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From the rollicking opening of the camaraderie of a returning U.S. submarine crew to the booming "Great Guns" of the movie's finale, it's easy to understand why this movie was an antidote to the Depression Era. I personally discovered Eleanor Powell for the first time in this movie. She sure knows how to dance! Jimmy Stewart, who plays a clean cut sailor in this film, shows his talent, not just as an actor but as a singer and dancer as well. A little known Sid Silvers, who plays "Gunny Saks"in this movie is a short, stocky energetic dynamo who probably deserves more recognition, also is credited for the screenplay of the movie. Another actress I discovered for the first time when I saw this movie was Virginia Bruce and she is captivating in the musical number aboard the submarine with her Pekingese companion, "Cheeky". I had recognized the name but another actress who I had little knowledge of was Frances Langford and she is natural to dance with the young boot scooting Buddy Ebson. All of the other character actors in this film are a joy to see. The no-expense-spared musical number at the end of this movie is inspiring. Out of all the movies, I own, I watch this one over and over again, especially when I'm in a good mood.

Sailor James Stewart meets aspiring dancer Eleanor Powell and they fall in love. But a misunderstanding involving Broadway star Virginia Bruce comes between them. Eleanor then gets a job as understudy to Virginia. Hopefully everything will work out in time to put on the big show! What do you kids think?

Jimmy Stewart in a musical. Where's Clarence when he really needs him?!? Seriously though, Jimmy does a good job. He's not the best singer but he can carry a tune. If you like pretty movie stars, this one's the picture for you -- Eleanor Powell, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Frances Langford are all beauties. Powell is the star of the show with her awesome tap dancing numbers. Keep your eyes peeled for Dennis O'Keefe in Powell's first number. He's the guy she taps on the shoulder. Una Merkel is perfection as always. Buddy Ebsen singing and dancing is a hoot. Sid Silvers and Raymond Walburn are funny comic relief. Adorable Juanita Quigley plays Una & Sid's daughter.

It's a slight but fun story with a killer cast. Outstanding Cole Porter songs include classics "Easy to Love" and "I've Got You Under My Skin." But my personal favorites are " Hey, Babe, Hey" and "Swingin' the Jinx Away." As always, Eleanor Powell's dancing is spectacular. Add some nice humor and the immense likability of Powell and Stewart and you have a real gem. Get this on DVD or catch it on TCM next time they show it.

Even though they look like brother and sister, Jimmy Stewart and Eleanor Powell ease into one of the most endearing and uplifting love affairs in musical film. If you've ever tap danced, even a little bit, you'll want to put on those old taps and chew up the kitchen linoleum when Eleanor effortlessly goes at it. And who cares if long after a song keeps humming in your head, as long as it's "Easy To Love" or "I've Got You Under My Skin". Wouldn't this film have been so much less in color?

Big musicals were quite the thing in the (Tosthirties. Universal had Deanna Durbin, Warner Brothers had Busby Berkeley, RKO had Fred Astarie and Ginger Rogers, and MGM had MacDonald/Eddy, Garland/Rooney and the Broadway Melody series which featured Eleanor Powell. "Born to Dance" is basically a sequel to "Broadway Melody of 1936" which had made a star of Powell. Not only was she in this film, but other carry-overs included Una Merkel, Sid (not Phil) Silvers, Frances Langford and Buddy Ebsen. Jimmy Stewart was a young (27) newcomer, who was in eight films in 1936 including one MacDonald/Eddy and one Thin Man film. This, however, was his only singing role.

As musicals go, this is in the revue tradition, with the lightest of plots tying together a collection of song and dance numbers, comic bits and of course, a big, show-stopping finale. The plot here, mixing sailors and Broadway shows only occasionally flirts with reality. The score, written for the film, is entirely by Cole Porter and includes two of his best-known standards, "Easy To Love", and "I've Got You Under My Skin". Though fun, most of the other numbers are in service of the film and were not written to become popular without it. Composers rarely threw a whole group of top songs into a musical, though Porter himself did late in his career with "Kiss Me Kate".

The songs do all serve their purpose. The opening number, "Rolling Along", introduces all the sailors with a male chorus singing something similar to a college fight song (Porter had famously written Yale's). Powell is introduced quickly after this with an orchestra playing "Easy to Love" as she walks down the street, establishing it as the film's love theme. It will be repeated in a big number in Central Park sung by Stewart and Powell. Powell is dubbed by Marjorie Lane, but Stewart is not. His voice is a bit like Fred Astaire's: a light tenor with an almost wispy feeling at times, singing in a way that is somewhere between talking and really belting out a song.

"Rap, Tap on Wood" is a show-biz style number that gives Eleanor a chance to dance in a lobby where four sailors pop up and not only sing, but also play a flute and three ocarinas. "Hey Babe Hey" with a carousel-like melody, gives all three couples a chance to sing in the same number. This film has not just the usual second couple (Merkel and Silvers), which traditionally is comedic but even a third couple. People here fall in love immediately and for no apparent reason, hence Frances Langford and Buddy Ebsen are a couple. Ebsen was an accomplished tap dancer, but here does some swaying moves like he's made of rubber, creating an odd visual effect..

"I've Got You Under My Skin" goes to Virginia Bruce, who plays a Broadway diva whose penthouse is done up in an all-white mix of Deco and Rococo with a gigantic mirror and a terrace with its own fountain. It's on the terrace that she sings it to Stewart, hoping to win him away from Powell. It's a great setting for a great song. The gigantic finale takes place on a stage version of a battleship with everyone done up in white tails and sequins and the music of "Swingin' the Jinx Away" a razzmatazz, Irving Berlin-style number with jivey sections that mention Cab Calloway as their inspiration. This gives everyone a chance to do their specialty and ends things fittingly with only the shortest of scenes afterward to tie up the ends of the plot.

Within all this director Roy Del Ruth places three extended bits by character actors, all of which are memorable. Barnett Parker was a stuffy butler with few lines in many films, but here he does a funny turn as a model home salesman-interior designer in a pompous British manner. Another Brit, Reginald Gardiner, comes on as a cop in what would usually be a ten second walk-on to interrupt the main characters (think "Singing In the Rain") but instead ends up doing a hilarious impersonation of Leopold Stokowski ("Fantasia") conducting. This bit, his first in films, made him a regular character actor in Hollywood. He's now probably best known for "Christmas In Connecticut". Ruth Troy, popular radio comedian, does a shorter but funny bit as a secretary on the phone with a friend.

Overall the film is pleasant if awfully light. The lightness actually helps as there's no need to develop any plot complexities and doesn't overdo it with too many gargantuan numbers. Some of the lines of banter in the script are genuinely funny. Mostly it's Eleanor Powell just bursting into stardom as one of the screen's best dancers ever. She also has a winning way with her character. She's warm and friendly and much like a girl next door, but also can project sophistication and social grace. Una Merkel is her usual loveable, down to earth character as the lead's friend. Stewart was himself just breaking out and had even been given some villainous roles up to this point, but here amid all the foolishness seems genuinely in love with Powell. A good, if not great musical with two great Cole Porter classics.

This is a film that has a minimum plot. Sailors chase girls and along the way, everybody sing and dance. Eleanor Powell shows her talent, tapping in a spetacular specialty number called `Swinging the Jinx Away'. A young James Stewart warbles `Easy to Love' in a charming way. But the real curiosity is to watch Buddy Ebsen. I bet that many people that watched him in TV series such as Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones didn´t had a clue that in his youth he was a very acomplished dancer. The songs by Cole Porter are top notch and `I've got you under my Skin' and `Easy to Love' became standarts. If you like 30's musical, is well worth to take a look in Born To Dance.