The Third & Last Installment of Warner's Pro-Military Propaganda Musicals Starring Dick Powell. It's The Marines Turn to Get Their Powell Musical Following the Army's Flirtation Walk (1934) and Navy's Shipmates Forever (1935). Directed by Ray Enright Taking The Place of Frank Borzage who directed the Previous Two But Left Warner for MGM Prior to Filming of The Singing Marine. Like The Previous Two Films The Screenplay is Written by Delmer Daves.
The Story Centers Around Bob Brent (Dick Powell), A Timid Marine from Arkansas Who Possesses A Gifted Voice. Bob is Invited by his Sargent, Mike Kelly (Allen Jenkins) to Attend a Wienie Roast at The Beach with Some of The Other Marines and Their Gals. Bob, Whom is Tired of Going to Wienie Roast Instead He Will Intent If He Can Also Have A Date. Sargent Kelly Helps The Shy Bob by Arranging him a Date with A 19-Year Old Cashier Peggy Randall (Doris Weston) Whom Bob Fancies. At The Wienie Roast, The Bashful Bob is Urged by the Boys to Sing A Song. Much To A Delight of The Fellow Boys, Bob's Smooth Vocals Helps Put Their Gals into the Desired Romantic Mood. Bob However Due to Being Busy Singing for the Other Fellas Sakes, Fails to Have Any Success with Peggy is Distraught and Knows He Will Not Have Another Chance with Her, For Peggy is Going to NYC enter a Amateur Hour Contest While Bob Will Just Go Back to Arkansas. Spearheaded By Sargent Kelly the Boys Take Up A Collection of $2 Per Guy to Help Sent Bob to NYC to Enter the Amateur Hour Contest to Represent The Marines. Bob Who is Thankful and Surprised by the Gesture Gets on the Bus For The Cross Country Travel from San Diego to New York City. Along for the Trip is Peggy, Whom Makes A Pact with Bob to Have A Lookout For One Another. Bob and Peggy Arrive for The Contest, Peggy is Chosen to go First. Peggy Overcome by Stage Fright Fails to Impress. Bob, However is Confident while Singing and Wins the Entire Contest in a Apparent Landslide. Bob is Immediately called upon by Agents, Felix Fowler (Addison Richards) and Aeneas K. Phinney (Hugh Herbert) Whom After Being Allowed to Bring Along Peggy as his Secretary Signs A Radio Contract With. Bob's Newfound Fame Gets to His Head, as he Neglects his responsibility to the Marines, and his budding relationship with Peggy. Bob Has To Find Out What Really Matters in his Life.
Dick Powell is Solid in this Film. While Not Having the Command of the Screen Such as Fellow Musical Leading Men of the Time (Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby) He is Still A Relatively Talented Actor Who Does the Best with the Material Given to Him.
Doris Weston is in Her Film Debut. While She is An Attractive Girl Who Also had a Really Good Voice, She Fails to impress and what would happen to be her big chance in Films. She Was Discovered by Warner in A Nightclub. At The Time, Doris was also on NBC Radio (Coincidentally After Winning A Ammeter Hour Contest). You Can Tell Warner Had Planned for Her to have a Build-up Like Ruby Keeler's. Her Hair and Style was Fashioned much like that of Ruby's and the Choose Doris to Take Ruby's Spot in the Third of These Military Musical Due to her having a "Better Voice" than Ruby. One of the Key Differences is That Dick and Doris Lack the Chemistry that Dick Shared with Ruby. Her Sophomore Attempt into Film would be in Lloyd Bacons' Submarine D-1. She Was Originally to be in the Film Alongside Future President Ronald Reagan as Her Love Interest but Reagan's Part would be Completely Cut Out of the Movie and Weston's Was Significantly Reduced. Weston Would Part from Warner's Following The Films Conclusion. She Would Appear in Film for A Handful of Years Finding Some Work Most Notably as Warren Hull's girlfriend in the 1939 Columbia serial "Mandrake the Magician". Doris Would Retire from Acting in 1942 and Get Married. Sadly, Doris Would Pass Away From Cancer in 1960 at the Young Age of 42.
Among the Other Players in the Film include Hugh Herbert as a Zany and Financially Unresponsible Agent Who Adds Some Craziness into the Film (Also Has A Bizarre Scene Where He Cross Dresses as His Characters Sister.)
Lee Dixon as a Marine, Slim Dixon. Who Gets A Bizarre Tap Dance Number Directed by Bugsy Berkeley which contains very out of date jump cuts.
Jane Darwell is Pleasant as Always despite not being given much to do. Allen Jenkins is really solid in the role of Sargent Kelly.
Other Players Include Addison Richards, Marcia Ralston, Guinn Williams, Larry Adler, Harry Woods, Eddy Chandler, Henry O'Neill, Eddie Acuff, Berton Churchill, Ward Bond, Veda Ann Borg, and A Very Young Jane Wyman.
The Music in the Film is Solid As Much of it is Written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. The Standout of their tracks is the interesting "The Lady That Couldn't Be Kissed" and a Notable Version of Johnny Mercer's "Night Over Shanghai".
Larry Adler Gets A Couple Harmonica Solo in Their For Good Measure including a very fun rendition of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" which of course was immortalized by Fred Astaire in both the Broadway and Film Version of "The Gay Divorce". Perhaps Most Bizarre we have have a Unknown Chinese Quartet Preform the Traditional "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain" in Both English & Chinese, Not Once, Not Twice, But Three Times.
Busby Berkeley Directs Two Dance Numbers in the Film But You Would Never Know If Not Told, As the Numbers are more run of the mill and lack that distinct Berkeley Magic.
The Story is overall very sappy and lacks much emotional pay-off. Missed Opportunities to develop characters. The Actions of the Characters are for little reason other than to drag the Story along. You Really Lack to see the reason or the chemistry between the main two characters. Also Doesn't Benefit from Outstanding Numbers like the Astaire Films of the Day and Age. Luckily for us the Film Musicals Would Get Far More Advanced and Charming in their plotlines over the next 20 years as the 40's and 50's would be a Golden Age of Musicals. This Film has sustained a consistent amount of Re-runs on TCM, So Not all is bad for this film. It has it's place.
The Story Centers Around Bob Brent (Dick Powell), A Timid Marine from Arkansas Who Possesses A Gifted Voice. Bob is Invited by his Sargent, Mike Kelly (Allen Jenkins) to Attend a Wienie Roast at The Beach with Some of The Other Marines and Their Gals. Bob, Whom is Tired of Going to Wienie Roast Instead He Will Intent If He Can Also Have A Date. Sargent Kelly Helps The Shy Bob by Arranging him a Date with A 19-Year Old Cashier Peggy Randall (Doris Weston) Whom Bob Fancies. At The Wienie Roast, The Bashful Bob is Urged by the Boys to Sing A Song. Much To A Delight of The Fellow Boys, Bob's Smooth Vocals Helps Put Their Gals into the Desired Romantic Mood. Bob However Due to Being Busy Singing for the Other Fellas Sakes, Fails to Have Any Success with Peggy is Distraught and Knows He Will Not Have Another Chance with Her, For Peggy is Going to NYC enter a Amateur Hour Contest While Bob Will Just Go Back to Arkansas. Spearheaded By Sargent Kelly the Boys Take Up A Collection of $2 Per Guy to Help Sent Bob to NYC to Enter the Amateur Hour Contest to Represent The Marines. Bob Who is Thankful and Surprised by the Gesture Gets on the Bus For The Cross Country Travel from San Diego to New York City. Along for the Trip is Peggy, Whom Makes A Pact with Bob to Have A Lookout For One Another. Bob and Peggy Arrive for The Contest, Peggy is Chosen to go First. Peggy Overcome by Stage Fright Fails to Impress. Bob, However is Confident while Singing and Wins the Entire Contest in a Apparent Landslide. Bob is Immediately called upon by Agents, Felix Fowler (Addison Richards) and Aeneas K. Phinney (Hugh Herbert) Whom After Being Allowed to Bring Along Peggy as his Secretary Signs A Radio Contract With. Bob's Newfound Fame Gets to His Head, as he Neglects his responsibility to the Marines, and his budding relationship with Peggy. Bob Has To Find Out What Really Matters in his Life.
Dick Powell is Solid in this Film. While Not Having the Command of the Screen Such as Fellow Musical Leading Men of the Time (Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby) He is Still A Relatively Talented Actor Who Does the Best with the Material Given to Him.
Doris Weston is in Her Film Debut. While She is An Attractive Girl Who Also had a Really Good Voice, She Fails to impress and what would happen to be her big chance in Films. She Was Discovered by Warner in A Nightclub. At The Time, Doris was also on NBC Radio (Coincidentally After Winning A Ammeter Hour Contest). You Can Tell Warner Had Planned for Her to have a Build-up Like Ruby Keeler's. Her Hair and Style was Fashioned much like that of Ruby's and the Choose Doris to Take Ruby's Spot in the Third of These Military Musical Due to her having a "Better Voice" than Ruby. One of the Key Differences is That Dick and Doris Lack the Chemistry that Dick Shared with Ruby. Her Sophomore Attempt into Film would be in Lloyd Bacons' Submarine D-1. She Was Originally to be in the Film Alongside Future President Ronald Reagan as Her Love Interest but Reagan's Part would be Completely Cut Out of the Movie and Weston's Was Significantly Reduced. Weston Would Part from Warner's Following The Films Conclusion. She Would Appear in Film for A Handful of Years Finding Some Work Most Notably as Warren Hull's girlfriend in the 1939 Columbia serial "Mandrake the Magician". Doris Would Retire from Acting in 1942 and Get Married. Sadly, Doris Would Pass Away From Cancer in 1960 at the Young Age of 42.
Among the Other Players in the Film include Hugh Herbert as a Zany and Financially Unresponsible Agent Who Adds Some Craziness into the Film (Also Has A Bizarre Scene Where He Cross Dresses as His Characters Sister.)
Lee Dixon as a Marine, Slim Dixon. Who Gets A Bizarre Tap Dance Number Directed by Bugsy Berkeley which contains very out of date jump cuts.
Jane Darwell is Pleasant as Always despite not being given much to do. Allen Jenkins is really solid in the role of Sargent Kelly.
Other Players Include Addison Richards, Marcia Ralston, Guinn Williams, Larry Adler, Harry Woods, Eddy Chandler, Henry O'Neill, Eddie Acuff, Berton Churchill, Ward Bond, Veda Ann Borg, and A Very Young Jane Wyman.
The Music in the Film is Solid As Much of it is Written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. The Standout of their tracks is the interesting "The Lady That Couldn't Be Kissed" and a Notable Version of Johnny Mercer's "Night Over Shanghai".
Larry Adler Gets A Couple Harmonica Solo in Their For Good Measure including a very fun rendition of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" which of course was immortalized by Fred Astaire in both the Broadway and Film Version of "The Gay Divorce". Perhaps Most Bizarre we have have a Unknown Chinese Quartet Preform the Traditional "She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain" in Both English & Chinese, Not Once, Not Twice, But Three Times.
Busby Berkeley Directs Two Dance Numbers in the Film But You Would Never Know If Not Told, As the Numbers are more run of the mill and lack that distinct Berkeley Magic.
The Story is overall very sappy and lacks much emotional pay-off. Missed Opportunities to develop characters. The Actions of the Characters are for little reason other than to drag the Story along. You Really Lack to see the reason or the chemistry between the main two characters. Also Doesn't Benefit from Outstanding Numbers like the Astaire Films of the Day and Age. Luckily for us the Film Musicals Would Get Far More Advanced and Charming in their plotlines over the next 20 years as the 40's and 50's would be a Golden Age of Musicals. This Film has sustained a consistent amount of Re-runs on TCM, So Not all is bad for this film. It has it's place.