1h 43min | Musical | 14 December 1951
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Stars: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Virginia Mayo, Gene Nelson, Ruth Roman, Janice Rule, Phil Harris.
LeRoy Prinz ... musical numbers staged and directed by
(also has on-camera credit)
Well, I remember disliking this, and my memory serves. However, there is some good dancing here: 2 numbers from GN and a tropically-costumed & themed dance with VM. (Next time, figure out who's dancing with GN to What Is This Thing Called Love: JR or Virginia Gibson. Soundtracks say JR.) At least 12 songs are performed.
DD disappears after the first third of the film, and GM, VM & GN are only specialty acts. The film is about JR and a pilot from her hometown. Ruth Roman is there for a while, organizing the stars to come entertain the departing and returning service men. But all other stars just do a specialty or a walk-on. This is the kind of thing Paramount does well. Unfortunately, this ain't Paramount, and this script makes the JR+pilot story primarily a drama, so that brings things down.
Totally unclear to me what war this is about. Are they harkening back to WW2, or is this the Korean conflict (Jun 25, 1950 – Jul 27, 1953)? I saw a banner about the Continental and Pacific forces. The pilot was transporting troops to/from Honolulu. BTW, the "pilot" is a corporal; seems like a low rank for a pilot, especially in the Air Force.
Too much time is given to an unpleasant story (the deception is discovered soon, and JR holds a grudge. Then they get thrown together again at her parent's house, and official functions she can't dodge. JR is very good at disapproving looks.) But the musical numbers are worth it.
Warner, dir. Del Ruth; 6
