Internet Movie Database Movie Reviews
Sailors on the town. Girls. Hijinks ensue.
This is billed as another charming ‘sailors on the town’ musical like On The Town and Anchors Aweigh…beware false advertising!
Yes, it’s a musical. Yes, it’s about sailors on leave. No, it is neither charming nor fun.
Firstly, it was made in the mid 1950s, and the heavy metal boots of the fifties have stomped all the fun out of it. There are cute situations, and some romantic mixups, but they are not charming or fun.
The costumes, sets and colors are all marked with that inimitable 50s style that puts red dresses against chartreuse walls (I am not joking) and everything in contrasting “We paid for technicolor and we’re going to use it!” color schemes. The dresses are frothy and full of skirt, and the romantic situations are all farce.
And Tony Martin, Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire, is the lead…now, Ann Miller is in this, and she’s good. Debbie Reynolds is always worth watching, and Russ Tamblyn (whom I had only seen in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) is adorable. But (except for the funhouse dance sequence, which was great) this is a lot of nothing blown up into a silly two hours of mistaken identity and dodging the MPs.
Not so much of a much. Worth it for those actors and that one scene, but really, don’t waste your time.
theotterlimits 