Starlift

I recommend this film despite the low rating. Though it is saddled with a simple story and it has a disjointed narrative, it features a plethora of stars and some memorable moments.

The story revolves around a base where military personnel wait for deployment in the Korean conflict. Some Warner Brothers stars (e.g. Doris Day, Ruth Roman, and Gordon MacRae) who play versions of themselves entertain the troops there. The story eventually settles into a plot about an Air Force crewman who is a hometown acquaintance of star Nell Wayne (Janice Rule). But just as that story becomes interesting, it shifts to another, unrelated musical performance.

But some of those vocal performances are very enjoyable, especially those by Day and MacRae. Jane Wyman also sings. Look for the dancing of Janice Rule. And Virginia Gibson, who performs as a saloon girl in a musical number featuring Gary Cooper and Phil Harris that is very entertaining.

Addendum 10/20/23: Among the many beauties in the film, watch for Patrice Wymore., a knockout who taps and sings with an all-girl band. Patrice was married to Errol Flynn until his death.

The only time this movie ever really comes to life is when Doris Day is on screen. Sadly, she disappears after about 30 minutes. Her musical numbers, " 'S Wonderful" and "You Ought to Be in Pictures" are the film's high points, and she delivers them as only she can. Day just lights up the screen and proves once more how underrated she is as a vocalist. She's also charming in her small scene visiting Jack Larson, who plays a hospital patient.

As for the rest of the movie, the script is even more dreadful than the one for "Hollywood Canteen," of which this bears a resemblance. Janice Rule and Rick Hagerthy have zero chemistry as the romantic leads. The "comedy" routines by Peter Marshall and Tommy Noonan, and Phil Harris, Dick Wesson and the others, are cornier than an Iowa field. Virginia Mayo's South Seas number and Patrice Wymore doing "Liza" helped relieve the tedium, but Doris Day is clearly the standout. If only she'd been in more of the movie, it would have been so much better.

As a movie this barely rates a 4 but for movie fans of the 1940s period, it's almost a must-see and rates a 9 as a variety show! I was drawn to watch this by the presence of Richard (Captain Midnight) Webb who plays the Colonel in charge of the event. What surprised me was the stunning performance of Doris Day. Outside of 'Calamity Jane', I've never seen her put over a song better than she does here. Randolph Scott is memorable as well, even if he doesn't see much screen time. It's been a while since I saw the movie but I was almost sure Humphrey Bogart put in an appearance. With so many familiar faces, it's hard to keep track. If it ever turns up on a TV station near you, be sure to catch the Doris Day sequence, if nothing else!

Actress Ruth Roman's real-life philanthropic gesture to help entertain U.S. troops arriving from and leaving for Korea at an air base near San Francisco jump-started this all-star Warner Bros. salute to patriotism and song. Several celebrities make guest appearances while a love-hate romance develops between a budding starlet and a painfully green and skinny Air Force corporal (Ron Hagerthy, who looks like he should be delivering newspapers from his bicycle). Seems the corporal has fooled the actress into thinking he's off to battle when actually he's part of an airplane carrier crew, flying to and from Honolulu (one would think she'd be overjoyed he was relatively out of harm's way, but instead she acts just like most childish females in 1950s movies). Doris Day is around for the first 30 minutes, and her distinct laugh and plucky song numbers are most pleasant. Roman is also here, looking glamorous, while James Cagney pokes fun at his screen persona and Gordon MacRae sings in his handsome baritone. Jane Wyman sings, too, in a hospital bedside reprise following Doris Day's lead, causing one to wonder, "Did they run out of sets?" For undemanding viewers, an interesting flashback to another time and place. Still, the low-rent production and just-adequate technical aspects render "Starlift" strictly a second-biller. *1/2 from ****

Starlift is a pleasant and interesting throwback to those all star musical pictures that every studio was putting out during the World War II years. When you've got such stars as Gary Cooper, James Cagney, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, and Randolph Scott, etc., in the film and with such people as the Gershwin Brothers, Cole Porter, Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn supplying the music, it's an easy to take film. And the plot isn't even in the way.

What plot there is involves two Air Force enlisted men, Dick Wesson and Ron Hagerthy, trying to meet Warner Brothers starlet Janice Rule using as a gimmick the fact that both come from Youngstown, Ohio and Hagerthy's father was Rule's dentist as well as half of the town's. The scheme works too well as Louella Parsons is soon putting them as an item in her column. Yes, Louella's in the film as well. She must have liked Warner Brothers or Jack Warner catered to her more than the other studio bosses because she also used this studio to publicize her Hollywood Hotel radio program back in the day.

But the rest of the plot also touched on the real life efforts of Ruth Roman also playing herself to get her studio and others to do shows at the Air Force bases for the servicemen and women going to Korea. Some of the names I've mentioned and others sing and perform in a show at Travis Air Force Base where a lot of this film was shot.

One specialty number was shot for the talents of Phil Harris who sing/narrates a ballad Look Out Stranger, I'm A Texas Ranger aided and assisted by Virginia Gibson, Frank Lovejoy and Gary Cooper. Yup, Cooper looked like he was having a great old time kidding his image.

This is the oldest of clichés when you say they don't make them like this any more, but they really don't because you don't have a studio system that has all this talent under contract. That's one thing about the demise of the old studio system we can mourn.