OK, I can see young girls with permanent waves going ga-ga for Bing Crosby in 1934, but a decade later, it had changed to bobby soxers and someone with the last name of Sinatra they were craving. Certainly by 1944, der Bingle was still on the charts and had songs in the top 10 each year. In fact, I bet he had more Academy Award nominated songs up through the late 50's and was still tops at the box office.
But in 1944, ole' blue eyes was the one causing riots and fainting spells as the war was wrapping up while Crosby was working hard to support a slew of sons. That makes it funny to see this a decade after his hearth-throb stage, and while he still has "it', "it" has slowed down a bit. Obviously, he is playing a variation of himself here, a top box office movie star and chart topping singer, causing even serious young women in the Navy to swoon. Well, at any rate, Betty Hutton. Or at least one of the two Betty Hutton's who appear in this film.
Hutton plays a singing duo here, the Allison twins, a fun-loving blonde and a more seriously driven brunette. They join the Waves, and the dark haired Hutton tries to keep the wacky blonde sister in check. The blonde Betty is wacky for Bing, but the brunette Betty (quite stunning in a Claudette Colbert wig) finds him silly, vain and frivolous. It's obvious from the time that serious Betty tells off Bing for assuming she wanted his autograph that she'll be the one for him, while blonde Betty will end up with the blonde Sonny Tufts, the goofy sailor with an even goofier grin.
The Sonny Bono of his time with all the jokes at his expense, Tufts has an easy going way about him, but serious acting was definitely not his calling. The premise has Crosby joining the navy to join his buddy Tufts which brings on romantic complications and of course the big canteen show to entertain the navy. This has blonde Betty disguising herself as her sister, but even trying to act demure completely gives her away, even if Tufts is too dim to see the difference. Tufts, big and brawny, isn't just the poor man's Alan Ladd; He's the dumb man's Slapsy Maxie Rosenbloom.
With songs by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, you know that this is going to be an above average show, and there's the popular classic "That Old Black Magic" (2 years old when repeated in this film) as well as several new hits ("Let's Take the Long Way Home" and the still popular "Accentuate the Positive") that makes this memorable. It's a good thing there's the sassy blonde Betty here because had there only been the serious brunette Betty, you'd wonder if she had suffered a nervous breakdown or something. This is one of the few, if only, big Paramount pictures that lacked in a huge ensemble of their contract character actors, only featuring Ann Doran as a WAVE officer.
The "Accentuate the Positive" production number for some reason is performed with Crosby (playing a postman) and Tufts (as a hotel doorman) in blackface, perhaps the only misstep for an above average film. Another novelty number, "If Waves acted like Sailors", gives a nice little friendly slap to the sassy sailors on leave searching for quicky female entertainment, but Betty doesn't seem to be play acting here.. The direction by veteran director Mark Sandrich is totally solid. This provided plenty of distracting laughs and toe tapping songs for war audiences, and nearly 80 years later, still holds up as great entertainment.
But in 1944, ole' blue eyes was the one causing riots and fainting spells as the war was wrapping up while Crosby was working hard to support a slew of sons. That makes it funny to see this a decade after his hearth-throb stage, and while he still has "it', "it" has slowed down a bit. Obviously, he is playing a variation of himself here, a top box office movie star and chart topping singer, causing even serious young women in the Navy to swoon. Well, at any rate, Betty Hutton. Or at least one of the two Betty Hutton's who appear in this film.
Hutton plays a singing duo here, the Allison twins, a fun-loving blonde and a more seriously driven brunette. They join the Waves, and the dark haired Hutton tries to keep the wacky blonde sister in check. The blonde Betty is wacky for Bing, but the brunette Betty (quite stunning in a Claudette Colbert wig) finds him silly, vain and frivolous. It's obvious from the time that serious Betty tells off Bing for assuming she wanted his autograph that she'll be the one for him, while blonde Betty will end up with the blonde Sonny Tufts, the goofy sailor with an even goofier grin.
The Sonny Bono of his time with all the jokes at his expense, Tufts has an easy going way about him, but serious acting was definitely not his calling. The premise has Crosby joining the navy to join his buddy Tufts which brings on romantic complications and of course the big canteen show to entertain the navy. This has blonde Betty disguising herself as her sister, but even trying to act demure completely gives her away, even if Tufts is too dim to see the difference. Tufts, big and brawny, isn't just the poor man's Alan Ladd; He's the dumb man's Slapsy Maxie Rosenbloom.
With songs by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen, you know that this is going to be an above average show, and there's the popular classic "That Old Black Magic" (2 years old when repeated in this film) as well as several new hits ("Let's Take the Long Way Home" and the still popular "Accentuate the Positive") that makes this memorable. It's a good thing there's the sassy blonde Betty here because had there only been the serious brunette Betty, you'd wonder if she had suffered a nervous breakdown or something. This is one of the few, if only, big Paramount pictures that lacked in a huge ensemble of their contract character actors, only featuring Ann Doran as a WAVE officer.
The "Accentuate the Positive" production number for some reason is performed with Crosby (playing a postman) and Tufts (as a hotel doorman) in blackface, perhaps the only misstep for an above average film. Another novelty number, "If Waves acted like Sailors", gives a nice little friendly slap to the sassy sailors on leave searching for quicky female entertainment, but Betty doesn't seem to be play acting here.. The direction by veteran director Mark Sandrich is totally solid. This provided plenty of distracting laughs and toe tapping songs for war audiences, and nearly 80 years later, still holds up as great entertainment.