Ship Ahoy

MGM, 1942
Starring Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Bert Lahr, and Virginia O'Brien
Directed by Edward Buzzell
Music by Burton Lane and others; Lyrics by E.Y Harburg and others

I had so much fun with the travel films last week, I'm going to continue the theme for my weekday entries. This is best-known today as the second movie to feature Frank Sinatra (as a singer with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra), but it has other things to recommend it as well, including several nifty dances by Powell and comedy bits from O'Brian, Skelton, and Lahr. How does an unusual spy story tie in with this cast of comics and the ship-board setting? Let's head to the docks in New York to find out...

The Story: Tallulah Winters (Powell) is a dancer with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (themselves). She's convinced to transport a top secret magnetic mine to Puerto Rico by government officials. Turns out that the "officials" are really Nazi spies who stole the mine and are trying to get it out of the US under the nose of the real government agent Art Higgins (Stuart Crawford). They got the idea from the adventure novels written by Merton Kibble (Skelton). He and his buddy Skip Owens (Lahr) are also on-board. Merton's looking for a way to reinvigorate his writing...but he never expected inspiration to come from being caught up in Tallulah's wild plot.

The Song and Dance: Well, it's definitely one of the more original musicals I've seen. There just aren't that many musical spy stories out there. Energetic Powell and sarcastic O'Brian have a lot of fun with the loopy plot. Skelton and Lahr also have some nice bits, especially towards the end, when they're dodging the Nazis. You don't often see a dancer tapping out Morse code, either. I give MGM credit for trying for something at least somewhat unique, even when the story gets more than a little strange.

Favorite Number:  Sinatra gets to lay into "The Last Call for Love" in the beginning, joined by the Pied Pipers and Dorsey and his orchestra. Legendary drummer Buddy Rich provides the beat for Powell's "Hawaiian War Chant" tropical-themed routine. Rich also gets in on "I'll Take Tallulah" as Powell is swung across the screen. She also does a nice Spanish-tinged "Cape Dance." The most famous number from this is the glittery "On Moonlight Bay," where yes, Tallulah does tap the location of the Nazis on the ship in More Code for Art, Skip, and Merton.

Trivia: This was Sinatra's second movie. He'd make movies mostly with MGM through the 40's.

What I Don't Like: The plot may be original, but it's also convoluted and kind of thin. It's hard to believe that the otherwise-sensible Tallulah would be naive enough to believe the spies' rather flimsy story. Those who are here for Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey will be disappointed; they have a few numbers in the beginning and the end, but otherwise have very little to do. Lahr's mugging is a little more annoying here, especially given he spends a lot of the film's running time chasing women half his age (including O'Brian).

The Big Finale: If you love Skelton, Powell, tap dancing, or big band music, this is worth checking out at least once if you can find it.

Home Media: Currently only available via the Warner Archives in a remastered edition. (My copy was dubbed off TCM by a friend.)

DVD