Sing Your Way Home

Programmers don't come any more slender than this quickie little musical. Still, the minor production is not without its appeal— a gorgeous and talented Anne Jeffries, a spunky bunch of underused kids, and the pug-nosed cutie Marcy McGuire. Now, I have no problem with leading men in obnoxious roles as long as they have one key quality—charm, at some redeeming level. And that's the trouble with Haley as obnoxious reporter Steve. He has no charm at any level. As a result, his Steve fails to engage except in a negative way that leaves a hole in the movie's middle, a hard problem to get past. Considering how many leading men were away fighting the war, I guess the studios had to make do with what they had. Too bad that it shows here. Anyway, the movie does convey some of America's spirit at WWII's end and the buoyant period that would follow, and may be of interest for that reason.

This is a movie of its time. It was relevant then and is not really relevant now. The music and slang are dated. The young performers may have seemed cute then. They don't now.

But Anthony Mann imbues it with charm. This came out only two years before his great noirs became to appear; yet his firm hand and eye for style are immediately apparent. With a mediocre director, this would surely have been a mediocre movie, or probably worse than mediocre.

True, as the singer engaged in a love/hate relationship with pompous newsman Jack Haley, Anne Jeffreys is appealing. She was always appealing. But Mann sails this ship smoothly through some pretty choppy seas. It is even shot with intriguing lighting. Let's hear it for the man in the director's seat!

A strangely fluffy movie which ranks with the beach boy movies of later years. While it is true that not much happens on a transoceanic voyage, even less happens in this film. It is mildly humorous, but so weak a plot in the dramatically tense times following World War Two defies logic. Perhaps it is a reflection of the release of tension felt at war's end or perhaps it reflects a desire to get things back to normal. Yet, normalcy in pre-war terms no longer seemed likely. Neither can characterization carry this film very far since none seem very convincing. However, this film does have one extreme strong point--the music, particularly as sung by Anne Jeffreys who plays the role of Kay Lawrence. As a jazz vocalist, Jeffreys is really very good, but her forte is her rendering of "The Lord's Prayer," in a truly powerful style. The movie is worth seeing if only to hear Jefferys and the other vocalist sing.

Obviously, this movie doesn't have snob appeal, and most of those criticizing this movie seemed to delight in pointing out that it was pointless.

This one-set film (aboard ship) was, admittedly fluffy, but it was also thoroughly enjoyable. The plus for me was Marcy McGuire who was never given much of a chance in spite of her wide-eyed cuteness and overall appeal.

The plot was nutty, but fascinating. Correspondent Jack Haley sent his news stories back to his editor by using code messages containing love words. Marcy is the 'sendee' and has a crush on Haley who, eventually, has a crush on Anne Jeffreys, that beautiful blonde scene stealer.

The dialogue and situations were fun, the songs excellent, particularly Miss Jeffries singing "The Lord's Prayer" during shipboard Sunday services. Check the proper solemn expressions of those at the service.

Columbia and RKO were major contributors to the grade-B musical genre, and most always offered good music and good fun.

We had several theaters in our neighborhood and one, the 43rd Street Theater concentrated on these films plus the Chan, Tracy (Dick, not Spencer), Blondie, etc. flicks. They double-featured them to, more often than not, nearly empty weekday afternoon houses. I was there and having a good time.

You will, too. Ignore the pomposity of most of the critics and go for the good time.

Sorry to my fellow reviewers, you got it right, but ultimately wrong. The right part was this was a B movie, not lavished with expensive "names", or much of a script. It was for feeling good after a War which we cannot even imagine. The script can be summarized as, "I wanna go home, and Boy Meets Girl". Mostly though, this just wrapped around lots of very good music. Very Good. This was about 30 years before MTV, TV's were rare . . . Watch this movie as if it is a light-hearted series of Music Videos, remembering the general times. Do that, and you will enjoy it (if you enjoy 40's music (of various styles)).

Fourth-billed Anne Jeffreys was terrific. Terrific. She glammed it up playing a jazz singer trying to get home after being stranded in occupied France. Wow!

The remaining cast (as actors and comedians) were just average, but the ensemble performance numbers were great. The second-billed Marcie McGuire was vocally decent (although the range of her numbers could have been larger--Presumably not her fault), but she was too old for the juvenile part, and the perky American kid bit got a bit old.

Jack Haley was indeed hard to watch. Third-billed Glen Vernon was forgettable. But then remember the title. Sing your way home, which this movie did. It is a bit of Americana.