The I Don't Care Girl

1953 film by Lloyd Bacon

January 20, 1953 (1953-01-20)

Running time

78 min.CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office$1.25 million (US)^[1]

The I Don't Care Girl is a 1953 Technicolor film starring Mitzi Gaynor. It is a biography of entertainer Eva Tanguay.^[2]

Plot

The story of vaudeville performer Eva Tanguay (Mitzi Gaynor) is told to a couple of writers who plan to do a script about her for Hollywood producer George Jessel.

Her former partner Eddie McCoy (David Wayne) tells how they met. Recently widowed, he discovered Eva as a waitress, hearing her sing and offering her a job after she's fired. Eva falls for singer Larry Woods (Bob Graham), although piano player Charles Bennett (Oscar Levant) also has eyes for her. Eva is offended and sets out on her own when she finds out that Larry is married.

Bennett is found by the writers and claims Eddie's story is untrue. Eva was already singing in a cafe when she and Eddie first met. Unable to get Eddie to sober up, she breaks up their act and is discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld, who signs Eva for his famed Follies.

She learns that Larry's marriage is on the rocks, but is put off when the leading role in Larry's new operetta is apparently going to Stella (Hazel Brooks), another singer. Eva hires someone to throw tomatoes at Larry on stage, unaware that when he steps out to perform, Larry, having enlisted to fight in the war, will be wearing his Army uniform. Eva's prank backfires and she is disconsolate for quite a while, but in the end, Larry wins her back.