Hit the Deck

The play Shore Leave was given another and final musical adaption in 1955 serving as a great showcase for some mighty talented stars at MGM. Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar wrote the original musical Hit the Deck for Broadway in the twenties and an film adaption was done in 1930 starring Jack Oakie. Then Irving Berlin did his own version for the screen in Follow the Fleet for Fred and Ginger.

Come 1955 and we have still another script retaining some of the Youmans-Caesar songs and adding several Youmans numbers from other shows. The songs are well integrated into the story since it involves some sailors on shore leave in San Francisco involved with some musical performers.

The sailors are Tony Martin, Vic Damone, and Russ Tamblyn. Martin and Damone are two of the best voices around and Tamblyn is a good dancer. They pair off with Ann Miller, Jane Powell, and Debbie Reynolds.

Martin is having trouble with Miller, they have a Nathan Detroit/Adelaide relationship long distance and she's tired of it. In the mean time Powell who is Tamblyn's sister is involved with a Broadway wolf played with relish by Gene Raymond. Both are the offspring of Admiral Walter Pidgeon.

Anyway our sailors rescue damsel in distress Powell and spend most of the film hiding from the Shore Patrol. One of the two Shore Patrolmen is played by Alan King who was appearing with Martin in his nightclub act and Martin got the part for him in Hit the Deck.

Powell and Damone had already been a screen team in Rich, Young and Pretty and also had appeared in Deep in My Heart together in a musical number. They do a two nice duets with a couple of noted Youmans songs I Know that You Know and Sometimes I'm Happy. Martin's big solo number is the famous More Than You Know trying to win Miller back. And our Ann dances to Keeping Myself for You, Bayou, and the Hallelujah finale number.

Up till Showboat, musicals in fact had thin plots for stories and were just an excuse for singing and dancing. Hit the Deck is a throwback to those days. But a nicely done throwback.

Of course Ann Miller is just fine, but why oh why didn't MGM cast Cyd Charisse opposite her husband? Missed another opportunity.

Look for Richard Anderson who has a small role as the aide to Walter Pidgeon. In a very understated way he's the one who brings about a satisfactory conclusion to one and all.

Having watched this recently on TCM and not being familiar with the film beforehand, I was drawn in by the quick pace and competent acting, not to mention the pretty leading gals Reynolds and Miller.. quite satisfying eye candy. But then.. came the "fun-house" musical number towards the end and that just blew me away: I mean 'psychedelic' before the word existed, perhaps surreal in contemporaneous nomenclature. That segment stood out as the perhaps the very best part, it was a thrill to watch the choreographed-to-the-second, wild and unpredictable ride of a dance routine! That film was a lot of fun to watch on a lonely night home. So reviewer whoever-you-are that hates every movie unless it has something blowing up every twelve seconds, perhaps stick to writing up Popeye cartoons where the plots and characters aren't too complex for your limited imagination. I recommend movie this as essential viewing for every musical fan.. it won't disappoint.

... from six years earlier: three sailors on leave in the big city, except in Hit the Deck, the metropolis is San Francisco. The sailors are played by Russ Tamblyn, Tony Martin, and Vic Damone. They cross paths with Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, and Ann Miller. There are some fun musical numbers, notably Keeping Myself for You, and Lady From the Bayou, fabulously performed by Ann Miller dancing up a storm against rich color backgrounds and sets. Another uplifting tune was Hallelujah!

I found the film's energy peaked whenever Ann was on screen. (Ann also appeared in On the Town.) Jane Powell's part was terribly underwritten. Jane had more chemistry with Gene Raymond, the older married man she was seeing, then with Vic Damone, who ends up winning her heart. Walter Pidgeon is also on hand, playing an Admiral and father to Jane and Russ. Hit the Deck is a second tier MGM musical, which, considering the many masterpieces the studio turned out, is still very good.

HIT THE DECK is a 1955 cinema scope mop up of MGM stars and talent whose contracts would have been soon to expire. A bit like a aircraft carrier version of DEEP IN MY HEART it hangs together a roster of singing and dancing talent but this time with ultimately fairly just-OK songs and energetic dance numbers. Still, even at its most bland it is still unable to be made in Hollywood today. The women are the most interesting talent on offer and whoever said Tony Martin had an audience apart from Mummas in delicatessens was truly misled. He is the most annoying part of this B grade musical with A grade MGM production values. Like he did with the Marx Bros films in the 30s. Kelly was making ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER another 'sailors on leave' 1955 cinema scope MGM musical at the same time and that film with its Comden Green script and songs is light years ahead in sophistication and quality. Still HIT THE DECK has a two of very entertaining 'big' dance numbers, in particular the "finale" and the "Bayou" sizzler with its very erotic and blatant imagery and choreography. It is so out of place in this 'suburban' film as it is sooo good. The color is also very good for Eastman since MGM saw the error of their ways and stopped using horrible Ansco color which visually marred several big films in 53 and 54. This must have been as safe a bet in which MGM could expect to play out as many stars as possible in yet one more sailor musical. Russ Tamblyn and Debbie Reynolds are always cute in this era though.

Three sailors can't stay out of trouble. Be it with the girls, mom, or conniving dandies. Plenty of action is provided through song and dance routines where everyone gives fine performances. While this was not a great musical, it was still a nice little story with some good funny spots supplied by J. Carroll Naish and Alan King.