Lunch Break Video: Bette Midler in “For the Boys”

Last night I took my niece and nephew trick-or-treating then we watched Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus, the perfect Halloween night film.

It got me thinking of some of my other favorite movies with the Divine Miss M including Beaches, First Fives Club, Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune and her 1993 TV remake of Gypsy. Then there is my all-time favorite Midler performance as USO entertainer Dixie Leonard in 1991’s For the Boys.

Dixie and Eddie Sparks (James Caan) travel and perform together through World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The story of their adventures together, filled with love, laughter and tears, is related in flashbacks by Dixie on the eve of being awarded a medal by the President.

Even though the film was a box office disappointment, Bette’s performance was a real tour-de-force earning her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award.

Here are a few musical numbers from the movie starting with Bette’s lovely version of The Beatles’ In My Life.

This is Bette, as Dixie, singing a dramatic version of Come Rain or Shine to the soldiers during a power outage.