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To me, this movie is perfection.

Simply A Masterpiece

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The main reason for seeing this morale-boosting film, released in the midst of WWII, is to see the antics of Betty Hutton. She was more fun than all the rest of the Paramount stars put together. The best female film clown until Lucie Ricardo(Ball)replaced her in the '50s. She was the ultimate bubbly cute blonde bombshell, in only her second feature-length film. As in her first film: "The Fleet's In", she was largely paired with comedian-straight man Eddie Bracken, a trend that would continue in several additional films. She's way down on the billing list at this site, but she dominated the first half of the film, along with Eddie, and Victor Moore, who played Eddie's father. Most of the other stars were crammed into the second half of the film.There is a dramatic side to the show. Eddie Bracken played a serviceman who is on leave in Hollywood to see his father, who claimed to have been promoted to head of production, and to see his pen pal girlfriend(Betty). The problem is that Eddie's father actually is just a security guard at the studio. Thus, the challenge is to keep this knowledge from Eddie's buddies, and to keep the real production chief(played by Walter Able) away from his office until Eddie and his buddies go back to their ship. Of course, this leads to many comedic situations.All the music was composed by Harold Arlen, with lyricist Johnny Mercer. The only "keeper" was "That Old Black Magic", which was released as a single by several singers around the same time, as well as in later years. Vera Zorina danced to it, while Johnny Johnston sang it. "Hit the Road to Dreamland " was sung by Mary Martin and Dick Powell. Betty Hutton sings "I'm Doing it for Defense. 'Rochester' Anderson led a group of African Americans in singing and dancing to "Sharp as a Tack". Marjorie Reynolds and others sang "On the Swing Shift". Paulette Goddard, Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake(dubbed) sang and danced to "A Sweater, a Sarong, and a Peek-a-Boo Bang", followed by 3 men made up as caricatures of the women, who also sang and danced to it. Bing Crosby finished with the patriotic "Old Glory". There were a number of non-musical skits, as well, including the shower scene, with William Bendix and Bob Hope: the latter also serving as master of ceremonies, for about the last half of the film. "If Men Played Cards as Women Do", with 4 stars, fell flat for me.Although this was shot in B&W, occasionally, a rainbow of colors is seen, due to differential refraction of the light from microstructures. This is especially evident in Betty's dress in the 'climbing the wall' skit, and in Vera Zorenas's dress in the "That Old Black Magic" dance. I haven't noticed such in any other B&W film.

Anyone who considers himself an old movie buff must see this film. It is a time capsule of Paramount in 1942. All the studio's great stars, including Susan Hayworth, Fred MacMurray, Bob Hope. and others participate in this film. Unfortunately, some of the big stars of that time are no longer known today and the surprise of seeing them do certain numbers no longer amaze contemporary audiences as would have happened in 1942. There are some priceless vaudeville skits (such as Betty Hutton trying to get over a studio wall) that are real classics. The ending of the movie is a grand patriotic number sung by Bing Crosby as he asks Americans what this country means to them. It is too bad that today's movies don't do a little reminder like that about the glories of our country.

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US mobilized unlike any society before or since.A large part of that was because of a very cooperative media, especially the new medium of movies. The White House asked them to rush some feel-good films into production and this was paramount's first response. It is a collection of skits wrapped in a thin story. Most of the skit material is in the form of a "show" for sailors, but many of them inexplicably use cinematic conventions that couldn't be staged.Because this was stitched together so quickly, it is of widely varying tone and quality. I suppose the parts you like will depend on who you are. There's a pretty big, lush production number (ostensibly a movie being shot that some sailors visit) that has atypically svelte and acrobatic girls. Later, there's a number where black straight man Rochester dances pretty well.So far as comedy, there are two classic scenes here that made this enjoyable for me: This was Betty Hutton's first big role and she does Lucy better than Lucy I think. One scene is a hilarious attempt to climb over a wall with the aid of two men. It's amazingly physical, worthy of Keaton. Check her out in "Perils of Pauline," also directed by Marshall, who seems to have understood her.The other comic bit worth seeing is Bob Hope trapped in a shower with William Bendix, and avoiding being discovered. Hope's not a great comic, in fact he falls flat elsewhere in this project. But this one skit is perfect for him.Preston Sturges is one of the main figures in folded films (films about film), and he plays himself here, screening a film.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

At best, 1942 was a year of confusion because of World War Two. Perhaps that is why the movie is uneven. The movie was released before the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor which drew the United States into the war as a legal active participant. The purpose of this film seems two-fold: to entertain in time of war and to provide Paramount with a opportunity to do its part in the war effort in public. There are some extraordinary scenes, such as the dance number in the aircraft plant and Betty Hutton's singing during a jeep ride. In general, however, the movie promises more than it delivers, and the scene with Bing Crosby singing of "Old Glory" in front of Mount Rushmore (with a patriotic chorus) is simply too jingoistic. One bright result is the Bracken-Hutton screen relationship in this movie which blossomed into very good comedy in a later film, "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek."