“Newest Screen Comedian Hailed As ‘Blockbuster’ in First Film”

The Montreal Gazette – May 17, 1944

The motion picture screen has never seen anything quite like Danny Kaye before, and the tall, slender yellow-haired dynamo who became a sensation on the Broadway stage through his amazing pantomime and musical versatility, is expected to hit the film world with the impace of a blockbuster in Samuel Goldwyn’s “tunefilm in Technicolor,” Up in Arms, coming to Loew’s Friday.

A human whirlwind when he’s on the screen, Kaye carries a lot of that same energy into his personal life. His experience in everything from cheap summer vaudeville circuits to swank nightclubs and touring the United States and the Orient in tab shows and specialty acts has given him a background beyond his years and a host of friends ranging from boyhood pals of his Brooklyn days to leading figures in the theatrical, social and sports worlds.

Married to Sylvia Fine, who writes his material, Kaye is a rabid Dodger fan and an ardent golfer, though he has largely abandoned both for the duration so as to spend his free time appearing at benefits and war-bond rallies and in servicemen’s shows. He’s volatile, and acts by instinct, and goes everywhere on the run; walking’s too slow. He is a good listener, likes to watch and study people on the street and while traveling and pick up foreign phrases to use in his doubletalk routines. Drunks fascinate him, but he seldom takes more than a glass of beer himself.

With an amazing vocal range, he sings operatic arias on any and all occasions, especially in the shower, and can mimic all the famous singers from Robson to Pons. He is intensely loyal to his old associates, gives Sylvia all the credit for his success, and prides himself on never breaking a promise or a verbal contract.

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