Bette Midler: For the Boys (Music from the Motion Picture) (1991)

Before I begin this review, there is something that I have to point out here. One of the first musical movies I can remember watching was 1992's "Sister Act" with Whoopi Goldberg as lounge singer Delores Van Cartier placed in witness protection after accidentally witnessing her gangster ex-boyfriend performing an execution. She becomes Sister Mary Clarence at Saint Katherine's Convent in San Francisco and after a disagreement with the Reverend Mother winds up joining the choir. If you've seen this movie before, you absolutely know what's going to happen next.

Imagine this though! Delores/Sister Mary Clarence is played by Bette Midler in an earlier alternate version of the film, before Whoopi ever became involved. Please don't get me wrong, because Whoopi in both movies is not only one of the great nineties pop culture highlights but a beloved performance to this day, but imagine what Bette would have done with this part. Not to mention how it would have affected her career going forward!

Here is what Aunty Wiki has to say specifically: "Screenwriter Paul Rudnick pitched Sister Act to producer Scott Rudin in 1987, with Bette Midler in mind for the lead role. The script was brought to Disney. However, Midler turned down the role, fearing that her fans would not want to see her play a nun." Fair enough for Midler. Very mixed feelings for a fan of Whoopi Van Cartier and the Divine Miss M!

By 1991, Bette had about eighteen screen credits on her CV, some titles including: The Rose (1979), Jinxed! (1982), Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Big Business (1988), Oliver & Company (1988), Beaches (1988), Stella (1990) and For the Boys (1991).

By 1991, Bette had also released seven studio albums, two live albums, one live comedy album and two soundtracks: The Divine Miss M (1972), Bette Midler (1973), Songs for the New Depression (1976), Live at Last (1977), Broken Blossom (1977), Thighs and Whispers (1979), The Rose (1979), Divine Madness (1980), No Frills (1983), Mud Will Be Flung Tonight (1985), Beaches (1988) and Some People’s Lives (1990).

In 1991, Bette would appear in a new film "For the Boys" reuniting with director Mark Rydell (they had worked successfully together on 1979's "The Rose"). The film told the story, in flashback, of two performers named Dixie Leonard (Bette Midler) and Eddie Sparks (James Caan) entertaining American troops throughout World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The movie and accompanying soundtrack from Atlantic Records released 12 November 1991 were not necessarily a resounding success.

Why is this? Since the movie is sitting in my pile of second hand DVDs I must get around to watching, while I have listened to the soundtrack about a dozen times by now, I don't really know the reason why at this point. I just know that I would have been all too thrilled had the film and soundtrack succeeded on the level of say one of Bette's 1980s hits or "Sister Act", the one she didn't make.

There's no use crying over spilled milk at this point, and please, look at the career she has. Consider also, how many movies and projects never eventuated for artists like Bette, Elton John, and Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc. etc. etc. What about Andrew Lloyd Webber? Imagine this: Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice working with the Walt Disney Company on a short musical version of Noah's Ark. By the way, you may remember Elton John announcing an "Animal Farm" musical. Whatever happened to that?!

With all this in mind though, let's look at the album. Firstly however, I have to address something which Aunty Wiki brought up on this page. I'm just going to quote them: "Actress and singer Martha Raye believed that Midler's character was based on many widely known facts about her life and career with the USO and pursued legal action based on that assumption. After a protracted legal engagement, Raye ultimately lost the case. The Caan character was generally believed to be based on Bob Hope." Not only am I not overly educated on Martha Raye (as a kid I watched her in her final film role in Irwin Allen's "Alice in Wonderland") but I haven't seen the movie, so I really can't add any comment to this.

I should watch this movie (!) but make no mistake (!) this is certainly (!) a soundtrack I thoroughly (!!) enjoy (!!!).

In the vein of "The Rose" and "Beaches", most of the songs are performed by Bette Midler as Dixie Leonard, but this one's a little different too, because now we have James Caan's Eddie Sparks. Of course, this was around the time that he made Stephen King's "Misery" opposite Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes and most definitely that movie has stuck in my mind.

So let's look at the album (!). The majority of the songs are cover versions of classic songs. The leading single however is an original written by that stalwart of American pop music, Diane Warren. Don't know who that is? Google the name and you'll recognize her hits.

Charts wise, two singles were released, including Diane's song "Every Road Leads Back to You" and a cover version of the Beatles "In My Life". "Every Road" reached #15 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart while coming in at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100. "In My Life" managed #20 on the Adult Contemporary Chart and actually, before I heard this soundtrack, was the only song I found myself recognizing. I've listened to it many times on "Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits".

The soundtrack reached #22 on the US Billboard 200, #28 on Canada Top Albums/CDs, #44 on Australian Albums and #75 on UK Albums. I don't think this is all that bad, personally, but disappointing when you remember how both "Beaches" and "Some People's Lives" had fared in the previous years. The album has since gone Gold in Canada and the United States. Thank you again for providing me with these stats, Aunty Wiki.

Let's look at the songs.

"Billy-A-Dick"---whenever I listen to "Some People's Lives", this soundtrack is always queued next on my playlist, and you can't help but keep listening as this one starts up. This is clearly the sign of a good song. Hats off from me!

"Stuff Like That There"---infectious all the way, from beginning to end! Out of context, I can see Bette performing it too in a medley with "In the Mood" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".

"P.S. I Love You"---since both "Skylark" and this song were co-written by Johnny Mercer, I wouldn’t necessarily say no to a medley of these either. This creates a nice laidback vibe in the proceedings.

"The Girlfriend of the Whirling Dervish"---Bette seems to disappear for a moment here as the cast sing this song, also co-written by Johnny Mercer. Since I hadn't mentioned it before, he has five songwriting credits on this soundtrack. This one is always fun!

"I Remember You/Dixie's Dream"---Bette and James Caan have a duet here and it's not often you hear a duet from Bette in general, not to mention it's James Caan. That's really cool. Yes, they're both playing these roles, but still.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside"---another duet from Bette and James Caan, and I can imagine this doing well as an Adult Contemporary single. That would have been pretty neat when this movie came out.

"Dreamland"---out of context here, this might have sat nicely at home on Bette's 1977 album "Broken Blossom".

"Vickie and Mr. Valves"---this one is an instrumental with a trumpet solo from Jack Sheldon. Think of this as like the Dixie Leonard and Eddie Sparks version of "Camellia" from "The Rose", I guess. I love all this brass. Kiss my brass, indeed.

"For All We Know"---there is nothing here that is failing to register with me as a listener, and this is very much included in that.

"Come Rain or Come Shine"---there's no way I would ever disagree with the notion of this being a single for Bette. Clearly this soundtrack had potential for more singles.

"In My Life"---as I said before, this is the most familiar moment for me. It was also the very first version of the Beatles song I heard. That's right. I heard Bette's before the Beatles. This deserved to be massive in 1991. It should have been. It didn’t do too badly on the Adult Contemporary chart, but if I had my way it would have exploded everywhere.

"I Remember You"---I can hear this being included on the "Experience the Divine" compilation or some kind of Bette Midler box set.

"Every Road Leads Back to You"---I have been pretty kind to this soundtrack up until now (it's my aim with this blog in general to have a positive outlook), but this is the moment that kind of underwhelms me. For two reasons: Bette could have had a "Wing Beneath My Wings" or "The Rose" moment from this film, if it wasn't going to be "In My Life", and Diane has written some truly spectacular pop songs. So I'm disappointed that she didn't deliver Bette a song on the level of "Wings" which she clearly proved she could do with others, e.g. Celine Dion with "Because You Loved Me". Why didn't that happen here? Just like Diane should have written an "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" for Meat Loaf, instead of "I'd Lie for You", she could have written something like that here.

That means this soundtrack ends on an almost sour note, but take heart. It's not a bad or a disappointing song. It just simply doesn't meet with my expectations because a) "Beaches" and "Some People's Lives" and b) knowing what Diane is capable of. Could this song have had something to do with the chart performance of the soundtrack? I don't know, but it wouldn’t surprise *me*.

That brings us to the end of this review, folks. Overall, in contrast with Bette’s other soundtracks and specifically "The Rose" given the connection with Mark Rydell, it's another great reminder of the range in Bette's repertoire. That's one of the things I love about her music, her singing and her performing, just one of the things I love about the Divine Miss M.

Thank you for reading,

Ryan.