Starring Jane Frazee, Frank Albertson, Barbara Jo Allen, and Frank Jenks
Directed by Joseph Santley
Music and Lyrics by various
Musicals were an important part of morale during World War II. They boosted people's spirits on the home front and gave the studios a chance to really go all-out with showing off the stars on their lots. Even the "Poverty Row" low-budget studios got in on it, churning out dozens of B-movies about life during wartime and how those still at home coped. How does one of these movies, named for the popular propaganda poster encouraging women to take work at the factories and the novelty song inspired by it, look today? Let's begin as four factory workers try desperately to get one room for rent and find out...
The Story: Rosie Warren (Frazee) and Vera Watson (Allen) end up having to share the last room in town with two fellow defense plant workers, Charlie Doran (Albertson) and Kelly Kennedy (Jenks). Rosie tries to hide the situation from her stuffy fiancée Wayne Calhoun (Frank Fenton), who also happens to be her boss at the plant.
Meanwhile, Granma Quill (Maude Eburne), the owner of the house, keeps having to kick people out because her daughter Stella (Ellen Lowe) is constantly feuding with her husband Clem (Lloyd Corrigan). Vera and Rosie try to get them back together...and then Rosie gets into trouble when she's photographed half-naked in the rain with Charlie. She tells the cops their married to get them off their backs, and now the whole town knows. Plus, she sold Wayne's engagement ring to get rent money and now has to get it back.
The Song and Dance: Like The Sky's the Limit, this makes interesting use of a familiar situation of the time. With so many workers pouring into factory towns, there wasn't nearly enough room to hold them all. Rooms really were that hard to come by. It gives a feeling of intimacy and realism to a story that's otherwise pretty goofy. Also adding realism are the glimpses of the inside of the factory and the work that went on in these factories. With the low-budget production, it's almost more like a wartime sitcom from a later era than a movie. There's also its encouragement of its female workers. In fact, Rosie puts off her wedding to Wayne to focus more on her work.
Favorite Number: Rosie tries to explain why "I Don't Want Anyone at All" to Wayne as he drives her home and she attempts to avoid telling him about the ring and her set-up with the room. Rosie and a quartet get to perform "The Friendly Tavern Polka" for dancers jitterbugging up a storm at the local bar. "Rosie the Riveter" is the sole large-scale production number. The plant celebrates in the finale as dancers perform with airplanes on poles and do a faux-Busby Berkley overhead formations shot.
What I Don't Like: Um, did I mention this is a low-budget B musical? Everyone's performances are broad, silly, and/or stiff. There's no fancy trappings like Technicolor or huge set pieces, barely any dancing at all besides the "Rosie the Riveter" finale and the Polka jitterbugs, and not even really that much music. Probably the only actor familiar to most people nowadays would be Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as Granma Quill's mouthy grandson. And obviously, if you don't know anything about the home front and what went on in the US during World War II, you probably won't get most of what's going on.
The Big Finale: It still works for it's intended purpose, which is as a cute and patriotic way to pass an hour and a half if you know anything about World War II and the early 40's.
Home Media: This isn't on currently on DVD as far as I can tell, but it can be found for streaming on several sites.
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