Rita Hayworth performs "Poor John" - Cover Girl (1944)

"Cover Girl" (1944), staring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly won the 1945 Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Motion Picture.
Here is Ms. Hayworth, performing "Poor John" as Maribelle Hicks in a flashback sequence. Maribelle is angry because her fiance's mother humiliated her in a recent visit, and so she performs this number to John's disgrace.
The song was written and composed by Fred Leigh and Henry E. Pether. Martha Mears dubbed the singing voice for Rita. The costume is what is known as a "Pearly Queen" costume, a late 19th century cockney costume, hence the crude posture and odd accent.
Enjoy!

[@thelmaturley1508]

I love this performance. At age 88, I can remember most of the words because my grandmother, Adelle Daggett of Georgetown, South Carolina, sang it often by our request, to entertain my cousins and me. She was a piano teacher before she married my grandfather and had 7 children.

[@akavitsuma]

That is incredible 😊

[@marijooneill8015]

Such under rated beautiful woman, used by many people who she loved and cared about.

[@Imani_AM]

My favorite musical movie 💗🎶 I think everything about this picture is brilliant/flawless. The actors, the story, all of the songs and of course, the dancing!

[@vivianhayworth2619]

Love Rita so much here

[@jimrick6632]

ONLY TIME RITA SANG HERSELF WAS IN THE GUITAR SCENE IN "GILDA" WHEN SHE THROWS IT AT GLENN FORD AFTER SINGING A SLOW VERSION OF "PUT THE BLAME ON MAME"..NOT BAD...MAKES YOU WONDER WHY SHE WAS ALWAYS DUBBED...

[@TellyWatcher1997]

Performed by Vesta Victoria - English (British) music hall star (1873-1951) born in Leeds, Yorkshire. She made "Poor John" famous. Not sure whether she adopted a "Cockney" (or Mockney) accent to deliver the song. She was so famous that many songs were especially written for her, such as, "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow" and "Waiting At The Church". She spent a great deal of her vast fortune (made from her work) on young men....the rest she squandered.

[@2degucitas]

Thanks for the info

[@cripplious]

In this scene she's playing her grandmother who was a dance hall performer. It takes place in the early 1900's, the original song was done by an English woman so the character is using a fake accent that her audience would think of as English.

[@renarga6886]

+Robert Mills In real life, her mother was of British origin. :)

[@SometimesInnocent]

+renarga we all have our dark side

[@renarga6886]

You mean she was making fun of her own mother? Maybe.

[@amybaker4654]

Rita Hayworth couldn't sing so she was always dubbed.Over the years they used different singers so actually her voice is rarely sounds the same.

[@YouzTube99]

@@amybaker4654 Have you heard Rita sing?

[@Muirmaiden]

I love this number! Rita is so fabulous!

[@user-ru6hk9ny9r]

In addition to dancing, Rita Hayworth also good in acting.

[@1966marlon]

This movie is great. And this scene is one of the greatest of movie musicals ever. Great,great talent. Great lady.

[@chilvari]

This is one of my favorite Rita Hayworth performances. I love when she goes "poor john" and the expression on her face. Cover girl is one of my fav. movies

[@ashleyregina]

Rita Hayworth managed to not only be THE most beautiful, but THE most hilarious, all at the same time.

[@olliehall5737]

Possibly my favourite Rita Hayworth movie. I especially love this number and it really showcases her acting ability, normally the dazzlingly beautiful femme fatale or love interest (Gilda, You Were Never Lovelier), in this performance within a performance she almost becomes the clown, it reminds me a lot of Giulietta Masina’s ‘Gelsemina’ in Fellini’s La Strada. Really wish there were more movies with Rita and Gene Kelly, although the Fred Astaire ones are fantastic, you never really buy them as a couple whereas Rita and Gene; you’d really struggle to name a more handsome and charismatic pair…

[@williamsnyder5616]

Ironically, it was the great box office of ''Cover Girl'' which set up Rita and Gene never doing another film together. Hayworth, of course, was contract to Columbia Pictures while Kelly worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. MGM had ''lent'' Kelly to Columbia for ''Cover Girl,'' partially for something for him to do, but also because Metro had yet to realize how to use Kelly's unique talents. When Kelly arrived at Columbia, he basically supervised the film's dazzling musical numbers. While all this was going on, Columbia boss Harry Cohn out-bid MGM's Louis B. Mayer for the film rights to Kelly's great Broadway show, ''Pal Joey.'' Cohn wanted to borrow Kelly again to re-team him with Rita, but Mayer, who was embarrassed to be out-bid for ''Joe'' but also embarrassed that Columbia had realized Kelly's talents,nixed the idea. He never lent Kelly again.

[@penyuflyeverstime630]

this lovely old hollywood tunes makes me wonder that all that kind of synchronized classical background music seems like a sound of bees stirring up its wings

[@enaj78]

Thanks so much for the info.

[@MelissaFortune]

LOVE LOVE LOVE RITA!!!

[@Connie193]

that's such a lovely scene! i love Rita's expression on her face when she sings... very funny song! ;-)

[@akes55]

OwOLink.NO WAY does Rita look like Lucille Ball!!!!

[@renarga6886]

+steve akers Back then Rita and Lucille used to have the same manager, and he was obsessed with a certain physical type for his actresses. The man managed to turn Rita and Lucille into twin sisters!!! Ironically, my two favorite divas hated each other. Legend has it that Lucille was jealous of Rita's success. I don't know, and it doesn't really matter to me, because I love the two of them.

[@maxbacon4828]

Me too.Is it a redhead thing ? ,or is it just they are both gorgeous ?

[@rodocar2736]

@@renarga6886 Rita y Lucille se odiaban?, que paso se agarraron de los pelos ? (disculpe no tengo el traductor a mano). me interesa porque tengo a Rita como idola º1

[@raemckay]

This is true. Also true: This isn't Rita's voice. As the description for the video says, Rita's voice was dubbed by Martha Mears.

[@annap4524]

Non ci posso credere .,,Rita Hayworth sapeva anche essere comica ????? 😳

[@raemckay]

Thanks for your comment. If you read the description of the video, you'll see it's a Pearly Queen costume - of Cockney origin (London).

[@classicmovieclub9760]

Fab!!

[@mercedesdecastro2625]

Me encantan los payasos desde muy niña, bonita canción cómica y payasada por jon

[@Lorripops123]

Wicked song!

[@miriamramos2501]

linda, ! charmosa .Rita ..todas dançarinas. ...e sem plásticas hem!!

[@renarga6886]

+Miriam Ramos AMO a Hollywood da Era do Jazz! Aqueles caras eram gênios. As mulheres eram lindas e absurdamente talentosas.

[@paulineg20024]

She's so funny here ;D

[@leighbee13]

her shoes are so cool!

[@goodgollymisspolly5163]

I need that hat!

[@bettyottman1718]

Make your own one.

[@nazaren45]

😅👍

[@russellwilliams1071]

Men go to bed with Gilda...but wake up with me 😔

[@WillScarlet1991]

So you're gay?

[@SabrinaJohns]

Anyone else see the face in the backdrop?

[@Hollandia777]

Pearly Group... Great!

[@enaj78]

What was the name of the singer who dubbed for Rita. She did it in all her pictures and sounds close to Rita's speaking voice.

[@coreybryant59]

The woman was Martha Mears.

[@pamdolan7391]

76 Trombones

[@Imani_AM]

I like thar song, too. The Music Man!

[@trickydick6152]

Published in 1906.

[@raemckay]

And to nitpick - this isn't Rita's voice. But yes, clearly a diction coach could have improved this number.

[@EricIrl]

Probably the same coach who worked with Dick Van Dyke.

[@WillScarlet1991]

@@EricIrl 🤣🤣

[@mvies77]

Considering that they dubbed in another voice for Rita, they could have found someone with a lot better Cockney accent.

[@26blanco]

i like the sound of english.

[@OwOLink]

Rita Hayworth looks ALOT like "Lucille Ball"...!!!

[@jimstokes6742]

a and lot are two separate words

[@SlimSymes]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesta_Victoria

[@normwebs]

Male1950. You obviously know the song very well, but are you sure about Gertrude Lawrence ? What about much earlier - Vesta Victoria ? Gertrude Lawrence possibly, but certainly not the original.

[@samw7998]

joehills

[@pytko3]

You notice how much Rita Hayworth, looks like Lucille Ball?

[@dragonessresa]

Haha, it is true that Rita Hayworth's accent leaves a bit to be desired. Still, it doesn't quite seem fair to judge all American actors by that standard, does it? ^_~

[@blathersprite7468]

Hepburn really wasn't a good singer - listen to the non-dubbed versions.

[@BethDiane]

The old Hollywood system probably wouldn't have used the real actresses' voices even if they _could_ sing. There are eine result Rita Moreno movies where she was dubbed by someone else--and she went on to win a Grammy.