SoTrumpBelieve
Must See Movie...
ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Kien Navarro
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
writers_reign
For Swing fans there are six good reasons to watch this movie and they are the half dozen platters spun by DJ Beverly Ross (Ann Miller) which include The Mills Brothers, Count Basie, Bob Crosby, Duke Ellington, Freddy Slack/Ella Mae Morse and Frank Sinatra. The plot is very secondary to the talent on display albeit the gimmick - Miller loads a platter onto the turntable, sets it spinning, lowers the stylus and we 'dissolve' to that actual artist performing the respective number in full. There is also another act, The Radio Rogues, a trio of impressionists active from 1935 who featured in several Columbia shorts who offer ho hum carbons of Clark Gable, Amos n' Andy, Lum and Abner, Ben Bernie, Kate Smith et al. Essentially it's a nostalgia trip for Senior citizens but none the worse for it.
kidboots
Ann Miller did get to MGM but unfortunately at a time when musicals were on their way out. She started out at RKO, where her tap specialities were usually the standout scenes from the so-so films she was given. When "Too Many Girls" was filmed, Ann did her famous "Mexiconga" dance. The producers wanted to take her back to Broadway but Ann was set on Hollywood stardom - she then signed with Columbia. "Reveille With Beverly" was an extremely popular musical featuring some of the biggest swing bands of the era and was typical of the type of film that Ann was making at the time.The film starts with the wonderful Mills Brothers singing "Cielito Lindo" (Mexican Hat Dance) - beautiful Beverly dreams of having her own radio show - she would fill it with plenty of boogie woogie. Vernon Lewis (Franklyn Pangborn) is the early morning broadcaster who has the "Classics at Dawn" show. After convincing Vernon that he needs a vacation Beverly takes his place and the first record is Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump" - "hotter than your morning coffee"!!!Eddie Ross (Larry Parks) gets a lift to the barracks and hears his sister on the radio - a debate breaks out about her looks or lack of them. Eddie neglects to tell them she is his sister but does invite them to his house for the weekend. Of course they find out that she is young and pretty but just to confuse matters, the boys swap names. Barry Lang is sick of being only liked for his money, but as plain old Andy Adams, Beverly takes a shine to him. The inevitable mix-up occurs throughout the film.She christens her show "Reveille With Beverly" and starts it off with "Big Noise" by Bob Crosby (singers include Lyn and Lee Wilde). Before she gets going Beverly is sacked and gets her old job back at the record store!!! That's before her boss realises what a gold mine he has. Suddenly she is back on air - with Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train". All good things must come to an end and Vernon returns - like a bad penny!!! Beverly can now only dream of presenting Frank Sinatra singing "Night and Day" to her "boys". All things end well and with a "Cow Cow Boogie" sung by Ella Mae Morse, she is back on deck.The end of the film features a great concert with the Mills Brothers singing "Sweet Lucy Brown", and The Radio Rogues, who do spot on imitations of Morton Downey, Amos and Andy, Kate Smith, among others. The story is only an excuse for presenting some of the finest swing musicians of the day but Ann Miller is beautiful, bubbly and talented and her tap solo to "Thumbs Up and V for Victory" must be the fastest on film!!! Although I can't find her credited, I think that must be Irene Ryan (Granny from "The Beverly Hillbillies") playing a sassy secretaries who fills the film with cornball humour.Recommended.
JasonLeeSmith
From around the time Europe began fighting World War II, until the war's end, Hollywood (with significant prodding from the government) made tons of movies which were designed to try and get young men to enlist in the Army, by making the life of a serviceman appear "cool." This is by far the sloppiest, implying that the life of a soldier is devoid of work, you get the best food, and you get to lie around all day listening to Ann Miller on the radio. I am far too young to have participated in WWII, but I think that there was more to it than that. There is the barest cat's whisker of a plot, and a bunch of musical numbers featuring some of the day's leading acts.I think that by 1943, even the most naive of civvies knew that there was more going on overseas than the wacky hijinks portrayed in this movie. While I am sure that it was meant to be viewed as escapist entertainment, I can't help but wonder if the family and loved ones of men fighting in the war, were amused or repulsed by this trivialization of their loved ones' sacrifice.
Neil Doyle
Built around a thin plot which serves as an excuse to parade a bunch of then current pop bands, singers and comedy acts, this little programmer from Columbia spotlights ANN MILLER in the central role as a disc jockey who directs her show at the U.S. Armed Services.She gets involved with two young soldiers--WILLIAM WRIGHT (who resembles John Carroll) and DICK PURCELL, has frequent disagreements with her radio boss, and ends up as the feature attraction in a service show where she displays her tap-dancing skills. The plot, almost non-existent, serves as a prop to show some of the performers whose records she plays for the soldiers--including Count Basie, Duke Wellington, Frank Sinatra, Bob Crosby, The Radio Rogues and The Mills Brothers.In a strictly subordinate role is LARRY PARKS, only a few years away from stardom in "The Jolson Story", but here a virtual unknown as a fellow soldier. IRENE RYAN has a small role as a ditsy secretary.The acts are standard stuff, except for singer FRANK SINATRA who does a standout job on "Night and Day" and performs before the camera with remarkable ease and poise a few years before becoming a major film star.Pleasant WWII musical gets a lift from the musical numbers, but it's strictly second-rate as a substantial musical.
