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One of my all time favorites.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

If you get Anchors Aweigh, On the Town, and Take me out to the Ball Game confused, you're not alone. After all, two are about sailors on leave, two feature Betty Garrett and Jules Munshin, and all three musicals star Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra! Anchors Aweigh features songs from Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, but the most famous musical number from this film is the dance duet of Gene Kelly and Jerry the mouse. You've probably seen this dance included in famous film montages, but when you watch the entire movie, try and put yourself in 1945's place. What a thrill—and what special effects!—to see Gene Kelly dance with half of Tom and Jerry! It was pretty spectacular, and it remains one of his most famous dances.The plot follows two sailor buddies on leave; they want to see the sights and the girls, but when they both start to fall for the same girl, there's a problem. Adorable Kathryn Grayson is the center of the love triangle, but while she gets to sing a couple of songs, it's Gene Kelly who stands out in this campy, happy-go-lucky, pro-soldier, post-war, silly musical.If you don't think you can sit through all of it—because you're not a die-hard Gene Kelly fan, or you'd rather watch a Frank Sinatra movie where he actually acts—at least watch the cartoon dance number. It's adorable.

In between the musical boom in the '30s, and the resurgence of the Hollywood musical in the early '50s with "An American in Paris" and "Singin' in the Rain", there was "Anchors Aweigh". A 1945 MGM musical starring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Kathryn Grayson, what we have here is not by any means cinema at its finest; rather, it is simply that wonderful brand of lighthearted escapism that Hollywood was famous for in its golden age.The Hollywood musical didn't by any means die off in the '40s, but it reached a low-point in popularity, by comparison to the cornucopia of musicals from every major studio in the '30s. As we know, the German director Ernst Lubitsch, having migrated to America in '23, brought the musical to life. His 1929 film "The Love Parade", starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette MacDonald, was the first truly modern musical committed to the big screen. Lubitsch made several other similar musicals during the early '30s ("Monte Carlo", "The Smiling Lieutenant", and "One Hour With Your"). These films, made for Paramount, were, like everything Lubitsch, based in charisma, wit, and innuendo. After 1932, however, Lubitsch abandoned the musical, which was in the process of undergoing a vast transformation. The new musical was on the horizon, and it came bursting to life in 1933. RKO brought Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to the screen with "Flying Down to Rio". Warner Bros released three musicals helmed by the great Busby Berkeley: "42nd Street", "The Gold Diggers of 1933", and "Footlight Parade" -- all backstage musicals. MGM, who had a habit of, let's say, "borrowing" from Warner, released their own Berkeley knockoff called "Dancing Lady". Extravagance and spectacle were the name of the game now. Large, ornate sets saw the production of grand, elaborate musical numbers. Only Paramount remained relatively low-key, with musicals like "International House" and "College Humor". They were in the process of establishing names like W.C. Fields, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and, of course, Bing Crosby.This trend continued throughout the '30s. MGM released "San Francisco" and "The Great Ziegfeld", along with three followups to their 1929 musical "The Broadway Melody": "The Broadway Melody of 1936", "The Broadway Melody of 1938", and "The Broadway Melody of 1940". Warner Bros continued releasing Busby Berkeley musicals, like "Dames", "The Gold Diggers of 1935", and "The Gold Diggers of 1937". Paramount had Bing Crosby in full form by 1936 when they released "Rhythm on the Range", and two years later gave Bob Hope his feature debut in "The Big Broadcast of 1938", followed by "Give Me a Sailor", both of which costarred Martha Raye. RKO continued the now ultra-popular run of Astaire and Rogers films — "Roberta", "Follow the Fleet", "Swing Time", "Carefree", and others. And, finally, Fox hopped on the bandwagon with "Pigskin Parade" in 1936 (I'm sure there were Fox musicals before this, but I'm not familiar with any). Then, something happened. The war. World War II saw the necessity for propagandistic war films surging, which cut into the popularity of the musical. Or maybe musicals simply had run their course. In either case, the early '40s saw a significant drop-off in the production and popularity of Hollywood musicals. The one major exception was Fox. They kept the musical alive through the war years, with lavish Technicolor films starring the likes of Betty Grable, Alice Faye, and Don Ameche (i.e. "Down Argentine Way", "That Night in Rio", and "Moon Over Miami").Interestingly, it is these Fox Technicolor musicals from the early '40s that provided the most obvious inspiration for MGM's "Anchors Aweigh". Not only the use of color, but the general style and aesthetic of the film is very similar to Fox's musicals from earlier in the decade. Later, "Anchors Aweigh" would evolve into MGM's famous musicals from the early '50s — "An American in Paris" and "Singin' in the Rain" — which also starred Gene Kelly, and triggered the rebirth of the Hollywood musical. Gene Kelly is absolutely the centerpiece of this film. He is wonderful. He's among the most charismatic screen presences I've seen in Hollywood's history, and it never shows more than it does here. Kelly carries this film. Kathryn Grayson is decent in the lead female role, and Sinatra, the film's costar, is solid enough. I've never been that big on Frank Sinatra, but I find his younger self in this film much more amiable than his later roles."Anchors Aweigh" is gorgeously shot. Like virtually all Hollywood commercial films, it lacks any artistic ambition, but the technical skills demonstrated by those who collaborated on the film are immense. The set design is extraordinary. The lighting is impeccable. Visually speaking, it's an amazingly attractive film, and at times it even seems to possess a distinctly painterly quality, which we are now bereft of with the digital realism of modern cinema. There is a side role for Dean Stockwell, a child actor who was popular at the time, and has been acting ever since. This was his second role. Also notable is José Iturbi, the Spanish conductor and piano prodigy who plays himself in the film. His presence reminds us of Oscar Levant in "An American in Paris". Iturbi has multiple piano performances in the film, and they are truly a pleasure to behold. What a talent.Overall, this is a solid film. In the world of Hollywood musicals, I'd say it's a very good film. It's long, but it never gets tedious. It's good fun from start to finish. The musical numbers aren't astonishing, but they're good, on the whole. At the end of the day, though, Gene Kelly is the reason to show up for the film, and the reason to stay until it's over. His screen personality is very fun and a joy to watch, and that's about how I'd sum up the film itself.RATING: 6.67 out of 10 stars

A jolly musical featuring a great double act in the pairing of Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, who don't share quite as many song-and-dance numbers as you'd expect. ANCHORS AWEIGH charts the boisterous misadventures of a pair of sailors (Kelly and Sinatra) on three-day shore leave and the trouble that seems to follow them around.The sole problem with this movie is that it's overlong and, as is so often the case, it gets bogged down in an unnecessary romance around the halfway mark. It needed a little more music, a little more oomph, to make it truly great. Still, there's plenty to enjoy here, not least a wonderful performance from an agile and exuberant Gene Kelly, who outdoes Sinatra at every turn.The highlights of the movie are a couple of fantasy sequences. In one of them, a Spanish-themed interlude, we see Kelly serenading love interest Kathryn Grayson. However, it's the other moment, in which he enters an animated world and dances with Jerry from the TOM AND JERRY cartoons, which is the real highlight and a moment of pure brilliance. I always thought this kind of live action and animation mixing didn't occur until the days of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? but it looks like I was wrong; this dance is the icing on a slightly stodgy, but very tasty, cake.

At a bloated 143 minutes, there's no way this ambitious musical from MGM can hold together. Gorgeous color photography only shows up the cheap sets and rear projection used for this sound stage-bound film.Frank Sinatra (playing the dope again) and Gene Kelly (he can't act) play two sailors on leave who get saddled with a runaway kid (Dean Stockwell) and his Aunt Susie (Kathryn Grayson in a cloying performance). They get suckered into trying to get her an audition with Jose Iturbi at MGM. Along the way Kelly falls for Grayson and Sinatra gets stuck with a stiff from Brooklyn (Pamela Britton is a lousy performance).Maybe an OK story for the time, but the film is way too long and wanders all over the place, including several dance solos for Kelly and the famous cartoon sequence. Sinatra sings a few songs, Grayson squeals a few more, and Iturbi play piano. Co-stars in small roles include Billy Gilbert, Henry O'Neill, Henry Armetta, Edgar Kennedy, Rags Ragland, Renie Riano, Sharon McManus, and the always annoying Grady Sutton.The boys are such jerks, it's hard to warm up to them, and Grayson is all sugar and light to the point of nausea, and then she sings and sings and sings. Iturbi probably comes off best, and his Hollywood Bowl sequence is indeed excellent. Most annoying of all is Pamela Britton with her hideous attempt at a Brooklyn accent. MGM couldn't find an actress who could do the accent? Moider! At one point, Grayson is sitting in a theater next to 2 old ladies. In the next cut the second old lady (who looks like Mae Marsh) is a completely different woman.This one ridiculously won Oscar nominations for best film and for Gene Kelly as best actors. Moider!