Starring Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Russ Tambyn, and Vic Damone
Directed by Roy Rowland
Music by Vincent Youmans; Lyrics by various
We honor the Navy this Memorial Day with one of the last big MGM musicals. Hit the Deck was a smash on Broadway in 1927, making instant standards out of the songs "Hallelujah" and "Sometimes I'm Happy." RKO originally filmed it in 1930, but that version has since been lost. MGM bought the rights in 1947, hoping to turn it into another On the Town. Is it as joyous as that film and another version, the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rodgers vehicle Follow the Fleet from 1936, or should it be dumped in the San Francisco harbor? Let's begin with a rousing tribute to the Navy over the credits and find out...
The Story: Chief Boatswain's Mate Bill Clark (Martin) and Officers Rico Ferrari (Damone) and Danny Smith (Tambyn) are delighted to be on shore leave in San Francisco after having spent time in Antarctica and swampland. Bill takes them to see his girlfriend Ginger. Tired of spending six years waiting for him, Ginger tells them she's found someone else and they're through.
They're not the only ones having romance problems. Danny is worried when he finds out his older sister Susan (Powell) is dating womanizing actor Wendall Craig (Gene Raymond), hoping to get a part in his new show. He and Bill attack Craig when they find him putting the moves on Susan. Rico takes her home, only to fall for her. Craig wants to press charges, but the boys are warned by Rico's widowed mother (Kay Armen) and one of the dancers in his show, Carol Pace (Debbie Reynolds). Meanwhile, the boys try to help Mrs. Ferrari woo florist Mr. Peroni (J. Carrol Naish), and Danny is beginning to develop feelings for Carol. Now the boys have to dodge the shore patrol and Danny's Naval admiral father (Walter Pidgeon), before their love lives and shore leave come to an abrupt end.
The Song and Dance: Charming romantic comedy with music is filmed in stunning wide Cinemascope, giving them plenty of room for huge numbers. I'm impressed that they kept all but two songs from the original 1927 Broadway show, something most adaptations of older musicals from this era seldom did. The boys may be the ones who are in the spotlight, but it's their lady friends who have the most fun. Jane Powell has a wonderful time getting to be the mature older sibling for a change and Miller's hilarious as the dancer who wishes her beau would see more of her than the sea. Naish and Armen make the most of their side plot as the older couple who are trying to start their lives and their loves over.
Favorite Number: We open with a stirring version of "Join the Navy" performed by the sailors over the credits. The boys sing "Hallelujah!" as they try to make a cake for their admiral in Antarctica. Ann Miller and lovely chorus girls in pinks and purples are "Keeping Myself for You" in a telephone-themed number at the theater. Martin takes over the song for the second half. Reynolds joins the sailor chorus in the theater to ask about "A Kiss Among Friends." Powell sings "Sometimes I'm Happy" for Raymond at his apartment to show him what she's capable of. Miller returns for a sizzling "Lady From the Bayou." The boys and the girls lament 'Why Oh Why?" is love so difficult in two separate versions performed near the beginning and end of the film. The girls' in particular is very striking, with the last long shot of them together fretting over their men. Martin finally wins Miller over with his version of the standard "More Than You Know."
"Hallelujah!" returns for the big finale at the theater, this time performed by an exuberant Armen. Seldom has the finale of any musical been this joyful or spontaneous, with Miller throwing her hat in the air and tapping her heart out, a few folks running into each other, and no one really much caring. They're all enjoying every noisy, delightful minute, and so's the audience.
My other favorite "number" isn't actually a musical number in the traditional sense. Carol and Danny escape the shore patrol through a horror-themed fun house in an amusement park. They have a ball dancing on moving floors, crawling past mirrors that make them look longer, and frolicking with performers representing Dracula and the Devil.
Trivia: Both the show and the film are based after the play Shore Leave. Hit the Deck was indeed a hit in New York, running over a year, and went over only slightly less well in England. Outside of a few songs turning up on television in the 1950's, it doesn't seem to have reappeared again after this film.
What I Don't Like: Wish the rest of the cast had more to do. Though Susan is the catalyst behind the boys' rowdy behavior, neither she nor Reynolds have much chemistry with their supposed on-screen sweethearts. Damone doesn't do much better here than in the more fantastical Kismet a year later, and Martin is stiff as a board. Tambyn could sing, so I have no idea why he was dubbed here. His voice sounds way too mature for the character and the actor. Not only is the story somewhat changed from the original, but it's a load of cotton candy fluff that dissolves completely near the end as all the romances start to get a little too complicated for their own good.
The Big Finale: The decent numbers alone make this worth a watch during your Memorial Day barbecue if you're a fan of anyone in the cast or the big, splashy Broadway adaptations of the 1950's and 60's.
Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming, the former from the Warner Archives.
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