For the first 45 minutes of this all-star MGM musical extravaganza, you get the type of wartime romance that still stands the test of time today. Gene Kelly and Kathryn Grayson remind me of the non-singing and dancing Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones in 1944's "Since You Went Away" where their "opposites attract" type courtship shocks them as much as it does those around them and the audience. Grayson plays the daughter of an Army officer (John Boles) who leaves her mother (Mary Astor) behind in New York so she can work with her father in getting together a show to entertain Boles' troop before they go off to fight the battles of World War II. On the train platform, she meets seemingly hard boiled Gene Kelly who, looking for someone to kiss before the train departs, plants several smooches right on her without even as much as an introduction. That action today would get him courtmartialed, but this is World War II where every boy going off to fight the Nazi's or Japanese's or Italians needed a girl to kiss before facing death. Much to Kelly's surprise, he runs into Grayson on the train and thinks that she's stalking him. She plays along with that simply to tease him, and this leads into a playful romance that has him hiding from her father in their living room and then taking her to the circus where his family are world renowned trapeze artists. Having been to assigned to the Army rather than the Air Force has made Kelly bitter, and it is up to Grayson to smooth things over for him as he continuously gets into trouble for disobeying orders or running off when his rebellious streak takes over.
About 45 minutes into the two hour film, all plot stops for about an hour's worth of variety, and it is a mixed bag. I wanted much more of a bigger tap number for Eleanor Powell, still attractive here, but looking rather lonely on that stage, but cheered for Lena Horne's "Honeysuckle Rose" and laughed hysterically at Virginia O'Brien's deadpan antics with "In a Little Spanish Town" (accompanied by Gloria DeHaven and June Allyson). But when Frank Morgan comes on for a doctor's sketch (featuring pointless walk-on's by Ann Sothern, Lucille Ball and Marsha Hunt), the groans began. The skit is pointless, but not nearly as painful as Red Skelton's sketch in an ice cream shop where he turns into Mortimer Snerd while dealing with pretty Donna Reed and gets nauseated over precocious Margaret O'Brien reciting all the ice cream flavors in the world. Judy Garland might have been the brightest light at MGM at the time, but her "Carnagie Hall" number with Jose Iturbi was the wrong choice for their biggest musical star. Appearances by several popular bands (Bob Crosby, whose brother is known for selling cheese according to emcee Mickey Rooney, and Kay Kyser) adds some jazz, but concerto piano sequences by Iturbi are just a bit too long haired for maintaining this film's interest because of its length. When Rooney begins doing some imitations, it shows why much of his work does not stand the test of time and why his hyper personality can grate on some audiences today.
As for the main story, this could have been cut down to a nice 85 minute musical drama with a separate "Ziegfeld Follies" like revue for the "Hollywood Canteen" feel of the lengthy variety sequence, doubling MGM profits. Grayson, who would go on to star in a fairly successful string of highbrow MGM operetta like musicals then be paired even more successfully with Howard Keel in the early 1950's, shows a nice sense of humor here, even getting to cut up the rug a bit in the continuously repeated "I Dug a Ditch!". Ben Blue, a rather deadpan comic, attempts to be funny by simply overreacting to things he loves or looking on queerly at things he finds boring or strange, is a hit or miss type comic whom some won't find funny at all. Going from film noir femme fatale to mother roles, Mary Astor gets to show her versatility, but she's underused here. Boles is cast in a rather generic part that could have gone to any aging MGM contract player (William Powell, Melvyn Douglas), but manages to instill some humanity into a commanding character whom in the wrong hands could be rather demanding and obnoxious. It's a mixed bag where the gems really work and the laid eggs truly smell. But as a period piece, it can't be judged by modern standards; It did what it served to do for wartime audiences, so in those circumstances, it comes off as a success, even if a dated one.
About 45 minutes into the two hour film, all plot stops for about an hour's worth of variety, and it is a mixed bag. I wanted much more of a bigger tap number for Eleanor Powell, still attractive here, but looking rather lonely on that stage, but cheered for Lena Horne's "Honeysuckle Rose" and laughed hysterically at Virginia O'Brien's deadpan antics with "In a Little Spanish Town" (accompanied by Gloria DeHaven and June Allyson). But when Frank Morgan comes on for a doctor's sketch (featuring pointless walk-on's by Ann Sothern, Lucille Ball and Marsha Hunt), the groans began. The skit is pointless, but not nearly as painful as Red Skelton's sketch in an ice cream shop where he turns into Mortimer Snerd while dealing with pretty Donna Reed and gets nauseated over precocious Margaret O'Brien reciting all the ice cream flavors in the world. Judy Garland might have been the brightest light at MGM at the time, but her "Carnagie Hall" number with Jose Iturbi was the wrong choice for their biggest musical star. Appearances by several popular bands (Bob Crosby, whose brother is known for selling cheese according to emcee Mickey Rooney, and Kay Kyser) adds some jazz, but concerto piano sequences by Iturbi are just a bit too long haired for maintaining this film's interest because of its length. When Rooney begins doing some imitations, it shows why much of his work does not stand the test of time and why his hyper personality can grate on some audiences today.
As for the main story, this could have been cut down to a nice 85 minute musical drama with a separate "Ziegfeld Follies" like revue for the "Hollywood Canteen" feel of the lengthy variety sequence, doubling MGM profits. Grayson, who would go on to star in a fairly successful string of highbrow MGM operetta like musicals then be paired even more successfully with Howard Keel in the early 1950's, shows a nice sense of humor here, even getting to cut up the rug a bit in the continuously repeated "I Dug a Ditch!". Ben Blue, a rather deadpan comic, attempts to be funny by simply overreacting to things he loves or looking on queerly at things he finds boring or strange, is a hit or miss type comic whom some won't find funny at all. Going from film noir femme fatale to mother roles, Mary Astor gets to show her versatility, but she's underused here. Boles is cast in a rather generic part that could have gone to any aging MGM contract player (William Powell, Melvyn Douglas), but manages to instill some humanity into a commanding character whom in the wrong hands could be rather demanding and obnoxious. It's a mixed bag where the gems really work and the laid eggs truly smell. But as a period piece, it can't be judged by modern standards; It did what it served to do for wartime audiences, so in those circumstances, it comes off as a success, even if a dated one.