "A".
Bolger, at the top of his game here after the success of "Where's Charley?" on Broadway, could have broke into a chorus of "Once in Love With Doris" here and scored, because the movie came out the same year after he had briefly returned to Broadway in the touring production of that Frank Loesser show. Both "Where's Charley?" and "April in Paris" were released by Warner Brothers who had previously employed Bolger in their Marilyn Miller bio musical "Look For the Silver Lining". Bolger scores with his solo "State of the Union" musical number where he fantasizes about being President of the United States, giving huge refunds to all Americans because of an excess of cash (!), and dances with huge portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Even if that was the only highlight of this movie, Bolger would have scored, because it is as equally memorable as Gene Kelly's solo "Singin' in the Rain" the very same year. This may not rank up there in overall excellence as that MGM masterpiece, but individual performances do put it on top, and Bolger truly scores an "A".