User Reviews

This delightful MGM film came out during WWII. This picture was a product of those years. In a way, it was a way to inspire patriotism and play tribute to those young men that went to the war for their country. It's hard to imagine anything like this in these turbulent times we are living. These pictures were mindless entertainment to get the public's mind away from the realities the war was causing to a lot of people at the time.

The story of the perky Deyo Sisters, a singing and dancing duo, working in the night clubs of the Manhattan of those years it at the center of the story. They were products of vaudeville, as shown in the sequence at the beginning of the story where Patsy and Jean are seen with the star, Billy Kipp, years before his downfall.

The sisters decide to invite to their humble apartment the young men they met on the streets after they finished performing. The idea was to give these boys a good time in a wholesome setting. Jean, falls for a sailor who follows the sisters' act every night. Little do the girls know about the identity of this innocent looking young man. When Patsy points out to John Dyckman Brown, the sailor, her ambition to fix the abandoned warehouse next to them, she never expected her dreams to come true. When they open the place, they are able to get some of the performers working in the night clubs to come entertain the boys before they go to war.

The film is highly entertaining because MGM made sure to give this project the priority it needed. Richard Thorpe, the director, did wonders with the material and the stars at his disposal in a truly inspired movie that is delightful to see anytime it's shown.

June Allyson, in her screen debut, is marvelous as the sensible Patsy. Gloria DeHaven, at the height of her beauty and freshness, is quite a sight to see. Van Johnson and Tom Drake, play the girl's love interests with charm. The fabulous Jimmy Durante is rescued by the girls from oblivion. The musical numbers are wonderful. We see some of the best talent of that era such as Lena Horne, Harry James, Xavier Cugat, Gracie Allen, Jose Iturbi, and others that contribute to make this a winning film that gives other generation a taste of what it was like to be young in those years. Viewers paying close attention will see a young Ava Gardner among the girls in the chorus.

The "two girls" in the title are June Allyson (26) as Patsy and Gloria DeHaven (18) as Jean, the singing and dancing Deyo sisters. The "sailor" is Van Johnson (27) who plays John Dyckman Brown III, a new recruit in the Navy. What the girls don't find out until the very end is that the sailor is very wealthy, son of Brown II and grandson of Brown I. It is a nice and simple story of two girls falling for the same guy, and the three of them having to sort it out.

Harry James (27) and orchestra are major players, as themselves. This was especially enjoyable for me, a trumpet player since I was 11. Harry James was one of my idols, and I consider him to have had the sweetest swing trumpet sound ever. He did 4 or 5 trumpet solos during the movie, and was a pleasant character playing himself.

The movie is filled with other stars. One of them is Jimmy Durante doing his stage comedy song & dance routine, and continuing as a character sharing issues with the sisters. Other 'names' include Xavier Cugat and band, Lena Horne, Gracie Allen (who plays her composition for index finger with orchestra), and a few others I am not familiar with.

This was war time and the movie includes lots of entertainment for the Army, Navy, and Marine servicemen honored here. The sisters have the servicemen come home with them one evening to serve sandwiches and refreshments. They comment that it would be nice to have a larger place, like the old Wigson's Warehouse, which turns out to be filled with theatrical props and supplies. They 'wish' for more cleaning staff and they appear. Durante 'wishes' for a baby grand and in it comes. The warehouse is turned into a canteen for soldiers, food, drink, entertainment.

SPOILERS FOLLOW. Much of the rest of the story is sisters trying to figure out who the benefactor was. They eventually find that it was the sailor himself, Brown III. Patsy knows her sister Jean is smitten with the sailor and assumes she will marry him. However Jean finds another love, and Patsy ends up with the rich sailor.

Though somewhat similar to Stage Door Canteen (1943), which preceded it, and Hollywood Canteen (1944), which followed it, this Musical Romance Comedy has a storyline with a canteen for soldiers inside, instead of being about a canteen with a romantic story inside. Hence, it earned Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination.

Directed by Richard Thorpe, the plot involves two sisters, played by June Allyson and the lovely Gloria DeHaven, whose parents had been stage actors, that start their own free nightclub for those in military service during World War II. Van Johnson plays the titled sailor, who becomes involved in a love triangle with these "girls"; Tom Drake plays another soldier who's in the Army. Johnson's character is also very rich, a fact he keeps secret from the sisters while, through his assistant Mr. Nizby (Donald Meek), he fulfills their wishes and bankrolls their charity enterprise. Henry Stephenson plays Johnson's grandfather, Henry O'Neill his father. Jimmy Durante plays a now washed up comic the girls knew when they were two years old (Gigi Perreau, uncredited, plays one of them).

Every night, after their performance at an urban (New York?) nightclub, Patsy (Allyson) and Jean (DeHaven) Deyo invite military personnel from all three branches of service (the Army, the Navy, & the Marines) back to their humble flat where they make sandwiches and entertain them with song. It's their way of saying thanks and participating in the war effort by boosting morale. Jean is a bit too flirtatious for her sister Patsy's liking; Patsy has had to look after her younger sister since their actress mother left their actor father (Frank Jenks) years ago. When Jean spends a little too much time with any one admirer, Patsy pinches her to effectively end the courting. For the past few nights, Jean has received orchids from a person who signs the cards "Somebody".

Of course, John Dyckman Brown III (Johnson), known to the girls as a sailor named Johnnie, is the secret admirer. One night, he is one of the lucky ones hanging around the nightclub who gets invited back to the Deyo's apartment, along with Army Sergeant Frank Miller (Drake), Marine Private Adams (Frank Sully, uncredited), and many others. While there, he learns from Patsy about a deserted warehouse, around the corner, and the girls' desire to open a canteen. The next thing you know, John's agent Mr. Nizby (Meek) is giving them the deed. Upon inspection, the sisters discover that the bum living in it is their old acquaintance Billy Kipp (Durante), who'd quit the business when his wife up and left him with their son.

With generous assistance directed by Mr. Nizby, and funded anonymously by Johnnie, Kipp and the Deyo sisters get the warehouse fixed up, furnished, and catered such that they can open their dream canteen. Entertainment is provided by various well-known performers who donate their time such as Ben Blue, José Iturbi, Gracie Allen, Lena Horne, Virginia O'Brien, Lee & Lyn Wilde, trumpeter Harry James and His Music Makers, Helen Forrest, Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra, and more. Meanwhile, Frank and Johnnie are courting Jean but, simultaneously, Patsy is falling in love with Johnnie herself (there is a dream sequence which includes Ava Gardner). For his part, Johnnie begins to recognize that Patsy has more to offer and admires her selfless devotion to her sister and the canteen. There are some sweet, sentimental, even tear-jerking moments, and the scene during which Patsy discovers Johnnie's identity, through his grandfather (Stephenson) and father (O'Neill), and subsequent sequences are keepers.

Predictably, all works out well in the end for both sisters, each get engaged. There is also a funny bit involving Durante's character as well.

June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven are two sisters who fall for the same sailor, Van Johnson, at a party for servicemen in 1944. Johnson comes from a very wealthy family and anonymously buys the girls (they were "girls" then, not yet "women") a huge warehouse where our boys (they were "boys", etc.) can REALLY be entertained. Of course only one of the girls can wind up with Van Johnson but, not to worry, Sergeant Tom Drake is always hanging around in the background and he gets the other.

More MGM stars than you can shake a baton at -- Harry James, Xavier Cugat, Gracie Allen, Jimmy Durante, Jose Iturbi, everybody. Most of the names will not be familiar to people who weren't around at the time but they were big ones in 1944. Every girl had a crush on Van Johnson.

All of the musical numbers are pleasant in their own quiet way but none are outstanding although they were popular at the time. Never entered the Great American Songbook. Sic transit gloria mundi. Exception: Harry James gets to play "Estrellita", a sentimental love song written around 1912 by the Mexican composer Manuel Ponce, which was immensely popular and never aspired to membership in the Great Songbook. You will probably recognize it.

June Allyson, in her first major role, already looks and sounds like the steadfast, loyal wife she would become in later movie. Gloria DeHaven, on the other hand, had a relatively short career and wound up hosting a TV program in New York. Don't know why her impact was so ephemeral. She has long, fluffy hair, the eyes of a gazelle, and a lower lip that droops sensually, invitingly. She should have gone on to erotic thrillers, the kind in which the babe is rescued from the murderer with her dress half ripped off and some of her underwear showing. What a waste.

Nothing much to the plot -- a series of coincidences and pedestrian interludes between musical numbers. But what a time capsule this is.

While the plot is very thin, the entertainment is long. This usual World War 11 type of canteen movie works nicely due to the chemistry of Gloria De Haven and June Allyson, two sisters who wind up vying for the affection of Van Johnson,a sailor, who unknown to the two girls is worth $60 million.

As the love interest of De Haven, Tom Drake is given very little to do here.

Jimmy Durante is charismatic as the guy they meet living in the warehouse after so many years of abandoning everyone when his wife took their young son and left him.

The entertainment at the canteen is excellent with Harry James, Xavier Cugat, Lena Horne and Jose Iturbi.

As the picture goes along, you know who the wealthy Johnson character will wind up, but the music, dancing and atmosphere make it all worthwhile.

June Allyson and a young Gloria De Haven made a very appealing stage pair of sisters, especially for the many men far from home in wartime. Thus, I suppose that we, in subsequent decades, can excuse the overly drawn out quest to discover the identity of their unbelievably generous anonymous benefactor, which occupies much of the time between musical numbers. This gives us more time to be with the girls and their colorful surrogate father, Jimmy Durante. However, it's rather disconcerting to have June often sad and sometimes crying over her apparently fruitless crush on Van Johnson's character: John Brown III: a navy sailor from a local family.The actual screen play is total nonsense, if sometimes intriguing. Tom Drake( the boy next door in "Meet Me in St. Louis") plays an army NOC from an onion-growing Texas farm, who competes with Van for Gloria's attention. Durante is the girls' down and out elderly show business friend. In the later part of the film, Henry Stephenson, as Van's wealthy grandfather, supplements Durante as the girls' surrogate father and adviser in romantic matters.(The girls' vaudevillian parents inexplicably vanished after the first scene of the film, when the girls were just tiny tots).

I think most people would agree that the musical highlights of the film include the following:(1) the "Sweet and Lovely", followed by "A-Tisket-a-Tasket", duet by the girls, backed by the Harry James Orchestra (2)a series of closely spaced performances, beginning with another duet by the girls: "A Love Like Ours", backed by the James Orchestra, quickly followed by the Xavier Cugat Orchestra, first featuring Lina Romay doing the "Rhumba Rhumba", then backing Carlos Ramirez's excellent rendition of "Granada". (3) The June-James collaboration in "Young Man With the Horn" and (4)Durante's classic "Inka Dinka Doo". Helen Forrest's "In a Moment of Madness", James' "Estrellita", and Lina Romay's all too brief "Babalu" were also good, as was Lina's somewhat comical dance with Ben Blue. If you would like to see more of Lina, she did several stage numbers, as well as being a significant part of the drama, in the complex Randoph Scott western "The Man behind the Gun". Columbian Carlos Ramirez would again be the featured singer in the elaborate "Begin the Beguine" production in the Porter biop "Night and Day". The "Take It Easy" number briefly featured several singers, but mostly focused on Virginia O'Brien. I would have much preferred focusing on the gorgeous Wilde twins and skipping the signature wide-eyed deadpan performance of O'Brien. For a better look at the Wilde twins, check out "Andy Hardy's Blonde Troubles", or "Twice Blessed", as well as a very brief song bit in "'Til the Clouds Roll By".

Why, oh, why was Lena Horne given a song with lyrics obviously meant for a man (like Nat Cole) to sing??. To see her at much better advantage, check out the Technicolor "Broadway Rhythm", released the same year, "'Til the Clouds Roll By", or the B&W "Stormy Weather". Why was famous comedienne Grace Allen just given an idiotic sour note piano recital to do??. Why wasn't she teamed with Durante(in the absence of George Burns) for a comedic skit or scene?? Why weren't Van Johnson's vaudevillian talents exploited in his interactions with the girls, instead of his being presented as a rather faceless sailor?? Perhaps we could then better understand the girls' sudden infatuation with him. To me, Jose Iturbi's diverting inclusion in the drama and musical performances didn't really add anything significant. Check out "Anchors Aweigh" or "Music for Millions" for a much more favorable presentation of his piano talent. I would much rather have listened to another of Helen Forrest's better songs, or another classic Latin song by Carlos Ramirez, or perhaps a duet by Carlos and Lina Romay, or a number by Van and one or more of the Deyo or Wilde sisters.

In summary, while this B&W musical-variety show hybrid includes some classic musical performances, and the stars provide a generally good time, given all the talent included, it could have been much better. Also, it would have been nice if MGM had splurged and filmed it in Technicolor, as they had the previous year with "Best Foot Forward", which also featured June and Gloria, among others. Gloria was also featured in two other MGM musicals in '44: the B&W "Step Lively", with Sinatra and George Murphy, and the Technicolor musical-variety show hybrid "Broadway Rhythm". I can't tell you which of the 3 is best, they are all so different. June was reunited with Durante and Jose Iturbi that same year in the wartime drama-musical "Music for Millions". A few years later, she would again be teamed with Durante, with Kathryn Grayson replacing De Haven as her sister, in the B&W musical comedy "Two Sisters from Boston". I haven't seen either these, but reviewers generally say they are good.