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Best movie ever!

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

We remember seeing the original This Is the army many years ago; this was fun to watch both because of the music and dancing and because it captured the patriotic fervor of the time; also there were parts I didn't remember seeing before, e.g. the Stage Door Canteen and Irving Berlin singing ..Hate to Get Up ..though my husband did ( I'm dating myself :-) canteen song the other reviewers described it perfectly and I really don't have anything to add to their comments; except that it was interesting to learn what that reviewer wrote about Yip Yip Yank about which show I knew nothing; I must see if there is a trivia section here; the singers are superb! are they talented servicemen ( the crdits give military rank in front of their names) or Broadway performers who joined or weredrafted into t army?

It must have gone over well with wartime audiences, those on the home front waiting and worrying about loved ones abroad. "This Is The Army" is a big, splashy musical with lots of familiar Hollywood stars and with almost constant music by Irving Berlin. Just the thing to boost the morale - uplifting, upbeat and very patriotic. However. You might be tempted to say that the story gets in the way of the songs, but the story is not all that interesting to start with, and with some contrivance to boot. And the songs are loud but forgettable, the only one worth noting is "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning", sung by Irving Berlin himself. But that's the last scene in a movie which seems interminable at times. The best one can say is that it made the folks on the home front feel much better. My star rating is in the heading as the website no longer prints mine.

As a historical record, it's a must watch. But completely pointless as a movie. Like something out of The Producers. Way too little story from the original WWI guys. That was the more interesting storyline that didn't really pick back up until about the last 15 minutes of the movie. Everything in between was full of hot air. Was this a real show? I'm hedging that it wasn't. But it's difficult to tell. And the subplot with uh Reagan not wanting to get married is completely buried and even absurd on it's face. Should have never been in the movie. Great singing all around, but it never felt like a movie. Probably would have been cool as a stage show but never a movie.Full Rating: 4/10 Quality: 2/10 Entertainment: 6/10 Replayable: 2/10

What really enhanced my enjoyment of THIS IS THE ARMY last night on TCM is the fact that for once I saw a good, restored print of the wartime Warner Bros. musical and it looked great. The colors were vibrant. JOAN LESLIE never looked so beautiful with her reddish brown hair and the uniformly good cast of contract players headed by RONALD REAGAN, ALAN HALE, STANLEY RIDGES and others mixed well with the assorted real-life soldiers and sailors and marines who made up the bulk of the show. GEORGE MURPHY does a standout job as Reagan's show business father.The Irving Berlin tunes were the film's saving grace. His jaunty "This Is The Army, Mr. Jones," "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," and other sprightly numbers compensate for the very thin plot that has Reagan and Leslie as wartime sweethearts who don't get together until the final reel after quarreling foolishly about whether or not to tie the knot.Some of the comedy skits between soldiers are beyond corny and fall flat for today's audiences, but as hokey as most of it is, it's still an enjoyable show, especially the sight of beefy men in drag doing their thing with Berlin's irresistible songs. ALAN HALE is especially funny as an overweight soldier forced to take a female part in one of the show's big musical numbers.And, of course, the blackface routine may turn some politically correct spectators off the entire film.Trivia note: It's amusing to see Reagan get excited about the presence of the President of the United States in the audience--someone shown only in a distant shot. Reagan himself was about to occupy the White House for two straight terms at a future time. A rare and ironic moment!