Tutti in coperta

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.

'Hit the Deck' is not one of the classic film musicals (made during somewhat of a twilight period for MGM musicals), but there are far worse film musicals around before and since. To me, 'Hit the Deck' is problematic but underrated, and it's sad that it wasn't more of a hit (it's not anywhere close to being bad enough to deserve making a loss).

It does have its problems that stop it from completely floating. While nobody really goes to see a musical for the story, more often than not being the least exceptional thing about even the classics, the story is barely existent and unevenly paced. Coming to life in the production numbers (which are full to the brim with liveliness), as well as the comedy of J. Carrol Naish and Alan King, but drags when bogged down by the often too talky scenes and in the scenes with Russ Tamblyn, Vic Damone and Tony Martin.

Of this trio of men, only Tamblyn (also the best dancer of the three) acquits himself well in the acting stakes, being lively and likable. Damone sings wondrously, then again when did he ever not, and has some charm but was never the most exciting of actors, being somewhat bland. Worse is Martin, who is very stiff and wooden throughout and generates very little warmth which does hurt the chemistry between him and Ann Miller (making one question what on earth she saw in him). Admittedly though Damone and Martin fare better as singers than Tamblyn, who actually was dubbed and while Rex Dennis does a good job the dubbing was just too obvious, the voice sounding too deep and muscular to come out of Tamblyn.

The ladies however fare much better. Ann Miller steals the show in the knockout that is the exuberantly choreographed and visually dazzling "Lady from the Bayou". Choreographically, a very close second best would be the inventive number in the fun house between Tamblyn and Debbie Reynolds, who beguiles vocally, radiates personality-wise and will make even the most cynical of people go weak at the knees at the sight of her in that blue dress. Jane Powell is cute as a button as always and sets hearts aflutter whenever she sings. Kay Armen kills it in "Ciribiribin" and "Hallelujah", while Walter Pidgeon effortlessly commands the screen whenever he appears and Naish and King are comic delights.

Visually, 'Hit the Deck' is shot in truly ravishing CinemaScope, looking especially fetching in "Lady from the Bayou" and "Hallelujah". The songs are very tuneful and while not unforgettable (generally the exuberant choreography of "Lady from the Bayou" and the fun house duet make more of an impression) they are not unmemorable or unhummable. "Sometimes I'm Happy", "I Know that You Know", and "Hallelujah" come off best, though "Why oh Why" entertains too.

On the whole, uneven and doesn't completely float but has enough great things that stop it from sinking or being a ship-wreck. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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.

... 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.

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.