Tars and Spars

A couple of guys who had great success in other entertainment media, Alfred Drake and Sid Caesar, star in this musical from Columbia Tars And Spars. Drake never made another film, but his Broadway success includes Oklahoma, Kismet, and Kiss Me Kate which are certainly laurels to rest on. Caesar did make other big screen appearances. But his greatest success is on television in the Fifties with one of the most successful comedy shows of early TV.

The two of them are Coast Guard enlistees and Drake is trying very hard for sea duty and just can't land it, either on his own or with Caesar scheming on his behalf. But a mistaken impression by Janet Blair makes her think Drake is some kind of war hero. Takes the whole film for these two to get it right.

As for Caesar he's chased the entire film by Jeff Donnell until he decides maybe he ought to settle down. Add Marc Platt for some nice dance numbers and you have the sum and substance of Tars And Spars.

Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn wrote the score. But if they had given Drake and Blair anything as good to sing as Drake had in any of those classic musicals he was associated with he might have had a Hollywood career of sorts.

But Sid Caesar gave us a great example of the sketch comedy he and Milton Berle pioneered in their groundbreaking early TV shows. Caesar really steals this one.

To me Harry Cohn probably thought Drake might be a good musical star and Caesar could be his own version of Danny Kaye. It didn't work out that way, but Tars And Spars is a great chance to see a couple of fine performers in their salad days.

As they say in the Coast Guard, Semper Paratus.

When it comes to the title of this film, I learned something. Apparently SPARs were women in the Coast Guard--like the WACs in the Army and WAVs in the Navy.

The story begins with Howard (Alfred Drake) completing a grueling 21 day stint aboard a life raft. No, he was not in action but it was a test by the Coast Guard on survival skills. However, by the time Howard goes on a date with the SPAR Christine (Janet Blair), exploits of his time of the raft were completely blown out of proportion--to 53 days AND he had shot down dozens of enemy plains! She is angry at him...but this anger doesn't last. But what does last is Howard's anger at always being stationed away from the action. For three years he's been in the service and has never seen action yet.

This is a strange film, as there are LOTS of song and dance numbers...far too many if you ask me. They made life in the Coast Guard seem amazingly soft...though in reality they suffered the highest attrition rates during the war. They were NOT constantly singing and dancing (only on weekends and days off)! It is interesting, however, to see Sid Caesar doing many of these songs here in his first film. Overall, a time-passer and not much more. I am pretty sure the film didn't go great in the theaters as it came out just a few months AFTER the war ended...and by then I am sure audiences were looking for something else.

This is my third review of a movie starring someone who'd eventually make a greater impact on television when that was starting to become a phenomenon. Unlike Jackie Gleason in Navy Blues or Milton Berle in Whispering Ghosts, however, Sid Caesar in Tars and Spars showcases his talent full blown. Maybe that's because he starred in a revue of the same name previously which made Columbia take notice and buy the property outright. So here you see Sid do his take on an airplane movie with his enunciating sound effects and voicing of gibberish intact. He's hilarious doing that or singing how he loves eggs! Also appearing is singer Alfred Drake-fresh from the Broadway musical Oklahoma!-in the only time he displayed his voice talents on film, Janet Blair-a stunning presence in song and dance, and Jeff Donnell-a cute and perky female counterpoint to Caesar's partly cynical outlook. The story's not much and all I want to say about that is it wastes many scenes on Drake and Blair arguing some points in their attitudes concerning them. There are many wonderful musical numbers including a pretty bizarre one involving a pig-tailed young woman. So on that note, Tars and Spars was the best in showcasing a comedian who'd make more impact on TV than when initially doing film.

He's cute! He's adorable! He's so skinny! He's BLONDE! I can never express how much I love this man. He's my comic idol and patron saint, and he has cheered me in the darkest times. It's a pleasure to see genuine talent showcased like this. You can see the genius in bloom here, but who knew he'd be The King? Alfred Drake and Janet Blair are terrific and the movie is very cute, even if a few numbers could easily have been cut and replaced with MORE SID. His Airplane Number alone is worth the viewing and it breaks my heart that he didn't make more films worthy of his unbridled talent and energy. You almost can't believe that this Sid is the same guy who would later be the German General and The Professor. He's not a great singer, especially next to Alfred Drake, who also deserved more movie roles worthy of him, but he can carry these numbers off brilliantly and gets the audience's love from the get go. Thank you, Sid!

A high point in this film is Sid's interpretation of a war movie called "Wings Over Boomerschnitzel." He does the entire film in one shot, with sound effects, in about three minutes. This was years before "Your Show of Shows," but it is the same type of material as the movie take-offs done on his various TV series.