Happy 4th of July! - The Fleet's In

Paramount, 1942

Starring William Holden, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken, and Betty Hutton

Directed by Victor Scherzinger

Music by Victor Scherzinger; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Let's celebrate America's 250th anniversary honoring the US Navy with this rare classic from early in the World War II years. Holden was a true golden boy in the early 40's, having become a star in the 1939 film version of Golden Boy and earned an Oscar nomination in 1940 for Our Town. What he wasn't was a musical star - in fact, this would be his only musical - which is likely why he's surrounded by some of Paramount's most popular musical performers of the war years. Lamour had been popular since the mid-30's, but Bracken and Hutton were up-and-coming comedians and would have their biggest hits during and directly after the war years. How do they all come together in this wacky romantic comedy where a sailor tries to kiss a standoffish nightclub singer to win a bet? Let's begin with another singer, movie star Diana Golden (Betty Jane Rhodes), performing the title song in a nightclub populated by sailors, and find out...

The Story: Diana kisses shy sailor Casey Kirby (Holden) as a publicity stunt. His shipmates, including his best friend Barney Waters (Bracken) are now convinced he's a ladies' man. They make a bet that he can't kiss frigid singer the Countess (Lamour) while on leave. Waters has his own problems. He's being pursued by the Countess' noisy roommate Bessie (Hutton), and he made the bet against his friend Spike's (Gil Lamb) watch. If he doesn't win that bet, Spike will thrash him within an inch of his life. Casey does everything he can to woo the Countess...but to his surprise, finds himself falling in love with her for real. She does, too, until Bessie and her friend Cissie (Cass Daley) spill the beans about the bet. Now Casey has three days to convince the Countess his love is on the level, before they get thrown out...or worse, land in jail.

The Song and Dance: Sweetly sincere Holden does tend to come off better than most leading men who appear opposite musical ladies. He's certainly enjoying himself more than most of the non-singing guys at 20th Century Fox did as the gob who finds himself falling for this lovely lady in spite of himself. Lamour has even more fun playing opposite him as the standoffish Countess. Mercer and Schertzinger came up with a terrific score, too. Three of the songs - "I Remember You," "Tangerine," and "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In a Hurry" - are now standards. 

The Song and Dance: We open with the title song over the credits before revealing that Diana Golden is singing it at a nightclub. Eddie Bracken reprises it with the sailors on their way back to their ship. Their first trip to the Swingland dance club provides our next numbers. Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell introduce "Tangerine" with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra. The Countess steps up next for "When You Hear the Time Signal." Bessie next tears into several sailors while performing "If You Build a Better Mousetrap." (Eberly and O'Connell reprise this later in a version that's less damaging to the sailors.) Barney joins the Countess and Bob Eberly for "Not Mine" in the nightclub. 

The Countess gets the honor of introducing "I Remember You" accompanied by Eberly, O'Connell, and Jimmy Dorsey at the sailors' weenie roast. Dancers Lorraine and Rognan do a spoof ballroom number to an instrumental version later at the club. Bessie blasts "Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing In a Hurry" in her idea of a tap costume, while Cissie finishes with "Tomorrow You Belong to Uncle Sammy" and Spike does his own acrobatic instrumental dance. 

Trivia: This is based on the 1933 non-musical play Sailor Beware. Paramount would remake it under that title as a vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in 1952. 

Victor Schertzinger's last film. He died in October 1941, four months before the movie was released. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, the plot is annoying. If the Countess would stop and listen (and if Bessie would close her mouth for five seconds and listen), they'd know that Casey doesn't really want to go through with it, either. They both pretty much say it's distasteful, and it is. A little of Bracken and Hutton can go a long way, especially when Hutton is in bombastic mode. Bracken spends most of the movie whining, and Hutton spends most of it yelling at him and throwing him around. 

The Big Finale: In the end, this is worth checking out as you dodge the heat this 4th of July for the good cast and music alone. 

Home Media: Alas, the only place you can find this online at present is YouTube, but at least the TCM copy there is pretty decent.

YouTube

Li'l Abner (1959)

Paramount, 1959

Starring Peter Palmer, Stubby Kaye, Leslie Parrish, and Billie Hayes

Directed by Melvin Frank

Music by Gene dePaul; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Lil' Abner was one of the most popular comic strips of the mid-20th century. From 1934 to 1977, millions of Americans followed the hilarious shenanigans going on in the Kentucky hillbilly town Dogpatch, where characters had names like Earthquake McGoon and Evil-Eye Fleagle and the spoof was broad, hilarious, and firing everywhere. The main characters were the title character, a handsome but hulking young man who was forever being pursued by the sweet Daisy Mae. When Daisy Mae finally caught him in 1952, it was a national event. The strip was popular enough to inspire a hit Broadway musical in 1956. The film version did well enough when it debuted in 1959, but is it still as funny almost 70 years later? Let's begin on "A Typical Day" in Dogpatch and find out...

The Story: Things are moving along in Dogpatch pretty much the way they usually do, with formidable Mammy Yokum (Hayes) giving her strapping son Abner (Palmer) his Yokumberry Tonic, and Abner being chased by lovely Daisy Mae Scragg (Parrish). The ladies are more excited about Sadie Hawkins Day, when the women of the town chase the men they hope to marry. They're shocked to find out Sadie Hawkins Day may not go on this year when Dogpatch is declared the most useless town in the US and is marked for nuclear bomb testing. 

The residents toss out everything they can think of to keep their town from being destroyed, until Mammy tells the government about that Yokumberry tonic. Not only does the government want the tonic, but so does General Bullmoose (Howard St. John). He enters his mistress Appassionata Von Climax (Stella Stevens) in the Sadie Hawkins Day Race and has her catch Abner. She'll marry him and get the tonic recipe, then kill him. 

Daisy Mae and Abner's parents are so horrified when they discover Bullmoose' plot, Daisy Mae agrees to marry Earthquake McGoon (Bern Hoffman), "the dirtiest wrassler in the world," to get him to help. Daisy thinks she'll be stuck being McGoon's wife, but it's the government who figure out what the tonic really does when they use it on the men of Dogpatch...and Abner's Pappy (Joe E. Marks) who finds a way to give his strapping son the gumption to go after the lady he truly loves.

The Song and Dance: You can't fault the cast on this one. Most of them were in the stage version as well, including Palmer as a perfect Abner, Stubby Kaye as the matchmaker Marryin' Sam (who leads most of the chorus numbers), and Julie Newmar, who doesn't need to speak a word for the audience to understand why she's called Stupefyin' Jones. My favorite by far is Billie Hayes, who replaced Charlotte Rae as Mammy on Broadway. I hope she was as much fun as she is here. "Formidable" doesn't begin to describe this tough-minded witch of a hillbilly. You can certainly see why she'd go on to play a more obvious witch in the even stranger world of Sid Kroft over a decade later. The Technicolor is gorgeous, a riot of rainbow colors mixed in every way that shouldn't work and amazingly does. Some really fun songs too, including the hit "I'm Past My Prime" for Kaye and Leslie Parrish.

The Numbers: We open over the credits with "A Typical Day," as the residents of Dogpatch introduce themselves and their unique home. Abner and the younger men of the town sing about what they'd do "If I Had My Druthers." Marryin' Sam leads the towns folk in a rousing salute to local hero "Jubilation T. Cornpone," which is heard briefly again in the finale after Dogpatch is saved. "Don't That Take the Rag Offen the Bush" and "Room Enough for Us" are numbers for the townspeople before and after learning they have to evacuate their home. 

Abner finally admits that yes, he does kinda have feelings for "Namely You," Daisy Mae. "What's Good for General Bullmoose" is performed by his lackeys several times, usually whenever he's come up with another nefarious idea. Every woman in town chases after the closest thing to eligible males during the wild Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet, including Appasionata and Daisy Mae. Daisy laments that "I'm Past My Prime," ignoring the fact that Marryin' Sam is more interested in taking her to the altar. "I Wish It Could Be Otherwise" is Abner and Daisy's big ballad right before she's supposed to marry Earthquake McGoon. The ladies of Dogpatch demand "Put Em' Back" twice, in the lab after they find out their men are now stronger but also less romantic, and in the finale, leading to "The Matrimonial Stomp" with Marryin' Sam.

Trivia: Look for Jerry Lewis in a cameo as Dogpatch resident Itchy McRabbit, and Donna Douglas (later Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies), Valerie Harper, and Beth Howland as three of the Dogpatch ladies who later catch themselves husbands. 

Lil' Abner debuted on Broadway in 1956 and was a hit, running over a year. As mentioned, Charlotte Rae was the original Mammy but left early in the show's run, Tina Louise was Appasionata Von Climax, and Edie Adams was Daisy Mae. It's only returned to New York in an Encores concert since then, but is fairly popular with regional and high school theaters. 

The film cut a couple of numbers from the original show, including a really nice ballad for Abner and Daisy, "Love In a Home," a number for the scientists "Oh Happy Day," and one for General Bullmoose, "Progress Is the Root of All Evil." 

What I Don't Like: The stage origins of this one show all too plainly. Everything is filmed flat and looks like the stage play it's based on. The sets are about as fake as you can get, which admittedly does go with the comic book vibe. As in many musicals of the 1950's, the chorus numbers really have nothing to do with anything - "Rag Offen the Bush" and "Room Enough for Us" come out of nowhere and contribute nothing to the story. Also, if you don't go in for broad comedy or hillbilly comedy, or you don't know much about the mid-late 50's, you'll probably want to hurry elsewhere quickly. 

The Big Finale: This is funny and tuneful enough to get a recommendation if you love wacky hillbilly comedies or the big, bold, bright musicals of the 50's and 60's. 

Home Media: Don't be fooled - this one is currently DVD-only. Plex is listed as having it online, but they really show the non-musical, black and white 1940 film version. (Which admittedly has a few virtues of its own, including Buster Keaton as Native Lonesome Polecat.)

DVD

Daddy Long Legs (1955)

20th Century Fox, 1955

Starring Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Fred Clark, and Thelma Ritter

Directed by Jean Negulesco

Music and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

This week, we jump ahead to the 1950's for one of my favorite underrated musicals. Leslie Caron was one of the most popular stars of the decade, in and out of musicals. She started the decade in the Oscar-winning An American In Paris with Gene Kelly, and while Lili wasn't a huge hit, her personal notices were glowing. Astaire personally asked her to star alongside him in this updated musical version of the 1912 novel of the same name. We've already seen it done once at this blog, as the adorable Shirley Temple vehicle Curly Top in 1935. How different is this version from that previous one? Let's begin at the home of millionaire Jervis Pendleton III (Astaire) as we see people touring his home and find out...

The Story: Jervis is on assignment in France when he stops at an orphanage to use their telephone. While there, he sees 18-year-old Julie Andre (Caron) working with the younger children and is enchanted with her vivacity, her creativity, and her intelligence. Over the protests of his fussy aide Griggs (Clark), he arranges for her to attend college in the United States with his niece Linda (Terry Moore). To avoid a scandal, he says he'll keep a hands-off approach, and she can write to him about her progress once a month. 

Jervis doesn't even look at Julie's letters at first, until his secretary Alice Pritchard (Thelma Ritter) brings them to his attention. Julie calls him her benefactor "Daddy Long Legs," after the long shadow the orphans saw when he was first in France, but she's getting tired of never hearing from him. He finally connects with her at a school dance while visiting Linda with her mother Gertrude (Kathryn Giveny) and falls for her, taking her out on the town and sending the boy who is interested in her to work in Bolivia. Griggs points out their rather large age difference, which makes Jarvis flee for several long business trips. Julie, however, is almost finished with college. She thinks she still hasn't met her "Daddy Long Legs" and wonders if he or Jervis really love her. It's Alice who finally convinces the men that age matters less than love, companionship, and compatibility. 

The Song and Dance: For all the trouble they had making this - Fred Astaire's wife died right before filming began and they almost replaced him, the studio originally wanted Mitzi Gaynor for Julie - it actually came out quite well. Astaire and Caron work better than you might think. Like Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face two years later, Caron's warm, airy persona helps to transcend their age differences. The Technicolor glows here, especially in Caron's two witty dream ballets and the gorgeous 50's gowns, tutus, and suits for Astaire and Clark. Mercer's songs are lovely too. "Something's Gotta Give" was nominated for an Oscar and has since become a jazz standard.

The Numbers: We open with Jervis showing off his drumming skills to an annoyed Griggs in the instrumental drum-and-dance routine "History of the Beat." Julie teaches the orphans that "C-A-T Spells Cat" as Jervis watches them in delight at the orphanage. She wanders around the outdoor classroom in shock and delight as an offscreen chorus sings about her "Daddy Long Legs" after she's told she'll be going to college in the US. "Welcome Egghead" the other college girls tease when Julie arrives. "Julie's Dream Ballet" is the first of two instrumental ballets. Julie imagines what her "Daddy Long Legs" looks like. Jervis dances as a Texas millionaire doing a square dance, a sensual playboy after all the ladies, or Julie's guardian angel. 

"The Sluefoot" is the big chorus number at the dance, with Ray Anthony and His Orchestra and the Pied Pipers. Jervis and Julie turn the intimate dance into a delightful moment. Jervis brings her to New York, where he sings "Something's Gotta Give" at the penthouse he sets her up in, and they dance together. This is followed by the instrumental "Dancing Through Life" ballet as the two kick up their heels in all of the fashionable Manhattan clubs. Julie's dream of meeting her benefactor becomes a "Nightmare Ballet" as she dreams of dancing for Jervis in a Paris ballet, encountering him in a smoky cafe in Hong Kong, and chasing him through carnival in Rio. The movie ends with the brief "Dream" as Julie finally realizes who her benefactor is. 

Trivia: This would be the only movie Caron or Astaire made for 20th Century Fox.

If Astaire looks a little red-eyed and upset at a few junctures...well, see the death of his beloved wife mentioned above. They pushed back filming to give him more room to process his grief.

This is the third version of Daddy Long Legs 20th Century Fox made, and the fourth time the 1912 children's novel made it to the big screen. In addition to Curly Top, Mary Pickford did a silent version in 1919, while Janet Gaynor would appear in a non-musical sound remake in 1931. It would become a London stage musical, Love From Judy, in 1952. 

What I Don't Like: First of all, while the age difference doesn't bother me, some people may find 50-something Astaire dancing with 20-something Caron (and kissing her in the end, a rarity for Astaire's films) to be a tad creepy. Second, this movie, for all the lovely art direction and costumes, didn't really need the lavish Cinemascope. It's really an intimate four-person story at its core. We have the one chorus number in "Sluefoot." Most of the songs are duets, solos, or ballets. Clark and Ritter are the only ones besides Astaire and Caron who even remotely register. We barely see Caron's roommates, which is a shame because they're pretty funny when we do meet them, and Kelly Brown as Jimmy McBride barely registers as window dressing.

The Big Finale: The age difference aside, this is a must-see if you're a fan of Astaire, Caron, or the big lavish ballet-filled musicals of the 1950's. 

Home Media: The DVD and Blu-Ray are hard-to-find and often pricey at this writing. Your best bet would be streaming. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime

Hollywood Hotel

Warner Bros, 1937

Starring Dick Powell, Lola Lane, Rosemary Lane, and Ted Healy

Directed by Busby Berkeley

Music by Johnny Mercer; Lyrics by Richard A. Whiting

Back at Warners, Berkley was now choreographing and directing his films. Warners had cut back on the budgets when a few too many flopped, but this one had a pedigree beyond mere imitation. Hollywood Hotel was both a real hotel in Hollywood for the rich and famous (which was slightly past its prime in 1937), and a radio series where gossip columnist Louella Parsons would interview celebrities who would then perform condensed versions of the latest films. Since Dick Powell was a regular on the show, it made sense for him to appear in a film version. Parsons made her film debut here as well. How well does the film adapt a show made for a very different medium? Let's begin not in Hollywood, but with Benny Goodman and his orchestra as they cheer singer and saxophonist Ronnie Bowers and find out...

The Story: Bowers (Powell) just signed a ten-week contract with All-Star Pictures. His first assignment is to escort major screen star Mona Marshall (Rosemary Lane) to her latest premiere and out to the Orchid Room afterwards. Turns out he's not really escorting Mona, who threw a fit and refused to attend her premiere, but her double Virginia Stanton (Lola Lane). The real Mona figures it out and has Ronnie fired. 

Ronnie is reduced to working for a drive-in diner along with his newly-appointed manager Fuzzy Boyle (Healy). Director Walter Kelton hears him and hires him to dub Mona Marshall's usual screen partner Alex Dupre (Alan Mowbray). He's not thrilled about it, and is even less happy when called on to dub him on the Hollywood Hotel radio show. Fuzzy and Virginia finally find a way for him to be seen for the wonderful singer he is while on the air.

The Song and Dance: This is one of the better Warners musicals of the late 30's. It's too bad Healy, who died under shady circumstances less than a month before its premiere, didn't live to see his very funny performance as the photographer-turned-manager. I also like that the real-life Lane sisters look enough alike to fool people realistically, no illusion or lavish special effects needed. Lola is charming as the sensible Virginia, while Rosemary is a riot as spoiled, obnoxious, and ridiculously dramatic Mona Marshall. Not only do we get gorgeous sets and costumes depicting Hollywood during the 30's, we actually get scenes filmed in the real Hollywood. I also appreciate the relatively unique story for a Berkeley 30's musical. This one is less about putting on a show and more about who gets seen and who doesn't in Tinseltown.

The Numbers: We open with the movie's best-known song and major standard. Benny Goodman and his band sing "Hooray for Hollywood" while riding out to the airport in cars with boards claiming stars of the era could learn a thing or two from Ronnie. Virginia and Ronnie admit "I'm Like a Fish Out of Water" while splashing around outside of the movie premiere. Mona initially performs "Silhouetted In the Moonlight," which is eventually picked up by Goodman singers Frances Langford and Jerry Cooper. Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (including later orchestra leaders Harry James, Lionel Hampton, and Gene Krupa) perform "I've Got a Heartful of Music" and "Sing, Sing, Sing" at the club. 

"Let That Be a Lesson to You" is the sole large-scale chorus number, as Ronnie explains about his trouble in Tinseltown to everyone at the drive-in. Ronnie dubs Alex Dupre to sing "I've Hitched My Wagon to a Star" in Mona's big Civil War vehicle. The movie ends at the Orchid Room during the Hollywood Hotel broadcast with Ronnie insisting "Sing, You Son of a Gun" with the cast and both orchestra.

Trivia: Look fast for Ronald Reagan as the radio announcer at the premiere of the Civil War movie, Susan Hayward as a starlet, and Carole Landis as a cigarette girl.

Goodman was thrilled when the success of his band in this film gave him enough clout to pull off his famous Carnegie Hall concert in 1938. This movie is also the first time a racially mixed music group was depicted on the big screen.

What I Don't Like: The numbers here are a bit disappointing. Though some of the songs aren't bad, both the opening number and "Let That Be a Lesson to You" go on for way too long, and there's little of the playing with the camera and geometric formations Berkeley's known for. In fact, like Vogues of 1938, the movie is way too long for a fluffy 30's musical and some of the numbers could have been trimmed. No wonder Louella Parsons was so bad at remembering character names, it took all day to shoot one of her scenes. She's a much better gossip columnist and radio hostess than she is an actress. There's also Hugh Herbert and Mabel Todd, both annoying as heck playing Mona's starstruck father and sister. No wonder Mona's nerves are shot, with obnoxious relatives like these. And Herbert turns up blackface in Mona's Civil War vehicle to boot.

The Big Finale: For the most part, this is a surprisingly charming later gem from Warners with some decent music and a fairly unique plot. For fans of Berkeley's films, Powell, or the big lavish musicals of the 1930's.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Gold Diggers In Paris

Warner Bros, 1938

Starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Allan Jenkins, and Hugh Herbert

Directed by Ray Enright

Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer

The Busby Berkeley extravaganzas continued pretty much through the rest of the 30's, but by 1938, they were starting to run their course. Most of the stars who appeared in them had left Warners or moved to other genres, and even Berkeley would be gone by 1940. This would be the last movie in the series Warners made with "Gold Diggers" in the title, and it's telling that, other than Hugh Herbert, it largely has a very different cast from the earlier entries. Warners was starting to dial back the budgets, too - there's only one huge number in this film, and it comes near the end. How does the story of showgirls who end up replacing a ballet company at a Paris dance festival look today? Let's begin with the men who run that festival, including the one charged with finding the entrant for the US, Maurice Giraud (Herbert), and find out...

The Story: Giraud is supposed to bring over the Academy Ballet of America, but he's accidentally brought to the failing Club Balle instead. Although the owners Terry Moore (Vallee) and Duke Dennis (Jenkins) realize there's been a mistake made, they accept the invitation anyway when they realize there's cash prizes involved. They hire ballet teacher Luis Leoni (Fritz Feld) and his student Kay Morrow (Lane) on the boat France to teach ballet to their dancers. Kay falls for Terry, but his ex-wife Mona (Gloria Dickson) is rooming with her.

Trouble is, the head of the actual Academy Ballet of America, Padrinsky (Curt Bois) has figured out by this point what's going on. He cables Giraud on the ship, but the ventriloquist (Mabel Todd) who has been trying to get her big break with Terry and Duke and her "talking dog" convinces him that it's Padrinksy who isn't telling the truth. Trouble is, Padrinsky is already on his way to Paris with his patron, gangster Mike Coogan (Edward Brophy). Duke relates to Coogan when they arrive that they've been having trouble with the representative of the festival, Pierre LeBrec (Mellville Cooper). Coogan agrees to "take care" of the problem, but he "takes care" of Leoni instead of LeBrec. Padrinksy wants the group to be deported, but Mona arranges the order so he and Coogan are shipped out instead...but Kay has found out Terry's deception and is now angry with him, and there's still the fact that the ladies have never really picked up ballet that well...

The Song and Dance: This wound up being a lot more charming than I thought. It's the ladies and the character actors who carry the day here. Lane and Dickson frankly play off each other better than the men. Dickson in particular does well as the ex-wife who does have a softer side. Jenkins and Coogan don't do badly playing up New York and gangster stereotypes, either, while Herbert is slightly less annoying as a Frenchman here than he was as a righteous moral crusader in Dames. There's also The Snicklefritz Band and their wacky numbers adding much-needed musical levity to the first half in particular. 

The Numbers: We open with the number at the Club Balle. "I Want to Go Back to Bali" is a romance in the tropics chorus routine with Vallee as a Navy officer among South Seas beauties. (It's also heard briefly in the finale.) The Snicklefritz Band get their own "Colonel Corn" at the club and "Listen to the Mockingbird" later in Paris. Vallee and Lane sing "Dreaming (All Night Long)" on-board ship and "A Stranger In Paree" in Paris. "The Latin Quarter" was the hit song and is the big number in the finale. We get all kinds of artistic types and Parisian stereotypes joining in, along with the return of the Navy uniforms from the first number. We even get everyone dancing under a huge Navy officer's hat at one point.

What I Don't Like: First of all, Vallee has all the charm of a dead fish when he's not singing. He's so dull, it makes you wonder what Kay or Mona see in him. (He would come off far better as a character actor and comedian from the later 40's through the 60's.) Second, it's obvious this one is a bit lower-budgeted than the earlier entries. Of the three big numbers, only the finale goes full-on Berkeley kaleidoscope. "Back to Bali" in particular is a dull chorus number that could appear in any film. The story is piffle and a bit annoying; of the songs, only "Latin Quarter" is even remotely distinguished.

The Big Finale: Mostly for major fans of Vallee or the big Berkeley musicals of the 30's. Everyone else is better off starting with 42nd Street or Gold Diggers of 1933 instead.

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Happy Father's Day! - Here Comes the Groom (1951)

Paramount, 1951

Starring Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, Robert Keith, and James Barton

Directed by Frank Capra

Music and Lyrics by various

Frank Tashlin was not the only major director who took a crack at musicals in the 1950's. We saw the first Crosby-Capra collaboration, Riding High, last month for Kentucky Derby weekend. This one might be even more likely for the duo. First of all, this time, we have original material, rather than a remake of an earlier Capra film. There's also a better cast, including Wyman and Alexis Smith as two of the stronger female characters in a Crosby film, and a genuinely effecting story that related to the realities of the post-war era. How does the story of a correspondent who adopts two children, then tries to convince his ex-fiancee to be their mother come off now? Let's begin with switchboard operators putting journalist Pete Garvey (Crosby) through to his boss George Degan (Keith) and find out...

The Story: Pete, who has been helping to find homes for children in a Paris orphanage, is especially enamored by little Bobby (Jacques Gencel) and his sister Suzi (Beverly Washington). He wants to adopt them, but first red tape holds up him getting the kids' birth certificates, then he finds out he has to marry within five days, or the adoption will be void. He thinks his fiancee Emmadel Jones (Wyman) will leap back into his arms, but she's tired of waiting for him and has agreed to marry wealthy Wilbur Stanley (Franchot Tone). After she bonds with the kids, Pete and George work with Wilbur's fourth cousin twice removed Winifred Stanley (Alexis Smith) and Emmadel's alcoholic seaman father William (Barton) to make Emmadel understand that she doesn't belong with the aristocratic Stanleys and that she gets married to the man who loves her for what she is. 

The Song and Dance: Good music and charming performances highlight this exploration into what one man will do to keep his children. Though Crosby comes off well as the newspaper man scheming to marry Emmy, it's the ladies who walk off with this one. No-nonsense Wyman plays off Crosby beautifully as the woman who is tired of waiting for Pete to get away from his work and notice her, and Smtih is such a riot later in the film as Wilbur's hopeful cousin, especially when she and Wyman wrestle each other, you wish she was in more of the movie. Barton and Connie Gilchrist as Emmadel's blousy parents are the other stand-outs, with their salty humor making a wonderful contrast to exasperated Keith and smooth Tone.

The Numbers: We open at the orphanage, with Pete convincing a man from the Boston Symphony Orchestra to adopt budding opera singer Teresa (Anna Maria Alberghetti) rather than Bobby. Her "Caro Nome" is so lovely, especially for someone who may barely be in double-digits, no wonder they took her on the spot. Pete cheers up the kids by telling them about "Your Own Little House." "Misto Cristofo Columbus" gives us an all-star jam session on the plane to the US singing the comic jazz ditty on Christopher Columbus, including Dorothy Lamour, Louis Armstrong, Cass Daiey, and Phil Harris. "Bonne Nuit - Good Night" is Pete's song at the wedding rehearsal.

The standard here is "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." It won an Oscar in 1951, and you can understand from the three times it's heard. The most prominent is the big number with Emmadel and Pete in Wilbur's office. Pete is trying to get her back...and she is almost ready to buy it, after they perform this charming, upbeat ballad together, dancing all around the office furniture.

What I Don't Like: This movie is way too long for what amounts to a romantic farce. They spend too much time with dress rehearsals and in the orphanage and not on the story. Though Pete's genuine fondness for the kids does show through, the way he tries to force Emmadel to marry him after she already had someone else is ridiculous and a bit dated nowadays. Frankly, she and Smith come off better than obnoxious Crosby and blandly manipulative Tone. Also, this is not one of Capra's better efforts. It has even fewer of his touches than Riding High.

The Big Finale: Not Bing's best vehicle, but still recommended for fans of him or the ladies if you love lower-key 50's musicals. 

Home Media: Streaming or a two-movie set with the other Crosby-Wyman musical Just for You may be your best bet for this nowadays.

DVD - Just for You/Here Comes the Groom

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - Darling Lili

Paramount, 1970

Starring Julie Andrews, Rock Hudson, Jeremy Kemp, and Gloria Paul

Directed by Blake Edwards

Music by Henry Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Our second epic musical this week had an even more troubled production. Andrews was desperate to prove she was ready to be more than a magical nanny or a frivolous flapper. Edwards envisioned her in a small-scale World War I action romance with music, but Paramount had loftier plans. They wanted everything big - big musical numbers for Andrews, big budget, widescreen, elaborate costumes, location shooting in Europe, major leading man Rock Hudson as Andrews' co-star. 

Unfortunately, what they wanted and what Edwards wanted frequently clashed, and shooting the mid-air dogfights in rainy Ireland proved to be expensive and frustrating. Even after all the trouble and expense, Paramount didn't give the movie much publicity when it debuted, and it wound up being one of the biggest flops of the year. Did it deserve that fate, or should it have a second chance at redemption? Let's begin with Lili Smith (Andrews) against a black backdrop as she sings for an audience of London theatergoers and officers and find out...

The Story: Despite her singing sweetheart image, Lili is really a German spy who uses her popularity with the British and American fliers to gain information on their squadrons from them. She's especially interested in handsome pilot Major Bill Larrabee (Hudson) and asks him questions about his squadron, which she passes to her Uncle Kurt Von Ruger (Kemp). As Larrabee continues to court her, Lili finds herself genuinely falling for him. 

Lili's shocked when it turns out "Operation Crepe Suzette," which she believed to be a military plan, is actually a stripper (Paul). She's even more upset when the French send two officers of their own to spy on her and Larrabee, thinking he's the one doing the spying. She frames them and gets them arrested for treason and herself a Medal of Honor. Suzette, however, tells all, forcing Lili and Kurt to flee. Larrabee, however, can't forget his darling Lili, no matter who she is or what she did in the past...and he's not about to let her go down without a fight!

The Song and Dance: At least Paramount spared no expense on the production. The costumes are absolutely stunning, from Andrews' array of period-accurate gowns to the officers' uniforms and the leather jackets and caps on the pilots. That location shooting may have been a headache to film, but it looks lovely on-screen, especially the emerald greens of Ireland. I do give them credit for trying something original, given most musicals in the late 60's and early 70's were stage adaptations. Andrews gives it her all as Lili, even when the script is at its messiest, and Kemp is having his own fun as her slightly smarmy German "uncle."

Mancini and Mercer did come up with a genuinely good score. The haunting "Whistling Away the Dark" deserved its Oscar nomination. I also like "I'll Give You Three Guesses" and Paul's hilarious striptease number "Your Goodwill Ambassador." 

Favorite Number: We open and close with one of the simplest and most striking musical numbers in film history. "Whistling Away the Dark" begins with Lili, luminous in a black gown and diamond jewelry, singing the gorgeous ballad against a black background. Neither version has much to do with the story, but it's still a great way to start. After the theater is bombed, Lili does a medley of the World War I hits "It's a Long Way to Tipperary," "Pack Up Your Troubles," and "Keep the Home Fires Burning." 

Lili sings the cheer-up ditty "Smile Away Each Rainy Day" and the touching ballad "The Girl In No Man's Land" to a crowd of wounded veterans and pilots on leave, including Larrabee. Can-can girls do a lively and racy skirt-raising routine to an instrumental number while Lili is in the cafe with the officers, just before she encounters the very drunk pilot TC. TC insists on her reprising "Tipperary," which turns into a very drunk"Mademoiselle From Armentieres" with flyers hanging off her car on the way home. 

We see two very different versions of "I'll Give You Three Guesses." The first one is traditional and romantic, with Lili in white ruffles swirling around with young men in uniform. After she sees Crepe Suzette (Paul) sing "Your Goodwill Ambassador" in little more than a beaded bikini, she turns the second "Three Guesses" into a far hotter striptease. She and Larrabee join a group of little girls singing on the way home from school at one point. 

Trivia: There's at least two versions of this kicking around. I based my review on the original theatrical roadshow release that's currently at Amazon, but there's a much shorter Director's Cut currently on DVD.

Last full musical with songs by Johnny Mercer.

Andrews and Edwards married during filming. They would remain together until his death in 2010.

Edwards would later use his difficulties making this movie as the inspiration for his 1981 comedy S.O.B (which also featured Andrews). 

The movie went way over-budget, mainly because of those big plane fight sequences that took two years to film in Ireland. 

Oscar-nominated for Best Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Song. 

What I Don't Like: This is another musical with an identity problem. All the tinkering and trouble shows in a movie that has no idea whether it wants to be a war film, a romantic comedy, a mystery, or a sex farce. Hudson can sing well, but he's otherwise at sea in a musical and has no chemistry with Andrews. In fact, he doesn't really have that much to do other than be the love interest for Lili. The comic relief French spies in the second half are totally out of place with the war drama. Their shenanigans really bog the last hour or so down and are unnecessary. 

And yeah, so are the musical numbers. "Whistling Away the Dark" aside, most of them have nothing whatsoever to do with the movie and stop it cold. Edwards originally just wanted a few glimpses of Lili singing, but once again, the studio wanted big...and in this case, big probably wasn't needed. 

The Big Finale: There's some great music and scenery in this movie, and Andrews does her best...but it's mostly a mess. See it for the numbers if you're a fan of Andrews or the big musicals of the late 60's and early 70's. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming. The Warner Archives DVD is the director's cut; most streaming sites have the original theatrical roadshow version, including Amazon. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Back to School Again - Varsity Show

Warner Bros, 1937

Starring Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Pricilla Lane, and Ted Healy

Directed by William Keightley 

Music by Richard A. Whiting; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

Even the Busby Berkeley spectaculars of the 1930's went back to school. Berkeley took his overhead formations and perfectly synchronized dancers from Broadway to higher education for that hallowed tradition of many big colleges, the varsity show. How does a college musical revue look like ala Berkeley and Dick Powell? Let's start at fictional Winfield College, where the students and assistant faculty advisor Ernie Mason (Fred Waring) are at odds with th old-fashioned advisor Professor Sylvester Biddle (Walter Catlett) and find out...

The Story: Desperate to make their show a success, the kids hit New York to hire Winfield alumni Chuck Daly (Powell), who is supposedly now a big-shot Broadway producer. The truth is, he hasn't had a hit in years. Hoping to get a big payment, his manager William Williams (Healy) convinces him to take the show and make it they way they want it to be, with lots of nifty jazz and swing numbers, under Biddle's nose.

Even after realizing he won't be getting the money from a school dance, Chuck decides to stay on. Biddle's still insisting on the show being done his way, with "genteel" music and no swing or jazz. Fed up with his fuddy-duddy ways, the kids go on strike and won't show up to class. When Chuck finally leaves to keep them from getting expelled, the kids decide to bring the show to him and prove that he still has what it takes to make it on the Great White Way.

The Song and Dance: The last thing I expected was to see in a 30's musical were college kids picketing the offices and taking part in a sit-down strike. For a while towards the end, I started to wonder if we were in college during 1937 or 1967. Their antics and talk of the realities of higher education during the Great Depression add a unique layer of authenticity to this backstage story. Powell's having a little bit more fun here than he did in the goofier Going Places a year later and Catlett enjoys his role as the stuffy professor whose musical ideas are a bit too dowdy for the Depression. Healy has a great time as the fast-talking manager who tries to avoid nerdy-but-cute co-ed Cuddles (Mabel Todd). 

Favorite Number: We open with all of the kids singing about how "The Varsity Show" is being put on tonight, and everyone is excited to try out. Johnnie Davis joins Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians to show off his big "Old King Cole" routine to a horrified Biddle. Healy, Powell, and the senior class sing why "We're Working Our Way Through College" as "freshmen" Powell and Healy are escorted down the senior walk. Rosemary Lane sings "On With the Dance" as Buck, Bubbles, and the college kids proceed to do just that during the big senior dance. She and Powell share the duet "You've Got Something There" during a romantic dance in the moonlight. 

The spectacular finale brings together all of these numbers, plus the hits "Have You Got Any Castles Baby?" and "Love Is On the Air Tonight," along with a medley of college fight songs. Black dance duo John W. Bubbles and Fort Washington "Buck" Lee start things off with some amazingly dexterous tap  work. Priscilla Lane takes over, cartwheeling her way through "Castles," while Busby Berkeley's overhead formations give us students forming the initials of major schools. 

Trivia: Priscilla and Rosemary Lane's film debuts. 

The movie was released at over two hours. In 1942, Warners re-edited it, losing 40 minutes and at least four more musical numbers, including more songs for Powell and Waring. The original version remains lost. 

Davis is best known to animation fans as the voice of "Owl Jolson" in the Looney Tunes short "I Love to Singa." 

What I Don't Like: First of all, Ernie's lucky he and the kids weren't arrested for just walking into a theater and taking it over. That was weird, and frankly kind of silly. Yeah, some of the plot can be pretty goofy or veer too close to other Warners/Berkeley extravaganzas of the time, and all of the Berkeley in the world can't make the dull music exciting. Lee and Bubbles are the janitors and are pretty slow and stereotypical unless they're dancing. Waring as the drama coach determined to have the kids show off their talent is a little too corny to be believable and comes off somewhere between stiff and creepy. 

The Big Finale: Some good numbers make this worth checking out for fans of black dancers, Powell, or the Berkeley musicals of the 1930's. 

Home Media: Easy to find on streaming and DVD, the latter from the Warner Archives.

DVD

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

Cult Flops - The Belle of New York

MGM, 1952

Starring Fred Astaire, Vera-Ellen, Marjorie Main, and Keenan Wynn

Directed by Charles Walters

Music by Harry Warren; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

As we saw with the superhero films two weeks ago, science fiction and fantasy musicals aren't easy to pull off. Musicals already come with fantasy elements like people bursting into son in the middle of a downpour built-in. Adding more overtly fantastical elements is a delicate balance, as shown in our next movie. Producer Arthur Freed wanted Astaire to star in this movie for years. He finally agreed to it when he discovered that Vera-Ellen, whom finnicky Astaire greatly admired, would be his leading lady. Was Astaire right to avoid this light-as-air romance, or is there more to this than it appears on the surface? Let's begin at the local Salvation Army, as lovely officer Angela (Vera-Ellen) is being serenaded by several "sinners" at her window, and find out...

The Story: Angela wishes those gentlemen would actually come to be reformed, rather than to gawk at her. She's singing with the Army group one night when one of the "sinners" who admire her turns out to be a man in a tux. Playboy Charles Hill (Astaire) has the habit of leaving his performer brides at the alter, then turning to his rich Aunt Lettie (Main) to pay them off. Not this time. Charles is so smitten with Angela, he floats on air and vows to reform for her. After he proves his intentions to Angela by actually working for the first time in his life, she's ready to head to the church. He's not so sure...and now she has to show him they're a lot more compatible than anyone in the Big Apple thinks.

The Song and Dance: And "dance" is the operative word here. Astaire took advantage of Vera-Ellen being one of the most technically-proficient dancers he'd ever work with to put together a series of complicated and very romantic Terpsichorean showcases. He and Vera-Ellen have a great deal of fun as the lovers from very different worlds. Wynn's also having a good time as Astaire's nervous lawyer, and Pierce is a riot as Vera-Ellen's best friend and the other woman at the Salvation Army. The colorful costumes provide an equally lovely backdrop for both the simple gray world of the Salvation Army and Charles' society home.

Favorite Number: "Seeing's Believing" when he's so smitten with Angela, he dances right to the top of the Washington Square Arch and does death-defying leaps around its flagpoles. "Oops" is a number for Charles and Angela as he drives her home on the street car. It makes surprisingly good use of the limited space as they spin around poles and waltz alongside the moving vehicle. "Currier and Ives" is the big chorus routine, with Angela comparing their love to the changing seasons as depicted in the famous Currier and Ives artwork. 

Angela and her best friend claim they're "Naughty But Nice" when they dress up in fancy low-cut gowns for a night on the town and a slinky song and dance. "I Want to Be a Dancin' Man" is one of Astaire's best solos. No chorus, no noise, just him and his marvelous footwork against a simple blue backdrop. 

What I Don't Like: As charming as Astaire and Vera-Ellen are, the story is definitely earthbound. It's an overstuffed cream puff that sags towards the middle after he suddenly leaves her at the alter again and falls apart by the finale. For all his chemistry with Vera-Ellen, Astaire's reluctance to appear in this shows in his lack of energy during the book scenes. Marjorie Main is miscast as his aunt who is fed up with his antics, too - she's no high society lady. Doesn't help that the songs those dances are spinning around to are fairly dull. 

The Big Finale: Recommended for the numbers alone if you're a fan of Astaire, Vera-Ellen, or the MGM musicals of the 1950's. 

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

DVD

Amazon Prime

Star Spangled Rhythm

Paramount, 1942
Starring Betty Hutton, Eddie Bracken, Victor Moore, and Walter Abel
Directed by George Marshall and others
Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

During World War II, almost every studio in Hollywood filmed at least one all-star semi-revue as morale boosters for the troops. This one was Paramount's contribution, a nutty confection showcasing not only the studio's top performers, but it's two of its most popular directors...and the studio itself. How does all that flag-waving look now? Let's head to the entrance to Paramount, as a group of sailors prepare to spend a memorable day on shore, and find out...

The Story: William "Pop" Webster (Moore) was once a major western star during the silent era, but is now a guard at the main gate of Paramount. He's told his sailor son Johnny (Bracken) that he's an Executive Vice President In Charge of Production. Johnny brags about it to all of his buddies when they turn up on shore leave, demanding a tour. Studio switchboard operator Polly Judson (Hutton) thinks he's cute and manages to set up Pop in place of the real producer B.G DeSoto (Abel). Not only is DeSoto convinced that studio spies are trying to keep him out, but Pop goes ahead and claims that he can put on a big show for the Navy. Now Polly has to round up all the stars on the lot and get them into one big show, so she can get married to her gob and Pop can keep up the illusion.

The Song and Dance: If you love the movies and stars of the 40's, have I got a treat for you. Paramount stuffed almost everyone on the lot into this film, even people like Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, and Susan Hayward who usually specialized in non-musical drama. Its also an invaluable glimpse at real-life directors Preston Sturges (whose career as a comedy king peaked in the early-mid 40's) and Cecil B. Demille (whose big hit Reap the Wild Wind is mentioned several times) and the Paramount lot in 1942.

Favorite Number: Two numbers here were among the biggest hit songs of the war years. Mary Martin, Dick Powell, and a quartet of singing dining car waiters sing "Hit the Road to Dreamland" in a sequence supposedly filmed for a movie in production. Johnny Johnston sings "That Old Black Magic" in the background as ballerina Vera Zorina dances in a romantic snow-covered landscape, only to appear briefly at the barracks in the end as part of his dream.

Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour, and Veronica Lake spoof their images in "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peekaboo Bang"...and then Arthur Treacher, Sterling Holloway, and Walter Catlett come on in drag to maximize the laughs. Marjorie Reynolds of Holiday Inn joins Betty Jane Rhodes and Dona Drake to salute what happens "On the Swing Shift." Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and ballet troupe owner Katherine Dunham show why he's "Sharp as a Tack" in a nice dance routine. Bing Crosby, Paramount's top star at the time, finishes off with the ultra-patriotic salute to the flag, "Old Glory."

Trivia: This was the first film appearance of Bing Crosby's son Gary Crosby.

What I Don't Like: The thin story is just a lame excuse to throw everyone at the studio together for skits and songs. While most of the numbers still go over pretty well, the skits are dated and annoying, especially the one about how (men think) women play cards. This is also a movie of its time. There's tons of references to other Paramount movies and stars of the early 40's. If you don't know anything about the war years, you may be more lost than amused.

The Big Finale: Worth seeing for the numbers alone if you love 40's musicals or the stars or films of the war years.

Home Media: Easily found as part of the made-to-order Universal Vault series and on two Bob Hope DVD collections.

DVD - Universal Vault
DVD - My Favorite Blonde/Star Spangled Rhythm
DVD - Bob Hope: The Ultimate Movie Collection

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