Happy Memorial Day! - Let's Face It

Paramount, 1943

Starring Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Eve Arden, and ZaSu Pitts

Directed by Sidney Lanfield

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter and others

Let's celebrate the upcoming Memorial Day weekend with the last of the four comedies Bob Hope did set in the military. On Broadway in 1941, Let's Face It was a farce with Cole Porter songs that made stars out of Danny Kaye as one of three soldiers who are hired by bored wealthy women to escort them and Eve Arden as the most prominent of those women. It was a surprise hit despite less-than-stellar reviews that didn't consider it to be one of Porter's better scores. How does it look nowadays? Let's begin, not at the barracks, but at a dairy farm that is also a health spa for overweight women and find out...

The Story: Winnie Porter (Hutton) is getting tired of her fiancee, Private Jerry Walker (Hope) ducking out of getting married. On the day they're supposed to finally tie the knot, Winnie catches Jerry selling junk food to her clients, and the Army catches him when he accidentally drives a Jeep through a wall. Desperate to pay off the Jeep, he convinces his friends Barney (Dave Willock) and Frankie (Cully Richards) to join him in arranging dates for wealthy Maggie Watson (Arden) and her friends Cornelia Figeston (Pitts) and Nancy Collister (Phyllis Povah). The ladies are tired of their husbands going off on "fishing trips" and leaving them alone. Furious when they catch them with the women, Winnie and Frankie and Barney's girlfriends Muriel (Dona Drake) and Jean (Marjorie Weaver) take the ladies' husbands out on dates at the same nightclub. Unfortunately, the boys' superior officer Sergeant Wiggins (Joe Sawyer) is also out on the town. When he catches them, it sends the boys fleeing again.

The Song and Dance: Though Hope and Hutton both have some good moments, Arden and the older ladies are the ones who really steal the show. They get all the best lines and have some of the best moments, including when their husbands catch them with the soldiers! Hope does get a few moments of his own to shine, notably in the beginning when he's trying to hustle the ladies with the sweets and the end when the guys are fleeing the entire mess. 

The Numbers: We open with "The Milk Song" as Winnie leads ladies of all shapes and sizes in an exercise class. Winnie and Jerry say "Who Did? I Did? Yes I Did!" as they sing along to an album Winnie made and Jerry tries to show off on Winnie's exercise equipment. "Let's Face It" is the sole chorus number as the Army soldiers sing about the presents their girlfriends sent them. "Who Did?" is heard later as an instrumental dance number for the trio of soldiers as they literally stick together to keep the overly amorous older ladies at bay and as they finally do dance with the women. When we get to the nightclub, two dancers do an instrumental routine that seemed to mainly involve variations on the woman smacking the man. Winnie gives her own option on romance as she insists "Let's Not Talk About Love."

Trivia: Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn wrote "Who Did? I Did! Yes I Did!"

Let's Face It debuted on Broadway in 1941 with Kaye in Hope's role singing two patter numbers written by his wife Sylvia Fine in addition to Porter's songs. As mentioned, it was a surprise hit, running two years in New York and a year in London in 1943. It pretty much disappeared after the London run, other than a TV version in 1954 with Bert Lahr and Gene Nelson as the soldiers and Vivian Vance in Eve Arden's role.

What I Don't Like: No matter who wrote the music, this isn't really much of a musical. I really wish they'd kept more of the Cole Porter score, even if it wasn't one of his best. It might have fleshed out more of the characters. We barely see Winnie other than her numbers, and Jerry's buddies and their girls are fairly interchangeable. 

The Big Finale: Mainly for really big fans of Hope, Arden, Porter, or small-scale 40's musicals. 

Home Media: Which makes it just as well that the only places you can currently find this are on YouTube and the Internet Archive.

YouTube

Internet Archive

Happy Memorial Day! - Panama Hattie

MGM, 1942

Starring Ann Sothern, Red Skelton, Dan Dailey, and Virginia O'Brien

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter and others

We salute our men and women who fought and died on the high seas with this wartime hit. It started out on Broadway in 1940 as a popular vehicle for Ethel Merman, with music by Cole Porter. The start of World War II suddenly made its story about a nightclub singer and three sailors who get caught up in spy intrigue and her romance with a wealthy soldier even more relevant. How does all this look today? Let's start with an opening card admitting that the gobs in this movie get pretty goofy and find out...

The Story: Those three sailors who burst through the card, Red (Skelton), Rags (Rags Ragland), and Rowdy (Ben Blue), are huge fans of nightclub singer Hattie Mahoney (Southern). They're also convinced that spies are lurking around every corner. Hattie is in love with rich soldier Sgt. Dick Bullard (Dailey). She gets off on the wrong foot with his 8-year-old daughter Geraldine (Jackie Horner) when Gerry laughs at her ribbon-trimmed suit, but she soon makes friends with the child. 

Hattie has a harder time with Lelia Tree (Marsha Hunt), the snooty socialite who is also after Dick. After Red gets two notes mixed up, Lelia angrily accuses Hattie of putting him up to it. Hattie insists Dick loves her, but after Lelia claims Hattie will just be in his way, she insists on leaving town. Hattie's sailor friends discover that the empty house mentioned in the first note may be the clue to the location of the spies they've been looking for...and their way of keeping Hattie around long enough to marry the right man.

The Song and Dance: Brief but charming. Despite Southern playing the title character, this one is really dominated by the three sailor comics. Skelton had some of his earliest exposure at MGM as the leader of the three, showing off the wacky pratfalls and babyish voices that would become his trademarks in later years. Southern does best playing off them and doing the sweet "Let's Be Buddies" with the adorable Horner. Virginia O'Brian has the most fun of the supporting cast as Hattie's best friend Flo, who gets to chase Dick's proper British butler Jay Jerkins (Alan Mobray). 

The Numbers: We open in the nightclub with the chorus singing about "Hattie From Panama" and Hattie's sailors admiring how she performs the hit from this show, "I've Still Got My Health." The instrumental "Berry Me Not" lets the trio of Berry Brothers take command of the floor with their show-stopping tap routine. Lena Horne gets another Porter standard, the breezy "Just One of Those Things," later at the club. Flo sings the Porter patter number "Fresh as a Daisy" to explain her feelings for Jay. The trio of soldiers woo three pretty Panama lasses by insisting that they're all "Good Neighbors."

The last Porter song that made it into the film is "Let's Be Buddies." Hattie initially sings it with Gerry as they admit they got off on the wrong foot and want to start their relationship over. Flo picks it up as she grabs Jay and says she wants a relationship with him, period. The film ends with a band playing "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" as the sailors are saluted as heroes. Flo sings "Did I Get Stinkin' At the Savoy" at the nightclub, while Lena Horne and the Berrys introduce the audience to the South American dance number "The Sping." The film ends abruptly with the sudden burst of patriotism from Hattie and the cast, "The Son of a Gun Who Picks On Uncle Sam."

Trivia: Panama Hattie opened on Broadway in 1940 as a vehicle for Ethel Merman. The story seems to have been pretty much the same as the film, other than Hattie got more involved in helping the sailors capture the spies in the finale. Merman would do a second version for the short-lived TV show The Best of Broadway in 1954. Other than a few scattered staged concerts, Hattie has seldom been heard from since.

What I Don't Like: There's a reason for that. Hattie may be the quintessential 40's musical comedy...and as such, hasn't dated well beyond the end of World War II. Southern tries hard and is cute with Horner, but is otherwise no Merman. The three sailors dominate the action to such a degree, they pretty much crowd out everything else, including the love story between Hattie and her soldier. Dailey was at the start of his career and wouldn't really come into his own as a dancer and actor for another five years. Neither he nor Lena Horne (who is certainly capable of doing more than singing two songs) have much to do. There's also the loss of the full Porter score. I did hear it wasn't his best, but it would have been nice to have more songs that actually came with the show.

The Big Finale: Cute time-waster this holiday weekend if you're a huge fan of Skelton or 40's musicals, but nothing you really need to go out of your way for.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming, the former in a remastered edition from the Warner Archives. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Happy Memorial Day! - Give Me a Sailor

Paramount, 1938

Starring Bob Hope, Jack Whiting, Martha Raye, and Betty Grable

Directed by Elliot Nugent

Music by Ralph Rainger; Lyrics by Leo Robin

Let's celebrate Memorial Day honoring those who fought and died for us on the high seas with this wacky romantic comedy. Bob Hope was an up-and-coming star on the radio and in the movies when this debuted. Betty Grable, on the other hand, had been bouncing around films since the early 30's and had been doing ingenue roles and tiny roles in big musicals since the mid-30's. Martha Raye had mostly been doing supporting roles since she went to films in 1936. Paramount gave all three of them an opportunity for leading roles, joined by popular crooner Whiting. How well do they do with this goofy farce about two brothers in the Navy who love the same girl? Let's begin with brothers Jim (Hope) and Walter (Whiting) as they're going off-ship and find out...

The Story: Jim is in love with beautiful Nancy (Grable), but she only has eyes for Walter. Nancy's plainer sister Letty (Raye) has a crush on Walter and hopes her excellent cooking will win him. She's going to enter the boat-shaped cake she makes for their return in a contest, but the photographer accidentally takes a photo of her legs instead. Somehow, her legs end up winning a beautiful legs contest. Now she's the glamorous, much-fussed-over one. She and Jim have been trying to help each other to win their heart's desire...but after she becomes famous, they realize that the ones they really want are each other.

The Song and Dance: Grable may be the blonde beauty with the equally good legs, but Raye's the one who really stands out here. She has some great scenes of physical humor, including her bratty sister Edna (Bonnie Jean Churchill) releasing the frog into the kitchen that ends with the fateful photo and Hope hiding her under his mattress when they're forced to share a room at a local inn. Grable's best moment is a dance sequence with a game Whiting where he gets her into a wild routine to keep her from her many suitors.

Favorite Number: We open with the sailors singing about "The U.S.A and You" aboard-ship as they prepare to disembark. "What Goes On In My Heart" begins as a duet for Grable and Whiting at a dance...but Grable keeps dancing with her many other suitors. Whiting pulls her into a delightful tap routine to keep her in his arms, and even manages to acquit himself relatively well alongside the experienced Grable. We get Raye's "A Little Kiss at Twilight" twice, once as a ballad after she becomes famous, and later as a swing number. 

What I Don't Like: Despite figuring into the title, very little time is spent with the guys actually being sailors. This one is all about the relationships. On one hand, it's almost refreshing to see Raye, who usually ends up in brassy supporting roles, get to play the glamor girl. Truth be told, sad-sack Cinderella doesn't really suit her nervy personality, and she can come off as whiny or annoying rather than well-meaning.

Grable's not much better. She's a spoiled brat who steals her sister's clothes for a dance and has no trouble flirting with other men when the one she loves is right there. I have no clue what either guy sees in her. Hope doesn't really have that much to do, and Whiting is barely there other than his dance number with Grable.

The Big Finale: This isn't really much of a comedy, a musical, or a military farce. Unless you're a huge fan of Raye, I'd leave this one stranded in the woods. 

Home Media: Only on DVD as part of a Bob Hope collection and a double-feature with another Hope military comedy, Caught In the Draft. 

DVD - Bob Hope Classic Comedy Collection

DVD - Caught In the Draft/Give a Girl a Sailor

Happy Memorial Day! - Jumping Jacks

Paramount, 1952

Starring Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Mona Freeman, and Don DeFore

Directed by Norman Taurog

Music by Jerry Livingston; Lyrics by Mack David

At War With the Army was such a hit, Martin and Lewis did two more musicals set around the Armed Services in 1952. Jumping Jacks throws them back into the Army for what I suspect is the only musical revolving around paratroopers. This was originally written for either Danny Kaye or Bob Hope during World War II, but they already made military comedies and turned it down. It was eventually reworked and updated for Martin and Lewis and the Korean War era. How does this tale of a performer who is reluctantly recruited into the Army ranks when his buddy wants him to appear in a show look now? Let's begin with comedian Hap Smith (Lewis) and his act with his current partner Betsy Carter (Freeman) and find out...

The Story: Hap convinced to help out his former stage partner Chick Allen (Martin), who is now putting on shows with his fellow soldiers to boost morale. Chick and his paratrooper crew need to impress General Timmons (Ray Teal), who doesn't think much of their shows. They pass Hap off as a soldier and sneak him onstage. He goes over so well, the general convinces them to keep him with the show. T

rouble is, he thinks Hap's an actual soldier. Chick doesn't want his men to get into trouble, so he passes Hap off as Private "Dogface" Dolan (Richard Erdman) to keep him around. Hap does everything he can to get away, but Chick keeps dragging him back. It's not until he gets caught in war maneuvers that he manages to get away...but even then, he manages to save the day.

The Song and Dance: Once again, this is mostly Lewis' show. He's having a ball, jumping on beds, mugging to the officers in charge, and trying everything he can to get out of the Army. Big, craggy Robert Strauss also does well as Sargent McClusky, who can't understand why Hap keeps trying to flee. Filming at the actual Airborne Department of the Infantry School (now the United States Army Airborne School) adds verisimilitude to the war scenes. 

Favorite Number: The film literally puts its best foot forward right away with Betsy singing about how "I Can't Resist a Boy In Uniform" in her and Hap's stage number, even he tears apart said uniform. "The Parachute Jump" and "The Big Blue Sky Is the Place for Me" are the big chorus numbers in the Army show. The first has Lewis dancing with a mop, then playing the parachute rope like harp strings. Martin's romantic solo, sung to Betsy as they dance together, is "I Know a Dream When I See One." He and Lewis insist that they need to "Keep a Little Dream Handy" at the show.

What I Don't Like: Not only does Martin not have much to do, he really comes off as a major jerk here. The plot simply makes no sense at all, even by the standards of their films. Hap said he didn't want to be in the show, and he really shouldn't have been forced into staying. Freeman has even less to do. She disappears for the final third of the film without explanation. Lewis can overdo it occasionally, especially when he's excited and his little-boy voice gets grating. 

The Big Finale: Not one of Martin and Lewis' better films as a team. For major fans of either star only. Casual viewers will want to start with one of their later non-military comedies or Lewis' solo vehicles. 

Home Media: Available on streaming and as part of an 8 movie DVD collection.

DVD - Martin & Lewis Collection

Amazon Prime

Happy Memorial Day! - Hit the Deck (1955)

MGM, 1955

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. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Happy Memorial Day! - The Sky's the Limit

RKO, 1943

Starring Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, and Reginald Fenton

Directed by Edward H. Griffith

Music by Harold Arlen, Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

We honor the troops this Memorial Day Weekend with a very different wartime musical. As I've mentioned many times, the musicals of the World War II years were largely intended to be the ultimate in escapist fare, often set in faraway places or times. Sky's the Limit takes a different road, with it's slightly darker depiction of a war hero who pretends to be an ordinary guy to woo an ambitious photographer. How does this small-scale romance look today? Let's begin as three heroic ace Flying Tigers return to the US for a ticker-tape parade in New York and a whirlwind publicity tour and find out...

The Story: Triple ace Lieutenant Fred Atwill (Astaire) is on leave and just wants to have some fun and meet a few pretty girls. Sneaking off the train, he heads to New York City, where he meets photographer Joan Manion (Leslie). Joan's tired of taking pictures of celebrities. She's dying to head overseas and photograph a war zone, but her boss Phil Harriman (Benchley) would rather keep her near him, so he can try to convince her to marry him. 

Fred falls head over heels in love with Joan and does everything he can to woo her, even moving in next to her. She wishes he'd get a real job, but he doesn't seem to have any interest in working. He tries setting up Phil with her...but it ends up working in his favor anyway. His buddies, however, have found him out...and then tell him that his leave's been cut short, and he only has two days left to show Joan how much he really cares about her.

The Song and Dance: Astaire usually doesn't work in uniform, but he's a tad bit more realistic as an independent-minded flyer who has a hard time taking orders than he is a sailor or army officer. Leslie simply glows as the strong-willed and intelligent young woman who is enchanting enough for two older men to adore her. You'd never believe she turned 18 during filming; she seems far more mature. Benchley's also on more accustomed territory here as the caustic newspaperman who wants to keep his crush out of harm's way. The wartime setting and small cast gives the story a feel of intimacy and sophistication. 

Favorite Number: The Oscar-nominated ballad of longing "My Shining Hour" turns up twice, as Leslie's solo with a neon-framed orchestra early in the film, and later as an instrumental backdrop for Leslie and Astaire's romantic ballroom duet. They have a great time with the comic "A Lot In Common With You" as they jokingly sing about the same things they do (and don't) like, leading into a very funny dance routine. 

The big one here is the standard "One for My Baby." Astaire performs this at the bar after he criticizes an airplane manufacturer's planes and Joan walks out on him. After he drunkenly asks for more, he taps furiously across the bar, eventually ending with him breaking all the glassware on the bar and throwing a stool into the mirror in the back. What's even more impressive is that Astaire did all the choreography in this one himself, without the help of his usual partners. 

What I Don't Like: This isn't for those looking for a bigger, bolder, more epic plot, or a more typical romantic comedy. It's funny, but it's a small story that's mostly about a man trying to be ordinary for a lady who wants to be something special. No huge chorus numbers, no goofy side characters besides Benchley and Astaire's buddies. Speaking of his buddies, their nasty behavior when they find out what Fred's up to may rub some people the wrong way, especially when they force him to do a snake dance that's as awkward as it is silly.

The Big Finale: Underrated and charming, this low-key wartime romance is highly recommended for fans of Astaire or those who prefer their musicals on a smaller scale. 

Home Media: Easy to find on DVD from the Warner Archive and on streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Happy Memorial Day! - Here Comes the Waves

Paramount, 1944
Starring Betty Hutton, Bing Crosby, Sonny Tufts, and Ann Doran
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

During World War II, for the first time, the Armed Services recruited women as well as men. Women took the places of men on the homefront, teaching them to fly, doing office work, engineering parachutes, and driving delivery vehicles. The WAVES were a real group, the United States Naval Reserve, and many women did leave their jobs and homes to volunteer. What happens to a pair of twins who decide to join those ranks in order to meet a handsome singer who is determined to follow his father's footsteps? Let's head to Los Angeles, where the WAVES are signing people up, to find out...

The Story: Rosemary Allison (Hutton) enlists her and twin sister Susie (Hutton) into the WAVES, despite them being very different. Rosemary is a smart and serious brunette; Susie is a noisy, scatterbrained blonde. Susie is obsessed with singer Johnny Cabot (Crosby), to the point where she brings her collection of his records with her to the barracks and listen to them while she bathes. She's beyond thrilled when she and her sister meet her idol at a club while on leave. Johnny, however, is far more interested in Rosemary than her sister.

He's trying to get his friend Windy (Tufts) to get him into the Navy, so he can serve on the same boat as his father. Susie's horrified at the idea of him getting killed and sends in a suggestion that he star in and direct a show to aid WAVES recruitment. Johnny thinks it was Windy's idea, and Rosemary thinks it was Johnny's and that he's more interested in himself than the show. Windy finds out it was Susie's idea, and first tries to get Johnny to think Rosemary's not into him, then have to figure out how to keep him with the show when he's determined to be on that ship.

The Song and Dance: The fun thing about this one is how it acknowledges and plays with Bing's fame in the 30's and early 40's. Most people think of girls drooling over recording stars as being a relatively recent thing, but as this movie points out, it's been around for decades. Yes, Bing was a teen idol, and yes, he was so popular that women would faint dead away if they spoke to him. Susie's not the only one obsessed with him, either. We see women collapse just from him singing "That Old Black Magic" at a concert, and his popularity with the ladies is also used as a plot point when Susie calls out to the ladies on the street to mob him and keep him from fleeing the show.

Favorite Number: "The Navy Song" in the opening serves to introduce the viewer to the WAVES program as we see women recruiting for the group, and then to the Allisons and their very different personalities when they pick up the song for their nightclub act. Bing gets two decent ballads, "Let's Take the Long Way Home" as he accompanies Rosemary back to the barracks, and the romantic idol "I Promise You" in the show, this time with Rosemary in a white dress and flower in her hair as they swear to always be faithful. Hutton and the WAVES chorus spoofs female and male sailor stereotypes as she claims "There's a Fellow Waiting in Poughkeepsie"...and in every port around the world and Johnny and Windy prepare for their dates.

What I Don't Like: The film itself is pretty much one long recruitment advertisement for the WAVES. Hutton's role isn't well-written - Susie comes off as annoying and clingy, Rosemary as frigid and obnoxious when she refuses to listen to Johnny's honest explanation about the letter. The movie's best-known (and Oscar-nominated) song, "Acc-en-tu-ate the Positive," is unfortunately introduced in a clumsy blackface number featuring Bing and Tufts as a pair of lazy black stereotypes. The movie's big finale, it's title number, is also strangely dull, with the women just marching onstage in time to the music. They could have least have done some more effects or marched into the audience or something.

The Big Finale: Necessary only for major fans of Crosby, Hutton, or 40's musicals. Everyone else would probably be better-off looking for Crosby's commercial recording of "Acc-en-tu-ate the Positive."

Home Media: Currently available as part of the made-to-order Universal Vault collection or on several Bing Crosby DVD sets.

DVD - Universal Vault
DVD - Bing Crosby: Screen Legends Collection
DVD - Bing Crosby: The Silver Screen Collection

Happy Memorial Day! - On the Town

MGM, 1949
Starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, and Vera-Ellen
Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens; Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

We're honoring Memorial Day and those who fought and died for our country with a story of the adventures of three sailors on leave in a wacky New York City. This would be the third and final pairing of Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, and their second movie together about sailors on shore leave. It was a huge hit in 1949, but how does it measure up nowadays? Let's join those sailors as they disembark their ship and find out...

The Story: Chip (Sinatra), Gabey (Kelly), and Ozzie (Munshin) are in New York for a day of adventure. Ozzie and Gabey intend to pursue glamorous women, while Chip just wants to see the sights. Gabey sees a poster of New York's Miss Turnstiles for the month, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), on the subway and falls in love at first sight. He takes the poster, prompting the cops to come after them for damaging property. The trio split up, searching for the elusive Ivy all over town. Chip finds cab driver Hildy Ezerhay (Betty Garrett), who'd rather he came up to her place than see all the sights in his dated guidebook. Ozzie falls for anthropologist Claire Huddesen (Ann Miller) at the Museum of Natural History, but he knocks over a dinosaur, sending them off and more cops after them.

Gabey does finally find Ivy practicing at Symphonic Hall. She tries to act aloof at first, but eventually agrees to a date with him that night. The trio and their ladies meet at the Empire State Building for triple date to several nightclubs. Gabey's upset when Ivy takes off. Hildy tries to replace her with her sniffly roommate Lucy Schmeeler (Alice Pearce), but when Gabey discovers that Ivy's working at Coney Island, they all end up following her there.

The Song and Dance: The first musical to shoot on location (if just briefly in the beginning and end), On the Town is a joyous romp with fun performances from just about everyone. Kelly and Vera-Ellen are warm and charming as the gob who wants to date a pretty girl and the girl who thinks she has to show off for him. Garrett's hilarious as the woman cab driver with more than driving a guy around town on her mind.

Favorite Number: Two of the ballets from the original Broadway On the Town made it here, the funny "Miss Turnstiles" that shows what Gabey hopes his fantasy girl looks like, and "A Day In New York," which pretty much reprises Gabey's storyline up to that point. Garrett tries to get Sinatra up to her apartment in one of the few songs retained from the original show, "Come On Up to My Place." The title number is an exuberant romp for the leads on the Empire State Building when they're about to go out for the night. Miller and Munshin have a great time describing "Prehistoric Man" at the museum.

Trivia: Kelly and Donen had to do a lot of talking to convince MGM to let them shoot in the real New York; MGM figured they'd be fine on the lot. They filmed in vans to block groupies from chasing Sinatra.

The original Broadway show debuted in 1944, and was one of the first major projects of Comden, Green, and Bernstein. It's been revived three times in New York since then, most recently in 2014.

What I Don't Like: I really wish Edens wasn't so against Bernstein's original score. Some of the songs are gorgeous, and it's disappointing that they weren't used. Most of his replacements are a bit bland. While I appreciate the historic location filming, the very real shots of the guys in New York makes the sets used in the rest of the movie look that much more fake.

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of any of the cast, ballet on film, or the MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's, this is a classic favorite that's worth going on the town to check out.

Home Media: As one of the most popular Golden Age MGM musicals, this is easily found in all major formats.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime