EVERYTHING I HAVE IS YOURS

US, 1952, 92 minutes. Colour.
Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Dennis O’ Keefe, Monica Lewis, Dean Miller, Eduard Franz.
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard.

Everything I Have Is Yours is a star vehicle for the dance team, Marge and Gower Champion. They were successful on stage. And had appeared in Lovely To Look At and Show Boat. They also had their own film, with Debbie Reynolds, Give a Girl a Break. They later appeared in a few films including the Betty Grable, Jack Lemmon film, Three for the Road.

The film is an MGM musical of the second level. The songs are not particularly memorable. The dance sequences are introduced as the film plot comes to a halt to illustrate the great versatility of the two dancers. The film is worth seeing for those who like the MGM musicals and are interested in the careers of Marge Champion and Gower Champion. Gower Champion was a Broadway director, winning eight Tony Awards.

The couple play a couple on screen, the opening night, the wife discovering that she had been ill and was pregnant. There follows the usual showbiz story, the wife giving birth, staying at home, bringing up the little girl, doing everything domestic while wanting to go back on stage. The husband works well with his new partner, thinks that his wife ought to be staying at home looking after the daughter, the tensions grow and they file for divorce. Dennis O’ Keefe is the sympathetic producer, more than interested in the wife, but discreet. Eduard Franz is the lawyer who has some wry comments about divorce. Monica Lewis (Excuse My Dust) is quite vibrant as the dancer who takes over partnering Champion. There is some corny comedy with Dean Miller as the friend.

The film shows the tensions between husband and wife, the difficulties of a showbiz couple, the influence of the other woman. It also shows family values. The resolution is more positive as the couple find they cannot live without each other and are reunited.

Later, Marge and Gower Champion experienced the same kind of difficulties and did divorce.

The film was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, a veteran of many MGM films including the Olivier- Greer Garson Pride and Prejudice.

The film is something of a postscript to the 1950s MGM musicals – but the opportunity to see the Champions and their skills.