The always entertaining Frances Langford leads this war drama with music about a foursome group of singers who travel the South Pacific to entertain wounded soldiers during World War II. it's a type of story that overloaded the movie theaters during wartime so its presence in the early 1950's seems a little bit too late even though America was heading into a crisis with Korea. here, the enemy is the Japanese who makes surprise attacks during Langford's singing, and she gets into the action by hanging out with the officers and enlisted men to learn what they do and witness first hand the daily struggles of military life during the war.
As she was married at the time that this took place and at the time the movie was made to Universal action star Jon Hall, there is no romance for her although she does kiss a few soldiers and even pretends to know one wounded soldier who had been bragging that they knew each other. Langford comes to be known as "one of the boys" with her courageous demeanor and genuine caring. I had the pleasure of seeing her live later in her life at a memorial of the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor along with Bob Hope with whom she had also toured with.
This was based on her radio recollections, made into a screenplay and produced by Columbia's Sam Katzman, head of the studio's very busy "B" unit. While this could have been a simply typical war musical, it focuses more on the activities going on then it does for the entertainment aspect of the story even though there are half-a-dozen rather unremarkable songs sung throughout the film. Judd Holdren gets the bulk of the dramatic story as the cynical lieutenant she befriends and brings down to earth.
Had this focused more on the entertainment aspect of the plot, it would have simply been a rip-off of "Four Jill's in a Jeep" where four real life entertainers (Kay Francis, Martha Raye, Carole Landis, Mitzi Mayfair) shared their real experiences. both are good films, but this is slightly better because it deals with real goings-on behind the scenes and not just a "we toured here and sang this song and so-and-so made an appearance, and now we're going there." This film has a lot more to it than just that.
As she was married at the time that this took place and at the time the movie was made to Universal action star Jon Hall, there is no romance for her although she does kiss a few soldiers and even pretends to know one wounded soldier who had been bragging that they knew each other. Langford comes to be known as "one of the boys" with her courageous demeanor and genuine caring. I had the pleasure of seeing her live later in her life at a memorial of the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor along with Bob Hope with whom she had also toured with.
This was based on her radio recollections, made into a screenplay and produced by Columbia's Sam Katzman, head of the studio's very busy "B" unit. While this could have been a simply typical war musical, it focuses more on the activities going on then it does for the entertainment aspect of the story even though there are half-a-dozen rather unremarkable songs sung throughout the film. Judd Holdren gets the bulk of the dramatic story as the cynical lieutenant she befriends and brings down to earth.
Had this focused more on the entertainment aspect of the plot, it would have simply been a rip-off of "Four Jill's in a Jeep" where four real life entertainers (Kay Francis, Martha Raye, Carole Landis, Mitzi Mayfair) shared their real experiences. both are good films, but this is slightly better because it deals with real goings-on behind the scenes and not just a "we toured here and sang this song and so-and-so made an appearance, and now we're going there." This film has a lot more to it than just that.