Sammy-Jo Cervantes
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
mark.waltz
This is literally half an hour of plot and half an hour of music, making this just over an hour with the credits. Still, it's a delight for the ears, and a tickle here and there with what limited plot there is. In the first 20 minutes, there's four musical numbers (two in a row from the very gifted Delta Rhythm Boys) and simply the set- up with a group of song writing seamen trying to get their songs published while on the town while on leave. Donald Woods leads the four men with Elyse Knox getting involved in their shenanigans as a feisty taxi driver. ("Oh, a lady cab driver. How revolting!", to quote Betty Garrett in "On the Town"). This is filled with more "moments" than actual plot, but those "moments" really shine as do the musical specialties and fun performances. Universal did a ton of second string programmers like this, most popularly with the Andrews Sisters and youngsters like Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan and Ann Blyth, and even though this one doesn't have any of those stars, it's filled with great talents like 30's juvenile star Eddie Quillan and Woods, whose career stretched from "A Tale of Two Cities" to a few of the "Mexican Spitfire" films to William Castle's cult horror comedy, "13 Ghosts". Even the corniest of the sketches provides some amusement, especially the spinster chorus in Knox's cab. Ray Eberle and his orchestra and the Delta Rhythm Boys are particular standouts, and by integrating the musical numbers, Universal showed that at least their B unit was "with it".
