1h 35min | Comedy, Musical, Romance | May 1942
Director: Edward Buzzell
Stars: Eleanor Powell, Red Skelton, Bert Lahr.
Bobby Connolly ... dance director
bootleg; ok print, but gets blurry during a dance sequence
Weird that RS is in a sailor outfit on the poster. He is definitely a civilian, and when they had a costume night, he was a cave man.
A definite wartime plot, with a Japanese-looking co-conspirator (Philip Ahn). And frankly, it's too much plot for me, especially since it's just a matter of an object being smuggled, then being misplaced, recovered, handed to its intended recipient, but recovered by the feds (I think; I really got bored with it.) Very little action or suspense.
Good music, good dancing, lots of it. In the Tap! Appendix for EP and Stump (James Cross) and Stumpy (Eddie Hartman). S&S are fun to watch; the taller one fools you into thinking he's only there for comedy, and then dances in lockstep with the identified dancer, both doing multiple mid-air semi-splits. They dance their one number after the song Poor You has been sung by Frank Sinatra, then by RS, and then by Virginia O'Brien. Did I mention S&S are black? Yes, their scene would be excisable.
Poor You is a song with clever lyrics, proclaiming love in an unusual way. Author: Yip Harburg, he of Over the Rainbow and other marvels.
Tommy Dorsey & his orchestra are shown a few times, including an instrumental-only swing rendition of the Hawaiian War Chant; very apropos for the time. EP is introduced in the film dancing to the last bit of this song with chorus girls; the choreography reminded me of her hula-tap number in Honolulu. Buddy Rich is announced by name, with his initials on the bass drum.
This is Sinatra's 2nd film. He does not have onscreen credit; he's just another singer with the band. (S&S _do_ have onscreen credit.) 4 films later, in '45, he's co-starring with Gene Kelley in Anchors Aweigh.
Part of why I'm not excited by the dancing is its staging and photography. We're definitely constrained by the venues in which she's performing. No fantasy here. And she very very briefly has a partner, which looks terrific and then he sits down. She does none of her gymnastics. And while she likely worked hard to twirl that cape as well as she does, I like dancing, not prop manipulation. When she finally does dance in that number, she does a faint impression of flamenco.
Previously rated 7. Maybe I'll bounce back up at a future viewing.
MGM, dir. Buzzell; 6+
