Down to Earth (1947)

Rita Hayworth dazzles as the Greek goddess Terpsichore, muse of song and dance. When she discovers a Broadway show will portray her as a man-hungry jazz mama, she schemes to get down to Earth to set the producer straight. Somehow Terpsichore has seen director Alexander Hall’s other film Here Comes Mr Jordan and decides to borrow its premise and characters — she’s a goddess after all — making this sort of a sequel, or possibly a spin-off. Edward Everett Horton reprises his role as Messenger 7013, the officious clerk who warns the scheme will come to no good, while Roland Culver plays the benevolent Mr Jordan (replacing Claude Reins) who realizes the young producer’s fate is entwined with the meddling muse.

Mr Jordan had created a unique twist on the St Peter mythology, updating the pearly gates to a heavenly tarmac where people board an airplane to enter the afterlife, while angels are a clipboard bureaucracy ensuring you reach your destination. But in Down to Earth the twist becomes a pretzel, as one immortal helps another learn a lesson in humanity. Add an equally unbelievable subplot wherein the show must be successful or the producer Danny Miller (Larry Parks) will be killed by a mobster, and an uncomfortable musical number where Terpsichore plans to marry two — make that four men at the same time! Don’t worry, Rita is stunning and her audition dance number is truly magical. Her performance as an indignant goddess mistaken for a spoiled actress is brilliantly accurate.

It’s all for laughs in this feather-light comedy until the climax: Terpsichore has rewritten the low-brow Broadway show into a Martha Graham-esque symphonic masterpiece and the performance is oddly moving as a work of modern choreography on celuloid. Of course the plebeian audience hates it and Terpsichore must admit she doesn’t understand American entertainment. She takes Mr. Jordan’s advice and lets Danny go back to his original show, afterall he’s been kissed by a muse and therefore can not fail.

This film is often cited as the inspiration for Xanadu, but beyond using the same mythological figure I can’t see it.