Give Me a Sailor

Jim (Bob Hope) and Walter (Jack Whiting) are two brother sailors in the United States Navy. Walter plans to marry Nancy Larkin (Betty Grable) as soon as they get home, a problem since Jim is also in love with Nancy. So Jim hatches a plan with Nancy's more "low key" sister, Letty (Raye) to help break Walter and Nancy up. Letty agrees, only under one condition, he help her to win Walter!

And so it unfolds, a series of scattergun dialogue and scenes as Hope and Raye get into all sorts of scrapes whilst trying to alter the trajectory of Cupid's arrow. There's no prizes for guessing where that arrow will land, but in the main there's decent comedy and good comedy performances to take the picture into safe waters. An early picture for Hope, one just before he would make it big and entertain the masses with some distinction, it's actually Raye who owns the picture (she is top billed after all). Raye and Hope were paired together a number of times, their chemistry is set in stone, they worked well as a duo and played off of each other with enjoyable aplomb. As with some other screwball movies, this one comes close to overdoing it, not letting the comedy flow naturally, given over to histrionics instead of genuine character interactions. But it never sinks below average, has some truly funny scenes (Raye trying to hide under a mattress is a great moment) and the outcome puts the smile firmly on the face. 6.5/10

GIVE ME A SAILOR (Paramount, 1938), directed by Elliott Nugent, is a minor comedy with notable casting leads of Martha Raye, Bob Hope and Betty Grable. Based on an play by Anne Nichols, the plot sounds very much like a Cinderella story with Raye playing an ugly ducking competing with her attractive sister (Grable).

The slight plot finds sailor brothers, Jim (Bob Hope) and Walter Brewster (Jack Whiting) going on shore leave in San Francisco where Walter intends on proposing marriage to Nancy Larkin (Betty Grable), his childhood sweetheart, who's quite popular with the other fellas. It so happens that Jim wants to marry Nancy as well. For ten years Jim has plotted schemes with Nancy's unattractive sister, Letty (Martha Raye), by arranging her to marry Walter, whom she has loved since childhood. During the course of the story, Letty sneaks away to be alone with Walter in Paradise Valley by hiding in the trunk of his car, only to have her scheme backfire when Jim becomes the driver instead and ends up alone with him. Due to unexpected circumstances, Letty's accidental photographed legs were submitted by her cousin, Meryl (Emerson Treacy) to a contest that wins, turning Letty from homely household cook to a popular celebrity, much to the chagrin of Nancy, who finds Walter has changed his affections from her to Letty. As Jim's schemes to get Walter married to Letty, Letty begins to have second thoughts. Other members of the cast include: J.C. Nugent (Mr. Larkin); Clarence Kolb (Captain Tallant); Irving Bacon (The Film Processor); Eddie Kane, among others.

On the musical soundtrack by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, songs include: "The U.S.A. and You" (sung by sailors); "What Goes On Here in My Heart?" (sung by Betty Grable and Jack Whiting, followed by a slight dance); "A Little Kiss" (sung by Martha Raye); "A Little Kiss" (reprise by Raye); and "The U.S.A. and You" (instrumentally played by parade band). Though the songs are okay, they are mostly unmemorable and forgotten.

At first, GIVE ME A SAILOR starts off like a nautical musical in the tradition of BORN TO DANCE (MGM, 1936) with singing sailors on board ship. Once the sailor brothers (Hope and Whiting) go on shore leave to be with their gals, they spend much of the story in civilian clothes with little references about their ranks. With both Hope and Grable not major star attractions as of yet, it's most interesting seeing these two together in the same movie. Their previous film, COLLEGE SWING (1938), also with Raye, had the more apart than together. Yet, GIVE ME A SAILOR belongs very much to Martha Raye. Aside from her antics answering telephone calls for her sister, chasing Ethel May Brewster (Bonnie Jean Churchill), a bratty child, around the kitchen, getting her face trapped in a clay pack that hardens, and hiding under the bed to avoid scandal of being found inside the Inn bedroom alone with Jim (Hope), she also gets her very rare moments of sympathy when finding herself rejected, along with later becoming glamorous in fur coats, expensive clothes, jewelry and beauty parlor hairstyle. While Raye's character got much publicity about her legs here, it would be Betty Grable a few years later who would be known for having her "million dollar legs." As much as Raye would have more screen time with Hope than with other members in the cast, they have little opportunity together showing how funny they can be as a team. However, they did have better luck getting some belly laughs in their final film together of NEVER SAY DIE (1939).

Once broadcast regularly on the late show in the seventies before shifting to public television in the 1980s. GIVE ME A SAILOR has become available on both video and DVD formats in later years. One of its known cable television showings to GIVE ME A SAILOR has turned up on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: August 30, 2014). (*** Bells)

Here is my first imdb review (actually this is the 2nd attempt, it didnt save the first attempt lol)

So... what do I think of this movie..

I watched "Give Me A Sailor" this morning, in bed tucked up under a duvet after a long Boxing Day the day before. So it is December 27th 2023, and why am I reviewing a almost 90 year old movie? Moreover why and how am I even watching this movie? Well, I felt like watching a movie that means nothing to me just a bit of light entertainment.

I am a classic movie fan, and as much as I love all the classics, sometimes I just like to watch a complete nonsense movie with people in that I dont particularly follow.

This movie is one of those. So, no spoilers here!! Lets give my run down on Give Me A Sailor..

Bob Hope does a pretty decent job in this one, you would never know it is one of his early movie roles. Martha Raye.. hmmm... what to say about Martha.. I find her a bit of an oddity, shes ok in this movie actually, but usually she can be quite annoying with weird facial expressions and the like (I guess in the 30s and 40s her unique style of comedy had them laughing in the aisles lol)..

Now lets move onto Jack Whiting who plays Walter Brewster, actually lets not. There really is nothing to say about him. So, Betty Grable.. a fantastic performance by Ms Grable as always, and a catchy little song and dance number too ~ what more could you want. Without Ms Grable, I would probably have given up watching before the picture was through.

Overall, a nice little light hearted comedy to pass the time whilst in bed feeling worse for wear. They dont make em like this anymore.

In 1938, when this film was made, Bob Hope was 35 years and while he had been a star in vaudeville and Broadway for 15 years, he had just gotten his first radio show. While he had been in films for a few years, this was the first time he was the real star of a film.

It was also the first time that Martha Raye had star billing in a film. She had co-starred in films with Bing Crosby and Jack Benny before this, but at age 22, she was at the peak of her short film career, which had started just two years before. While she would have top billing in two more films, by 1941, three years later, her film starring career was largely over. She did do a wonderful bit part in Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux" in 1947, but for the most part, she starred on television here and there from the 1950's to the 1980's.

Betty Grable was also 22. Although she started her movie career well before Raye, she had done a lot of bit parts and hadn't become famous yet. This supporting actress role was one of her meatier ones. Three years later, just when Raye's film career was spiraling downward, she was becoming a superstar.

The movie is a rather silly screwball comedy with a lot of amusing bits, but nothing memorable or outstanding. Hope is almost the breezy, nervous, sentimental fast talker that he will portray brilliantly for the next 40 years. Raye is frenetic, but can't quite carry the film as the lead. Grable adds a nice sweet touch to the proceedings. She plays well off both Hope and Raye.

Jack Whiting, in apparently his one major role, is pretty awful as Hope's brother. He seems nervous and doesn't have much charm, although both Gable and Raye are supposed to be gaga over him.

Clarence Kolb is the one bit player who stands out. He went on to play Mr. Honeywell, the cantankerous boss in the "My Little Margie" television series in the 1950's.

The movie alternates between flat and mildly amusing dialogue and slapstick bits. It is worth watching just to see Hope and Grable at the beginning of their careers, and Raye at the too short peak of hers.

This screwball musical doesn't have many songs, and the comedy isn't very good, despite the talented cast. I was psyched to see Raye top-billed, but she plays a sad-sack Cinderella here, the sweet if homely and put-upon sister to manipulative, shallow and vain Grable-so the former is less funny and the latter less appealing than usual. Bob Hope is in his snarky comfort zone, but with so many other characters (including his brother/rival Jack Whiting) also being disagreeable and self-absorbed, he comes off as just another jerk rather than a likable wiseguy.

Raye gets a couple chances to show off her surprisingly pretty voice on non-comedic numbers, but her usual brass is an awkward fit for a role that needed a more winsome ingenue-slash-comedienne. The best thing in the movie is arguably the beginning when a quartet of never-seen-again sea dogs sing below deck. But otherwise it's a film without real production numbers, no romantic dynamics worth rooting for, a lack of good comic lines or situations, and a general "B" feel. A disappointment.