Tutti in coperta

Another of MGM's sailors-on-leave musicals, a small-time 'On the Town' designed to utilize their formidable roster of singing and dancing talent. Tony Martin, Vic Damone and Russ Tamblyn are the sailors on leave in San Francisco. The girls they meet are Jane Powell, Ann Miller and Debbie Reynolds. With the Shore Patrol headed by comic Alan King, you can be sure everything's played for laughs before matters get straightened out.

The grand finale aboard ship is a show-stopping number and for this the letterbox format is used to take full advantage of the choreography and music staged by Hermes Pan. In the tradition of 'On the Town' and 'Anchors Aweigh' (but with much more modest results), this is a happy go lucky musical that aims to please but falls just a bit short of its mark. No fault of the performers--they're all fine. It's the weak script based on a 1927 Broadway smash, updated for so-so results.

Jane Powell and Vic Damone are in fine voice, and Russ Tamblyn and Ann Miller provide plenty of top-notch dancing. If you're in the mood for the shore leave kind of musical, this will do nicely.

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.

Though this film has plenty of talent in the lead roles, it has an unimpressive story and the songs are not inspiring as a whole. However, the film grew on me as it progressed. By its end, I found myself actually enjoying it.

The female leads are very strong. Consider Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds and Ann Miller. But the three leading men do not generate as much on-screen magic, leaving the production imbalanced and the love stories uninspiring.

"On the Town" (1949)---in contrast---is a much stronger film, that possesses energy throughout.

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.