Viva a Marinha

'Shipmates Forever' shares the same flaws and strengths of 'Flirtation Walk' with the same lead actors and director, but due to having better pacing and choreography 'Flirtation Walk' is the better film if only just.

Like 'Flirtation Walk', the weak link is the story, which is wafer-thin and goes well overboard on the simplicity. One says that musical-comedies shouldn't be seen for the story, but as 'Shipmates Forever' is heavier on story rather than on the musical material and production numbers it is harder to ignore it. Again, like 'Flirtation Walk', Frank Borzage tends to make heavy weather of it, meaning that the pace does drag outside of the songs and the energy is not as light-on-its-feet as it should have been. The patriotic tone is sometimes laid on too thick too.

The songs are very pleasant, with the highlights between "Don't Give Up the Ship" and particularly "I'd Rather Listen to Your Eyes", but there are more timeless and more memorable songs. The film is very scant on production numbers and what little there is is literally crying out for the involvement of Busby Berkeley who would have directed them with much more energy and imagination.

However, 'Shipmates Forever' while not lavish still looks handsome and colourful as well as skilfully photographed. The script is smart and amusing, if a little too frothy in places.

Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell are immensely likable and their chemistry is incredibly charming and a large part of the film's appeal. The rest of the performances are also good, with a fine supporting turn from John Arledge and a nicely quirky one from Ross Alexander.

On the whole, a lesser Keeler-Powell film but still very much watchable. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I first saw this film over 40 years ago and viewing it again it was as good as I remember it. The team that brought you Flirtation Walk, director Frank Borzage and stars Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler did even better in my opinion with their film about a Naval Midshipman at Annapolis and his lady love.

Like Flirtation Walk, both Powell and Keeler come from service families. But Powell's a disappointment to his father, Admiral Lewis Stone. He's a crooner on the radio and from what we see is making a pretty good living at it. Still a combination of persuasive techniques by Stone and Keeler get him to follow in the Naval tradition of his family.

For reasons I don't understand Ruby did not dance a step in Flirtation Walk, but she makes up for it here. It was a weakness in the other film that is now remedied.

Dick Powell got two lovely ballads to sing, I'd Rather Listen To Your Eyes and I'd Love to Take Orders from You. Possibly because he was changing record companies from Brunswick to Decca in 1935 he didn't record either of those songs commercially. That's a pity because he does them so well.

What he did record was the song Don't Give Up the Ship with an orchestra and choral background. That song had a lot of popularity, so much so that the Naval Academy at Annapolis adopted it as their official song, something I'm sure Dick Powell and songwriters Harry Warren and Al Dubin must have been proud of.

Like he did with Flirtation Walk, Frank Borzage got to do some location shooting for Shipmates Forever at Annapolis and on the battleship, USS Pennsylvania. It certainly made for a far more realistic setting than in most Thirties films.

Unlike Flirtation Walk which was more upbeat, Shipmates Forever has the death of one of Powell's classmates which certainly lent a somber, but more realistic note to the proceedings.

Ross Alexander, Eddie Acuff, and John Arledge play Powell's roommates and all do good jobs in roles they are usually typecast in. Shipmates Forever is one of Dick Powell's best Warner Brothers musicals from the Thirties and its charm is eternal.

In New York, popular crooner and radio star Dick Powell (as Richard "Dick" Melville) meets tap-dancer Ruby Keeler (as June Blackburn) at a Navy celebration. As you would expect, they are mutually attracted. Helping the relationship considerably is the fact that both Mr. Powell and Ms. Keeler have soured on their US Navy connections. Powell wants to continue his singing career and resists Navy admiral father Lewis Stone (as Richard Melville), who wants his boy to continue a long family tradition. Having lost both a father and brother to Navy service, Keeler agrees Powell should keep his distance...

In order to prove he can make the grade, Powell predictably applies to the Navel Academy at Annapolis. Though he intended otherwise, Powell eventually joins the Navy as a midshipman. Keeler makes a few appearances, coming to terms with her family tragedies through Powell's experience...

Director Frank Borzage and the Warner Bros. team are equipped with plenty of location and stock footage, but too much of it is padding; this film's appeal would be greater with some trimming. Helping the formulaic Delmer Daves story is a colorfully introduced trio of "Shipmates Forever" - Ross Alexander (as Lafayette "Sparks" Brown) from Arkansas, Eddie Acuff (as Lincoln "Cowboy") from Texas and John Arledge (as Johnny "Coxswain" Lawrence) from Arizona. Robert Light (as Ted Sterling) is also on board. Best supporting actor is Mr. Arledge, who gets the best-written role and sails away with the film.

****** Shipmates Forever (10/12/35) Frank Borzage ~ Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, John Arledge, Ross Alexander

SHIPMATES FOREVER (Warner Brothers, 1935) cashes in on the recent success of FLIRTATION WALK (1934), set in West Point, reuniting Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Ross Alexander, John Arledge, Frederick Burton, with Frank Borzage as its director, in a Navy themed product filmed on location at Annapolis, Maryland. As with FLIRTATION WALK, SHIPMATES FOREVER centers mostly upon Powell, not so much for his crooning, but his ability as a serious actor and ladies' man. Although labeled a musical, the movie emphases more on plot than tunes, and contains more sentimental moments than comedy, thus being a true departure for both Powell or Keeler, best known for their backstage musicals with Busby Berkeley dance numbers and gold-digging chorus girls.

The scenario has Powell playing Richard John "Dick" Melville III, singer at the Sky Club in New York City, who would rather be entertaining than serving in the Navy as traditionally expected of him by his admiral father (Lewis Stone). Dick meets and immediately falls in love with June Blackburn (Ruby Keeler), a dancing teacher for little children, who also comes from a long line of Navy relatives. With the intention of taking his Navy entrance exam to show his father he can pass it, and not entering the academy, Dick has a change of heart and enters the academy anyway, with the intention of throwing away his commission in the end. Dick soon resents the friendship of his fellow roommates, "Cowboy" Lincoln (Eddie Acuff), Johnny "Coxwain" Lawrence (John Arledge) and Lafayette "Sparks" Brown (Ross Alexander) from Arkansas to room alone after plebe year. Basically, a loner with his only companion being June, Dick becomes a disappointment to his father, who wants him to be nothing more than a true Navy man.

Other members of the cast include Dick Foran (Gifford); Robert Light (Ted Sterling, June's cousin); Mary Treen (Cowboy's Girlfriend); Joseph King and The Meglin Kiddies. Of the supporting players, it's Ross Alexander who provides some good doses of comedy, especially where he successfully sneaks in a radio into his room during plebe year under the noses of his superiors.

When I first watched SHIPMATES FOREVER on Memorial Day weekend on Turner Network Television (TNT) back in 1989, I actually didn't care for it mainly because I was expecting a big song and dance/ flag waving, military musical in the tradition of 1936 releases of BORN TO DANCE (MGM) or FOLLOW THE FLEET (RKO Radio), or possibly an overblown lavish scale production in the manner of MGM's ANCHOR'S AWEIGH (1945) with Keeler tap dancing galore and Powell leading a military parade of singing sailors. After repeated viewings, I find SHIPMATES FOREVER breaks away from the usual military musical clichés, and truly believe it holds up better than FLIRTATION WALK due to the realistic way Navy life is depicted.

With tunes by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, including "Don't Give Up the Ship," "I'd Love to Take Orders from You" and the charming "I'd Rather Listen to Your Eyes," the songs grow tiresome after being re-prized two or three times. While Keeler never tap danced in FLIRTATION WALK, she doesn't sing a note in SHIPMATES FOREVER, yet shows off her dancing skills first in the dancing school to the amazement of her students and another at the Sky Club. With some time out for song interludes, there's no production numbers. Reportedly distributed in theaters at 124 minutes, it's the 109-minute print that's currently in circulation on the TV markets, DVD format and broadcasts on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. While Powell recruited to military duty as THE SINGING MARINE (1937), he would make a return engagement into the Navy once again, co-starring opposite the popular comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello for IN THE NAVY (Universal, 1941).

Trivia: The theme to SHIPMATES FOREVER was reworked as a 1939 military programmer titled ON DRESS PARADE (WB, 1939) starring The Dead-End Kids, with Leo Gorcey assuming the role originally enacted by Powell, but minus the singing. (** Bells)

The Warner Brothers gang is back again, and this time they're out to sea. Richard Melville III (Dick Powell) comes from a long time of Navy men. His father (Lewis Stone) is commander of the fleet and expects that his son will follow in his footsteps. Dick doesn't want to; in fact, he has become quite successful as a crooner on the radio. And besides, his girl (Ruby Keeler) doesn't want her husband to turn out dead like her Navy brother and father. Now before you start having flashes of The Jazz Singer, read on. Dick decides to give his father's way a try, but he is stubborn enough to isolate himself during his training. It is too bad too, because his father knows how he could benefit from the company of guys like Sparks (Ross Alexander), Cowboy (Eddie Acuff), and Coxswain (John Arledge).

A really great film, Shipmates Forever is undeniably similar to Flirtation Walk not only for the cast or the story but the director Frank Borzage too. However, the similarities are no hindrance and this second chance has actually improved upon the original. It features a great many more comic moments which liven it tremendously. Alexander is always good for a laugh, and it is too bad he took his own life only a few years later. Perhaps the funniest and most shocking moment is during a "I'd Rather Listen To Your Eyes." Powell's crooning draws all of the women, and a series of Busby Berkeley-esquire close-ups on their eyes illustrates the melody. That is, until a pair of men's eyes pop up! Other songs include the Warren and Dubin standards "Don't Give Up The Ship" and "I'd Love To Take Orders From You." It is a wonder why this one has never been released.