User reviews

For his debut film Danny Kaye was given an impressive production for a typical service comedy, a little more than most got during wartime years. Sam Goldwyn was a man who never did anything by halves and Kaye's stardom was assured. Kaye's so funny that you might not notice that the plot was taken and used the following year by MGM for Anchors Aweigh.

If you can wrap yourself around the concept that Dana Andrews would want to pal around with hypochondriac Danny Kaye than you'll find this a very funny film. As with so many others the Selective Service didn't find any one of Kaye's thousand or so ailments reason enough to keep him out of World War II.

A couple of nurses played by Dinah Shore and Constance Dowling are in the cast. Kaye is absolutely bug eyed over Dowling, but it's Andrews that she likes. In the meantime Dinah Shore who has a couple of good songs to sing can't get Kaye to notice her.

Up In Arms got two Oscar nominations for Best Musical Scoring and for Dinah Shore's song Now I Know. Personally I've always liked Tess's Torch Song which you can hear her perform in this film. But the real treat are Kaye's patter numbers done by Max Liebman and Mrs. Danny Kaye Sylvia Fine. The Melody in 4-F is a classic and loved by all of Danny Kaye's fans.

This was the start of a great comic career and an impressive start at that.

Other reviewers have noted that "Up in Arms" was the first major movie that launched Danny Kaye's star. It certainly is a foretaste of the versatile Kaye's many talents. It includes a couple tongue-twister sequences, a couple of other language impersonations, and just a little song and dance. But, none of these are at the accomplished level Kaye would reach and show in films that followed. What he is good at in this career opener, he is fantastic at in films such as "The Inspector General" of 1949, "On the Riviera" of 1951, "Knock on Wood" of 1954, and "The Court Jester" of 1955.

Venues to showcase talents like Kaye don't have to have great plots. Films such as this are good and enjoyable just for the entertainment of the star or stars. But, when films also have interesting stories, they often click better and enhance the viewing enjoyment. At least I find that so in Kaye films. With much better scripts in those later movies, he moved more naturally and smoothly into his tongue twisters, impersonations, or song and dance numbers.

"Up in Arms" doesn't have a very solid plot. So, it seemed to me a number of times that the producers forced the next Kaye sequence on us. Like an old-fashioned entertainment break between scenes in an otherwise not-too-good stage show. Those few who praise this film as among Kaye's best had best watch again those films I named above. His impersonations, tongue twisters, and song and dance advanced remarkably in just a few years as he perfected his talents in each of these fields. Still, it is his comic performance alone that earns this movie seven stars in my book. Dinah Shore's singing supported the film some, but otherwise I think the cast was lackluster. Dana Andrews had more than a dozen movies under his belt, and would rise to become a leading man and male co-star in many films of the late 1940s and 1950s. But, he did not fit in comedies or musicals. He's clearly out of place here.

One other thing that struck me, with the rich Technicolor for such an early film, was the makeup worn by the ladies. In the musical scene with everyone boarding a ship, all the WAC nurses line up along the ship railing. As the camera pans their pretty faces, their heavy use of makeup really stands out. That may have been a sign of the times, and I appreciate the lesser use of pancake makeup in modern days. Our sharp lenses and cameras can give us very close shots that show the natural beauty of the human face. I think the pancake would be obvious and not very enticing.

Here are some favorite lines from this film.

Danny Weems, "Say, what's the matter with that horse of yours? He keeps breathing in all the time - never breathes out?" The Milkman, "Well, I'll tell you, Bub. But I don't want it to get around. He isn't really a horse. He's a vacuum cleaner."

Danny, "You know, if I don't get a rest petty soon, I'm gonna have to have an operation." Joe Nelson, "They can't operate on you, Junior. With all those pills inside of you, you'd roll off the table."

Sgt. Gelsey, looking at some of the 100 plus nurses sunbathing and sitting in their special deck area aboard the ship, "We never had anything like this in the last war." Info Jones, Sergeant, we don't have anything like it in this war either."

Navy nurse (Goldwyn Girl, June Lang, uncredited), "Gosh, how can a guy who looks like a canary turn out to be a wolf?"

This is not Danny Kaye's best effort. That would be The Court Jester, as far as I am concerned. This movie was badly written. It wasn't horribly acted but the actors weren't given anything much to work with. Danny deserved better and so did Dinah Shore. She should have been a much bigger movie star than she was. She was very talented and had excellent screen presence. Too bad this movie is one of her few movies.

At the end of the day, don't waste your time. If you want to see GOOD Danny Kaye movies, find The Court Jester, The Inspector General, White Christmas...or his dramas The Five Pennies or Skokie. He was a brilliant comedian AND dramatic actor. Don't use this movie as an example of his best work.

Danny Kaye was a huge hit on stage, in films as well as on TV. So, what I am about to say is no doubt controversial...I don't like many of his movies. You probably should keep this in mind as you read my review...as I am no doubt it affected my review of his first full-length film, "Up in Arms".

Danny plays a hypochondriac who seems incredibly self-centered...and hardly the heroic type. However, at the beginning of the story, you see that during WWII he made good and became a hero. This movie consists then of a long flashback showing his path from wimpy nincompoop to galant hero.

The flashback begins with the draft board meeting to discuss requested deferments. Danny Weems (Kaye) has requested one because he claims to have pretty much every disease known to modern science. Now it isn't because he is a total coward, so he's NOT trying to get a Section 8 (medical/psychological release from the military). He REALLY believes he's sick and cannot serve. However, the draft board is astute and they decide to draft him anyway.

Before Danny learns his fate with the Army, you see that he's got girl trouble. You cannot really understand Danny loving Mary...she's really NOT in love with him and he should have noticed this. Likewise, he cannot see that Virginia is gaga over him. Along for no particular reason is Danny's friend, Joe (Dana Andrews).

Once Danny goes into the Army, he's a bust and his fellow soldiers seem to hate him...and probably for some very good reasons. He's an annoying nuisance and seems to only think of himself and his 'ailments'. So how does he go from most hated to most loved? See the film and see what Danny does in the Pacific.

Some of the reasons I disliked the film are due to Kaye and his schtick. I was amazed by his ultra-high speed gibberish singing...but a little went a very long way. But much of the problem actually wasn't Kaye but the script. First, the film made him too easy to hate and such a cowardly guy seems unpatriotic in a film from 1944. Sure, he eventually makes good...but for much of the film he doesn't seem to care about the war...just himself and Mary. Second, there are TONS of big production numbers...way, way too many. They disrupt the comedy and really slow the movie down whenever they occur. I think the Goldwyn Studio did this because they didn't now if Kaye would be a hit or a flop...and it was his first starring role.

Overall, there are some funny moments and the film is in glorious Technicolor. But you also might find that Kaye's character is unlikable and really annoying...and when he's not doing comedy, there's just way too much singing. One or two singing numbers might have been okay...but not the half dozen.

While I admit I am not a huge Kaye fan, I did really enjoy his "Merry Andrew". He was less brash and much more likable in this sweet film.

By the way, one tiny scene needs some explanation. When the rude waiter threatens to quit and the owner puts up with his insolence, this was because during the war, jobs were easy to come by and getting good help for such jobs was tough...and it's a parody of this minor annoyance at home.

This is only the second Danny Kaye film I've had the pleasure of watching, and he certainly didn't disappoint. The scene at the beginning of the film is fantastic, and Kaye's outstanding ability to tongue-twist in a song mixed in a conversation is hilarious! It has a lovely plot and Kaye steals every scene, from his serious romantic side, to his outrageous physical comedy. There are loads of brilliant one liners in there from Kaye, and his character being a hypochondriac just adds to the enjoyment! If you haven't seen this film yet, then what are you waiting for?!

This is a picture that doesn't know what it wants to be. It's released in 1944 so is it a comedy? Is it a war film? Is it patriotic drivel? IT IS Danny Kaye being so irritating that I would welcome fingernails on a chalk board. Kaye plays an idiot/klutz who is a hypochondriac in love with a girl that his roommate eventually falls in love with. Now why a stud like Dana Andrews would hang with Kaye is beyond me. Some of the very improbably situations is singing in the middle of a theatre lobby. 160 "Goldwyn Girls" who play nurses and they share the same ship Kaye and all the other soldiers. When they board the ship, all the other soldiers are in line for one gangplank singing while the "Goldwyn Girls and Kaye get exclusive access to a separate gangplank. Then the nurses have their own club med on the upper deck. Not to mention that they smuggle 1 nurse on board that doesn't belong there. How come no one is concerned with her going AWOL? Danny Kaye was good in films like WHITE CHRISTMAS, MERRY ANDREW and HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSON. This is NOT memorable Kaye - while I rated this 2 stars, this is a 5 aspirin movie. When this is available, make sure your DVR is set to "erase".

This recently showed on Turner Classic Movies and I was lucky enough to catch most of it. The film is old and features some cartoonesque lampooning of racial stereotypes (especially the Japanese, but hey it was made in 1944 - do the math), but nothing as offensive as incidental references made in the modern media. Danny Kaye's antics had me in stitches and the ladies are still lovely despite the age of the material - the song-and-dance silly humor is unlike anything you'll find in Hollywood these days but was quite fitting at the time. Overall it was highly entertaining and I would not mind watching it again either alone or with company.

A colossal Danny Kaye bomb.

It's amazing that Danny's film career went anywhere after a film as miserable as this. This was not the film to showcase his talents.

Dana Andrews was not for musicals. It was as simple as that. He played his sidekick in this and was Jeanne Crain's love interest in "State Fair." Andrews hit his stride in "The Best Years of Our Lives."

Danny is a severe hypochondriac in this film. He gets drafted and loves Constance Dowling who doesn't have the heart to tell him that it's Andrews who is her love interest. Dinah Shore, as Virginia, loves Danny but he can't see it.

General mayhem develops when all 4 of the characters are on the ship and Dowling becomes a castaway by accident.

Look for Margaret Dumont in 2 brief scenes. I guess she was taking a respite from the Marx Brothers. She is not even at her gawky best here.

Also miscast are Louie Calhern and Lyle Talbot, both wonderful character actors, who have little to do here and are wasted.

Dinah sings nicely and I guess that she and Kaye make a nice Jewish couple. That's about it.

The first Danny Kaye vehicle, this film still has the power to make me laugh. The action revolves around a hypochondriac named Danny Weems who is hopelessly in love with a beautiful nurse named Mary (played by the lovely Constance Dowling) at the hospital he works as a doorman at, while completely unaware of the attentions of her multi-talented best friend and fellow nurse, Virginia (played by the talented Dinah Shore, a singer known to those alive in the '70s as the host of "Dinah! & Friends"). Meanwhile, Danny introduces his handsome roommate Joe to Virginia, but Joe and Mary end up hitting it off, though Danny is completely oblivious to it all.

This movie was contemporary with World War II, of course, and the real action begins when Danny is drafted by the U.S. Army despite the multiple ailments he believes he has. Joe joins up along with him, and -- of course -- the two nurses join up as well. And the movie goes along from there.

As with Kaye's other well-known movies, "Up In Arms" is a virtual showcase of his comedic talents when they were still very fresh and seemingly spontaneous. The musical numbers are particularly enjoyable.

This is a film one needs to see if one needs a good, clean laugh. I saw this movie as a kid a decade ago when I was home from school and sick, and Danny Kaye kept me laughing throughout the whole thing -- it definitely made me forget my troubles.

The only downside to this film is the stereotypical characterisation of the Japanese soldiers seen near the end, but the viewer must remember when this film was made, and that wartime propaganda like this was common. In comparison to others from that era, the comedy is fairly tame.

My rating for this movie is 10 out of 10. They truly don't make them like this any more.

One of the funniest movies of all-time. Danny Kaye's first film. Catapulted him from a virtual unknown to an international super-star. Two songs co-authored by his wife, Sylvia Fine, did the trick for him: "The Lobby Number" and "Melody In 4-F." These two songs put Danny's virtuoso tongue-twisting genius on full display. Danny Kaye plays a hypochondriac who is drafted into the Army in World War II and ends up single-handedly capturing a platoon of Japanese soldiers in the South Pacific while winning the heart of beautiful songstress Dinah Shore. Now, 60 years later, the film remains thoroughly enjoyable, and no other entertainer has emerged who can equal Danny Kaye's extraordinary comedic talents. If I had to make a list of the 10 funniest films ever made, "Up In Arms" would surely be on that list.

I just saw this for the first time. I'm an old Danny Kaye fan -- grew up with Court Jester & other DK films; always appreciated his particular genius.

I only saw the second half of this film -- but it just blew me away. Of course, it already features the trademark Danny Kaye combination of showmanship, clowning, doe-eyed sincerity, patter-songs and absolutely beautiful vocal control that others mention here. And that is truly impressive. Also impressive in this film is the playing with gender, which is something DK could always get away with, but here comes out as particularly hyper and intense.

But what really shocked me was how ahead of its time this film was. Made during WWII, and absolutely full of patriotism and wartime idealism, all somehow mixed together with the idealism of romance and home and family, this was clearly a 1944 deal, with fake-looking classic Hollywood sound stage warships and sea scenes. But it looks much more like something out of 1955 or, God help us, 1966.

They don't really hide from that sound-set fakeness, esp. in the truly weird dream sequences, and the whole thing ends up looking more like Bob Fosse than the WWII propaganda film it's also trying to be. These sequences feature sets and costumes in co-ordinated "hot" pastels, a bartender-cum-minister-cum-scat singer, and I kid you not a bright sky blue goat. This segues into a scene with intense women in skimpy black clothing (think Robt Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video from the 1980s meets a 1890's bordello), some of whom are mounted/pinned/crucifed on trees/crosses/black wings set on poles.

In front of this, Danny Kaye in a devilish red suit does some of the most pure and outrageous absurdities I have EVER seen him do -- phasing in and out like the young Robin Williams on cocaine, switching into and out of a pastiche of popular song styles, slang, scat and African-American impersonation as if he were a black guy pretending to be a white guy pretending to be a black guy pretending to be a black guy. (In most of this, he is echoed capably -- but not brilliantly -- by Dinah Shore.) He is manic and brilliant and so very American and post-modern.

He is also incredibly young, and looks quite a bit like some manic, visionary rock star of today. (He resembles a bit the young Sting or Billy Idol.) And esp. in those fantasy scenes, the intensity combined with the costuming and showmanship made me realize that DK can be seen in that line of intense musical innovators/showmen that includes Prince and probably Jack White of the White Stripes.

I have no idea why the rating for this film is so low! This was the first Kaye film I saw and, now after having seen most of his others it's still my favorite.

I had this preconception about Danny Kaye that he just made some early, cheesy musicals. Well, that is kinda true... but he is such an amazing, funny performer! One of my new favorites. Who woulda thunk it.

this is an old movie and looks really great now in color, looks like they remastered it? i read a comment about the movie and the fellow really did not like the film, said unless you were a Danny Kaye fan it was bad. NOT SO !! and that fellow had the gals reversed. Danny was in love with Mary and Virginia wanted him. poor friend Joe, he was stuck there somewhere in the middle. this is just one of those funny old movies that take place when the war was the biggest deal ever. this is one of those feel good movies that proves what good friends some people have in their time of need, whatever their need is. the film is worth a watch if you like old films that are funny, plus Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore both sing. take a chance, we really enjoyed it !!

As a general Rule, I hate Hollywood musicals - Certain Musicals. This is just my personal taste and no offense to those who love musicals. Mostly because, and I bet a lot of people will agree with me, the music is just badly written. Always there are exceptions to the rule, and one of those being Danny Kaye (Another being Kay Kaiser).

The Technicolor on this is just fantastic and the music and lyrics are of the best of the Danny Kaye films. It is a great comedy on it's own having a pretty hilarious premise and several incidents that have you howling in laughter even after 60 years or so. Danny Kaye is a dailectition of superb talent, and his fake Scottish in this movie is hilarious.

Finally, Danny Kaye was a Musical genius, and I do not know any other entertainer who could use his flapper and a musical instrument as well. I have laughed Long Hours due to this guy all through my life, even if I have seen the film several times! Hahaha! Dinah Shore has a real swell number as well- Kind of in the middle of the film. I like Dinah Shore as his "leading lady" - I like how she is dressed, I love the sharp shoulders on her costumes, she was about as odd as he was. And this oddity is what made this film so classic. His most beautiful leading lady was always Virginia Mayo, but Shore is really funny and so it is a good match up.

Of course there is the Danny Kaye­™ "Dream Sequence" and this one is fantastic. I love the flaming Women Torches- Goldwyn always made a little mini production out of those sequences. I don't know if Danny himself suggested these, but several of his movies have them and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" Practically consists of them. Wonder Man is another. So of course "Up in Arms" has a couple very good imagination sequences like that, including the ending.

But nothing is as good as Kaye standing in front of a full Orchestra, dementing the music. This film has one scene in particular, where you can certainly say, that music, used as a comedy tool, works very well.

Samuel Goldwyn was one of Hollywood's most successful independent producers working within a system where the major studios owned the large majority of movie theaters in the cities. He had to practically beg to get his films to be shown in those movie houses to make any profit from his expensive productions. For his big-budgeted February 1944 "Up in Arms," he wanted to make a highly-publicized statement on such an unfair monopoly.

As a member of the newly-formed Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, which included David O. Selznick and Walter Wagner, Goldwyn hosted a special showing of his Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore Technicolor musical "Up in Arms" in Reno, Nevada, whose theaters were entirely owned by the major studios. Goldwyn said he was donating the evening's entire ticket sales for the event to the local Red Cross. In a rare public appearance since retiring, silent movie star Mary Pickford read a letter from Walt Disney, another independent producer, stating, "To produce 'Up in Arms' Mr. Goldwyn spent a whole year of intensive work and $2,000,000 of his own money. This is a lot of time and a great deal of money. But to what avail? Only to be told upon completion that he shall not be permitted to show his picture except as dictated by a monopoly." Goldwyn and his fellow producers, Pickford and Charlie Chaplin, founders of the independent United Artists included, lobbied the United States Justice Department under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to beak up the monopoly. Previous cases dating back to the early 1920s were thwarted by the studios' powerful lawyers. Four years after the Reno event, the Supreme Court, in the United States v. Paramount, ruled against the five major studios, forcing them to sell all their movie theaters.

Despite all the roadblocks, Goldwyn had a box office hit on his hands in "Up in Arms." The movie launched the Hollywood career of Danny Kaye in his feature film debut. He brought to the screen his patented eccentric talents that made him so popular in nightclubs and on the Broadway stage. Born David Daniel Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York, Kaye dropped out of school, working a variety of jobs. One was at a dentist's office where he was fired for using a dental drill for his woodwork project. Years later he eloped with that dentist's daughter, Sylvia Fine, who became instrumental in shaping his trademark comedy. Joining an international-traveling vaudeville act called the Three Terpsichorieans in 1933 when he was 20, Kaye learned how to pantomime by exaggerating gestures and facial expressions before non-English speaking audiences. At lunch one day in China he tried ordering chicken to a waiter who spoke only Chinese by flapping his arms and clucking. Agreeably nodding, the waiter went to the kitchen and brought back two eggs.

Goldwyn signed Kaye after seeing him in several 1937 two-reeler comedies, giving him the freedom to write and choreograph his own comedy routines. For his first feature film, "Up in Arms" the producer wanted to give him a complete makeover, biographer Scott Berg noted, after seeing his first screen test. Goldwyn felt "his nose so long and thin it almost was like Pinocchio's. More tests were made. Then more. In each a new makeup was tried and different lightings. And none were good. Finally, Goldwyn came up the solution to dye his red hair blonde." Danny's wife Sylvia wanted him to retain his craziness he did on the stage over to the screen. "Everybody, Sam Goldwyn included, thought a comedian who wasn't cruel or bombastic had to play a nebbish," recalled Syliva. "But that's not who Danny was. He played the eager beaver. That's quite different. He'd trip himself up in enthusiasm." Kaye's first musical number in "Up in Arms" was the perfect introduction to the comedian's unique brand of humor, prancing and exhibiting his "go-gat-gittle" style in 'The Lobby Number.' Says film reviewer John Sinnott, "Danny uses a lot of the devices that he'd become famous for in this film: there's a song filled with nonsense lyrics (which is hilarious), he impersonates an immigrant in order to get out of a jam, and there's a lot of goofy banter." Updating his earlier 1930 "Whoopee" with Eddie Cantor, Goldwyn included his Goldwyn Girls as a chorus to portray Danny Weems (Kaye) as an extreme hypochondriac who's so nervous about his health he works as an elevator operator in a medical building. One of the nurses, Virginia (Dinah Shore) falls for Danny, but he has his sights on another nurse, Mary (Constance Dowling), who loves Danny's best friend, Joe (Dana Andrews). Danny is drafted into the Army, followed by Joe. Meanwhile Virginia and Mary also join as army nurses.

Dinah Shore, later popular daytime talk-show TV host whose relationship with actor Burt Reynolds captured national headlines, was known for her recording and radio appearances in the 1940s and 1950s. The Winchester, Tennessee-born Francis 'Fanny' Rose Shore, blessed with a smooth singing voice, first sang as a student at Vanderbilt University, graduating with a degree in sociology. Fanny was singing on a New York City radio station belting out the popular tune 'Dinah' when disc jockey Martin Block, forgetting her name, called her the 'Dinah girl' soon after she left. She loved the name so much she adopted it as her stage name. Shore became a regular on Eddie Cantor's radio show before getting her first substantial film role as Virginia in "Up in Arms." Dinah acted in only six movies, the last in 1952's 'Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick,' concentrating on her live performances, recording, radio and television appearances instead.

"Up in Arms" is known for its elaborate 'Tess's Torch Song,' "as delightful a musical number as one will find in the '40s," wrote film reviewer Laura Grieve. The Academy Awards nominated Best Song 'Now I Know' from the film while composer Max Steiner was nominated for Best Music Score.