User reviews

This movie isn't terribly accurate as to actual Boot Camp life, they had MUCH more freedom than we did, but it was filmed at Great Lakes Naval Station about 10 years before I was stationed there in 1962-3. The barracks, the furnishings, everything in the background shots look just the way they did when I was there. We also lived in those same WWII temporary barracks. I thoroughly enjoy this movie every time I watch it just for the memories and to see those wonderful uniforms that I really liked! My favorite part of the movie each time is the Drill Team scene, they do some of the very same routines that we did when I was on the Boot Camp Drill Team at Bainbridge, Maryland in 1962.

Diverting bit of fluff from MGM about three women who join the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) to get away from their respective man troubles. One (Joan Evans) was left standing at the altar, one (Esther Williams) left someone standing at the altar, and another (Vivian Blaine) never got to the altar. The women go through training, singing and having fun along the way, until they get down to the important business at hand: landing a man.

Vivian Blaine keeps things moving with her energetic performance. Joan Evans starts out being a terribly depressing character but she has a good turnaround about a half-hour in. Esther Williams seems to be going through the motions; not bad but not remarkable in any way. Barry Sullivan plays her love interest. The two have no chemistry at all. The DeMarco sisters are fun to watch. Debbie Reynolds has a cameo in a dance routine. Emmett Lynn is a scene stealer as Pop the plumber. The song and dance numbers are nothing to write home about. At least one of them ("What Good is a Gal without a Guy?") is downright embarrassing. Still, it's a hard movie to dislike. Everything is light and frothy with an enjoyable trio of stars. The highlight of the whole thing is (not surprisingly) Esther's big swimming scene, this time with a couple of cute kids.

Even though I am a fan of Esther Williams, I found this film very uneven.

Skirts Ahoy! was released in 1952 when the U.S. was involved in the Korean conflict. The roles of women in society were changed significantly during WWII, which ended only about five years before. The country was adjusting quickly and creating social phenomena (the baby boom, the suburban real estate boom, and a search for equilibrium in the roles of the sexes) that would be studied for decades. Esther Williams, Vivian Blaine and Joan Evans play three Waves in training at the Great Lakes U.S. Naval Training Center. They are rather aggressive in pursuit of men--an attitude that many men would find off-putting, especially in the early 50s.

Barry Sullivan plays the navy physician that Esther Williams pursues. I found his performance drab, making it difficult to understand her fascination with him.

Vivian Blaine practically plays Miss Adelaide from Guys and Dolls here, a role she perfected on Broadway in 1950 and, later, in the film (1955).

Esther gets her moments in the pool, of course. As usual, the aqua routines are not really a part of the overall plot. And the studio managed to throw in a number of music and dance numbers that are the same way, so that Esther is an audience member during them. It's pretty remarkable that the local dinner club features Billy Eckstine. In a show on the base, we find Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds, Bobby Van and a full selection of orchestra, drill teams, and choral groups.

The dance number featuring Debbie and Bobby was fun. Both are so fresh that their roles are uncredited. Singin' in the Rain was released in the same year, so who knew Debbie would be such a hit when Skirts Ahoy! came to theaters?

I particularly enjoyed the performances of the (5) DeMarco Sisters. Great harmonies, great energy.

The film has an improbable resolution, but the entire plot is merely a device to separate the swimming and musical numbers.

A very dull musical, not comparable with what director Sidney Lanfield had made at 20th.Century Fox in the thirties. No wonder this was his last picture. An example of the difference between what the Freed unit and the Pasternak unit were doing at MGM at the time. Of course, Esther Williams was as beautiful as ever.

One of my least favourite films/musicals featuring Esther Williams, along with 'Texas Carnival' and 'Jupiter's Darling'. All three watchable but very flawed. 'Skirts Ahoy!' is not a sinking dud, but considering the talent involved (as well as Williams, there's Vivian Blaine, Debbie Reynolds, Bobby Van and songs penned by Harry Warren and Ralph Blane) it should have been better, much better.

Williams herself is captivating, she has a graceful charm and sassiness, while her swimming talent and aquatic skills are enough to make one green with envy. She is well supported by a polished and energetic turn from Vivian Blaine, while Billy Eckstine and Emmett Lynn are suitably sincere and Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van lighten up the screen and really liven things up.

'Skirts Ahoy!' looks nice enough, the costume and set design are not elaborate or lavish but handsome and colourful enough and the film is photographed very nicely. The songs are all pleasant, though only one is properly memorable and that is the modest hit "What Good is a Girl (Without a Guy"). The way the numbers are staged is energetic and graceful and enthusiastically performed, Williams' water ballet and "Oh By Jingo" performed with terrific gusto by Reynolds and Van.

However, there is no chemistry between Williams and Barry Sullivan. Sullivan further has the indignity of having next to nothing to do and coming over as bland. Joan Evans struggle with the singing and dancing, the inexperience really shows, and also struggles to bring any likable qualities to a character that can border on the desperately annoying.

Despite some nice light, funny and endearingly fluffy moments, too much of the script is soggier than very watery cucumber sandwiches. The story is wafer thin, flimsy doesn't cut it describing the thinness of it, with pacing that really plods in the non-song and dance sequences (where the film comes to life) and an improbable resolution. 'Skirts Ahoy!' further suffers from being overlong, due to too much of its basic narrative content being as thin as it was that was difficult to overlook, and for being over-stuffed in other parts. Direction is indifferent.

Overall, not a bad film but never fully leaves the deck. Most of the cast and some nice moments keep it afloat but the story and script threaten to sink it and almost do. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Knowing Esther Williams' skills in swimming, of course we had more chances to see her in a film taking place in an US Navy military base than an US Air Force one....this is amusing, fun, agreeable to watch and easy to enjoy. It remains a musical, comedy vehicle. As many Williams films, the swimming scenes are the main interest of this kind of stuff. Not mine anyway, but I made an exception because of the fifties overall atmosphere, musicals scores and choregraphies. The last ones after several decades of Busby Berkeley material. Sidney Lanfield's last film for the large screen. He stood all his career in tis kind of features, except Sherlock Holmes HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLE and a couple of westerns. On the contrary, for TV indusdry, he will try something else than comedy and light stories. For instance some episodes of M SQUAD series. Nothing to do with SKIRTS AHOY.

Apparently I must be the only one that loves this movie and everything about it. As a child I watched nothing but musicals and I had many favorites. They didn't all have to be perfect but each one was very special to me in their own unique way. "Skirts Ahoy" is one of my all time top favorites and I use to watch it over and over. I use to entertain everyone with my quotes and humorous reenactments of the musical scenes. "Skirts Ahoy" stood out to me as different from the rest and to me there was something very special about it. I think there is so much humor in this movie and a very real side of relationships and life lessons. This movie is very dear to my heart and I haven't seen it in so long. For everyone that dislikes this movie, please let me know if it is ever on TV and I will be happy as a clam to sit and enjoy every second of it while everyone else goes to bed ;)

Whitney Young (Esther Williams) is a runaway bride. On the other hand, Mary Kate Yarbrough (Joan Evans) got left at the altar. Una Yancy (Vivian Blaine) is a New York City gal pining for a man who is never there. He joins the Navy and she follows him. The three girls arrive at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station and become roommates.

I don't know when the Navy allowed women to join. I doubt it's anything like this. What are they training to do in the Navy anyways? It's telling that all three women's origin stories center on the wedding dress. In this world, every women is desperate to find a man. "What Good Is a Gal? (Without a Guy?)" Sadly, that might be the best song in this musical. Most of the songs are forgettable. It's all very old style 50's. As with any Esther Williams musical, there is plenty of water works. It's nothing more than a do-wop old fashion musical.

This is a terrible musical in a decade of great ones. It is absolutely dull. Somewhow this Wac- wave/recruitment drivel must have been plonked on the MGM conveyor belt excused by the Korean War as some sort of patriotic gesture. Maybe a female version of the Kelly sailor musicals was in mind but it has nothing to do with anything and has no pizzaz. Not even pizzas. Vivian Blaine does her Ms Adelaide stuff seen to better effect in Guys and Dolls, Debbie Reynolds appears for a second to zap the audience awake and Esther Williams is dulled into battleship gray. Billy Ecstein yawns his way through some sort of faux Lena Horne spot. MGM must have needed a tax write off in 1952, because there is no possible reason why this dull jigsaw puzzle of navy romantic antics could possibly exist... and MGM could make it on the back lot with existing props and costumes. Even Barry Sullivan behaves like J Carroll Naish. I really struggled though most of this... so just go to bed happy if this comes on, I have saved you the trouble of being annoyed by it.

It may not be front rank, but the production is doing what glossy MGM did best—musicals. Of course with the aquatic Esther Williams, we know some of the music will accompany her acrobatic swim skills. The first half are the three girls getting accustomed to military life with the usual plucked heartstrings, while musical numbers dominate the second half. As expected, the results are lavishly produced in candy box Technicolor. Ordinarily, a patriotically themed production like this would be WWII movie fare, but keep in mind in '52 and '53 the Korean War was still dragging on, though it's never mentioned in the screenplay.

The pacing is zippy, not letting the boy-girl interludes slow things down. Still, the musical selections are largely forgettable, while the set pieces are many and not too well blended. My favorites are The Debbie Reynolds-Bobby Van cameo, a good acrobatic contrast to the various marching numbers. Apparently MGM liked the result well enough to team them in the following year's beguiling The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953). Also, Williams' underwater shenanigans with the two kids is certainly eye-catching and different. (Too bad the little girl died a couple months later in a diving accident {IMDB}.)

It's an able cast from a patrician Williams to a goofy Blaine to an unpredictable Evans. But when I think musicals, I don't think Barry Sullivan. Looks like he was breaking with his sinister image by playing a no-nonsense doctor; at the same time, not looking too comfortable. And, oh yes, the brief interludes between Williams and the beguiled old guy amount to an inspired poignant touch.

All in all, it's an entertaining, if crowded, 109-minutes that probably tries to do too much for its own good. No it's not among Williams' best, still the pacing and visuals zip along in fine fashion such that if you don't like this set-up, a new one will soon follow.

This film finds Whitney (Esther Williams) joining the Navy WACs. Soon she makes a couple friends, Mary Kate (Joan Evans) and Una (Vivian Blaine) and they have some adventures--which in THIS Navy means singing, dancing, swimming and chasing men. Apparently the WACs in the 1950s didn't do much else....at least according to this film. Because of this, the film clearly is a bit of fluff...which isn't a surprise because most of Esther Williams' films were lightweight but entertaining. This one, however, is a bit sub- par for two main reasons. First, the songs are completely forgettable--even ones sung by singers playing themselves (such as Debbie Reynolds, Billy Eckstine and Bobby Van who all make cameo appearances). Secondly, the big romance is between Whitney and a senior officer (Barry Sullivan)...something which I don't think the Navy would have allowed. I could look past this second point but the fact that the songs weren't very good is a big hit since the plot is pretty flimsy. Clearly one of Miss Williams' lesser films and one mostly for her fans. Overall, not bad...just not all that good. Others might want to pick one of her better films such as "Million Dollar Mermaid".

A piece of very silly fluff. The cast tries but they're not given much to work with.

As an aside, you have the cast pictures mislabeled: Vivian Blaine played. Mary Kate Yarbrough.

Shirts Ahoy 1952 doesn't have the kind of excitement like other musicals from MGM. The crisp singing numbers are not there at all. The only bright spot of the entire film is when Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van perform. The actors in this film are very dull in acting, dancing, and singing. The camera shots are also poor. The casting of this film should had more big time musical stars than just one person. Esther Williams. Esther Williams gives her usual great swimming performance. But the swimming scenes are very few and far between. Vivian Blaine is not a seasoned screen veteran and her acting is so poor you wonder why the MGM bosses made this picture in the first place. Barry Sullivan is not his usual acting mood. His performance is very bad. In all flop.

This post-WWII film is very dated. The women recruits sing a song about how 'women are nothing without a man'. If you can put this sort of sentiment in the context that it was created, this film has a few things to recommend it. There are a few good musical numbers, and lots of camp humour. It's hilarious that none of the military personnel are ever shown doing anything remotely militant. The Navy is depicted as a social event, with shows, synchronized swimming, dating, hijinks.

The DeMarco Sisters contribute a few nice moments to this brief, shallow movie. They harmonize nicely, and perform with enthusiasm.

The movie is a mildly entertaining snapshot of the early Fifties, when America was still preoccupied with the war even while it was starting to focus its gaze on the changing relationship between the sexes.

In a film that could only be described as a recruiting film for the WAVES Esther Williams the star most associated with water joins the female navy along with shipmates Vivian Blaine and Joan Evans. It was perhaps inevitable that Esther eventually would get herself a nautical film.

Williams is a rich débutante who does things on whim and impulse and she left a bridegroom at the altar and joined the WAVES. The opposite happens to young Joan Evans as Keefe Brasselle joins the navy to follow her. As for wisecracking Vivian Blaine doing her Adelaide role again she decides to join to follow her not so faithful sweetheart Dean Miller.

Harry Warren and Ralph Blane wrote a rather undistinguished score for Skirts Ahoy. The best number was the interpolated Oh By Jingo sung and danced by guest performers Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van.

Barry Sullivan who is a fine actor definitely had no chemistry with Esther in this one. In her memoirs Esther said it was always hard to cast male co-stars opposite her as she was in the water and the males were out. Her swimming sequences as usual were well choreographed.

Skirts Ahoy is not at the top of Esther Williams films however.

Esther Williams is top-billed and dripping-wet as usual (an underwater ballet with two cloying kiddies is especially hard to take), but the truly frightening presence here is that of Vivian Blaine, fast on the heels of her Broadway triumph in "Guys and Dolls." She had been a likeable but unremarkable singer at 20th in the 40s, then "G&D" gave her a new persona in the character of Adelaide, the adenoidal, Brooklynese nightclub dancer. Here she's Adelaide in all but name, and her rambunctiousness makes Betty Hutton look timid. Her overemphatic line readings and hoydenishness quickly become wearing, but you don't forget her.

Esther, who sang acceptably and had a nice comic sense in addition to her aquatic gifts, is a gracious presence and has more to act than usual. Here she's a headstrong rich girl who learns humility--not exactly a fresh idea, but it's spun out gracefully by screenwriter Isobel Lennart, and given some appealing feminist filigrees. The songs are OK, second-lead Joan Evans is dull, and the nearly two-hour running time feels padded out, especially with a couple of specialty numbers thrown in. But it's a decent Technicolor time-passer, with all that postwar Hollywood patriotism that seems to be coming back in vogue.

this movie was a disaster.the plot if there was one was pathetic. considering that many name stars were in this film it is amazing that it could be done so poorly.if boot camp were this easy we would lose all future wars. do yourself a favor don't watch this or your review might be worse than mine. to call this movie bad would be too polite.

SKIRTS AHOY! (1952) is musical-comedy fluff aimed mostly at a female audience, but it's not too bad. It's pleasant enough and some of the songs by Harry Warren and Ralph Blane are fun ("What Makes a Wave?", "What Good Is a Gal?"). MGM's swimming superstar Esther Williams, "Guys and Dolls" standout Vivian Blaine, and Joan Evans join the Navy to escape their man troubles. Esther Williams performs a couple of dry-land musical numbers, but the script still finds time for her to visit the pool. In one scene she's accompanied by a couple pint-sized swimming prodigies (brother and sister Russell and Kathy Tongay). Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds, and Bobby Van make celebrity cameos.