Three navy men run into a shady producer who convinces them to invest into his new show. When they meet the show's female star attraction, they're sold. Have they become the latest showbiz p... Read allThree navy men run into a shady producer who convinces them to invest into his new show. When they meet the show's female star attraction, they're sold. Have they become the latest showbiz players or just three more suckers?Three navy men run into a shady producer who convinces them to invest into his new show. When they meet the show's female star attraction, they're sold. Have they become the latest showbiz players or just three more suckers?
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- Writers
- Stars
- Marine
- (uncredited)
- Dancer
- (uncredited)
- Moss Hart
- (uncredited)
- Sailor
- (uncredited)
- Actor
- (uncredited)
- Nightclub Patron
- (uncredited)
- Director
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- All cast & crew
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Featured reviews
I don't love opera or the crooning. Otherwise, I'm fine with the songs. Nothing stands out. There is a basic problem with Choirboy. He has to be smart enough for the guys to trust him with their money. Yet, he's dumb enough to invest in a Broadway show. The solution should be that he's a finance nerd who falls head over heels for Penny. That's the sweet spot to hit. I can do without the black-face joke, but it's the 50's. The story is a mess and I don't care much about it. Gordon MacRae is still not star material as far as I'm concerned. I do love Jane Powell. All in all, this is a borderline musical.
Jack E. Leonard appears in his first film. A stand-up comic better known for his appearances on television variety shows like "The Mike Douglas Show" or "The Merv Griffin Show", Leonard displays great energy and a surprising lightness on his feet.
The film is about the evolution of a stage musical that is backed by some sailors (and later, some marines). It starts off as a dog, but eventually becomes a hit. The film takes a similar path; it is only in the final act that "Three Sailors" feels like a solid piece of entertainment.
Look for Merv Griffin himself as a sailor. Burt Lancaster contributes a comic cameo.
As musical comedies go, this film is a lightweight, but it has moments that are entertaining.
Most of the guys talk about living it up. That usually means a few nights of booze and girls, and then their money is all gone. But Choirboy Jones (Gordon MacRae) says he plans to invest his money to make it grow and amount to something. He said he's going to double - maybe triple his money, and he's heading for Wall Street. Well, it convinces a whole crew to chip in a chunk of their money for the same purpose. So, Choirboy is tabbed with two buddies, Twitch (Gene Nelson) and Porky (Jack E. Leonard) to invest a duffel bag full of dough -- $50,000.
But when they go to the top Wall Street investment firm of Morrow and Peabodu, they get sidetracked and conned into investing in a Broadway show. It happens to star a new singer, Penny Weston (Jane Powell), and a known actor, Emilio Rossi (played by George Givot). The original investor is Melvin Webster (played by Archer MacDonald) who wanted his play to be produced. His terrible plot is constantly being rewritten. After the promoter, Joe Woods (Sam Levene), gets into too many troubles, he sells the rights to the show to the guys. These musically talented gobs get more backing from the Army, the Air Force and the Marines, and put on a dazzling show. It all works out for the best in the end, and in a stroke of justice, Joe gets the show back and the boys double the money for the Navy guys.
There's lots of comedy, very good music and dancing and a nice romance in this film that people should still enjoy well into the 21st century. Watch for the Burt Lancaster cameo at the end. Here are some favorite lines.
Faye Foss, "Where would sailors get that kind of money?" Joe Woods, "How do I know? Maybe they're pirates."
Joe Woods, "We'll get married as soon as I get a hit. I wouldn't want a swell doll like you to marry a failure." Faye, "Oh, thanks."
Penny Weston, "But I wanna be an actress. I don't wanna make people like me just to get their money." Joe Woods, "Well, that's what every good actress does to every audience."
Melvin Webster, "Mr. Woods, I wrote a play about my childhood - a tragedy. You turned it into a musical comedy. Then you started changing scenes to get in stars. Now it's a ruin - no story, just scenes. We even have a scene of Shanghai to pay off the man who does your laundry."
Joe Woods, "Fail? Who said we failed?" Porky, "Just the audience and the critics."
**** Three Sailors and a Girl (11/23/53) Roy Del Ruth ~ Jane Powell, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, Jack E. Leonard
Otherwise the plot has some down and out producer suckering a country yokel out of a lot of money to produce his show. In the film, the yokel is a sailor played by Gordon MacRae with a stern sense of morality, rather unusual for someone in the Navy. The crew has been on active duty for almost a year and their back pay which they've been unable to spend amounts to a considerable nest egg. While on Wall Street looking for an investment, MacRae, Gene Nelson, and Jack E. Leonard run into producer Sam Levene and he gets the boys to invest in his show. And the attraction is leading lady Jane Powell who falls for Gordon big time.
No big hits come from the score written by Sammy Fain and Sammy Cahn, but the numbers are serviceable to the plot. MacRae and Powell make a good team musically, too bad they were at different studios and didn't do more films together, Powell was on loan from MGM. Gene Nelson was as always great in the dance numbers, I've said it before on other of his films I've reviewed, he came along ten years too late, what a really big dancing star he would have been.
Jack E. Leonard was an early version of Don Rickles. I remember seeing him many times on the Ed Sullivan Show as a kid. His character was interesting, but too bad we didn't get one of his insult monologues for which he was so famous.
Part of the plot involves MacRae taking over the show and making a holy hash of it and Jane Powell calling in George Abbott, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart to contribute their talents to save the show. The real people weren't in Three Sailors And A Girl, just actors playing them. But as the show originated with George S. Kaufman, had all these people put their talents into this film for real, we might have seen a real classic unfold.
The mind boggles at the possibility.
Did you know
- TriviaJane Powell's off-screen romance with Gene Nelson ended her marriage, but Nelson's wife refused to give him a divorce. Nelson directed Powell in a segment of the made-for-TV anthology movie Les lettres (1973).
- Quotes
Marine: [tapping him on the shoulder] Pardon me, Mr. Woods.
Joe Woods: [without turning round] Yeah?
Marine: I'm with the Marine outfit that's backing the show and I, I hear the Navy is taking your leading man tonight.
Joe Woods: Don't worry about it, I'll get another.
Marine: I know. That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Sir. You see, I was wondering if, maybe you could er... what I mean to say is, you see I used to be with the circus once and friends of mine think that I have great deal of, well I don't mean to sound conceited, I was...
Joe Woods: [he turns to look] Sorry son, I know talent the minute it taps me on the shoulder, you just ain't got it, Kid.
Faye Foss: Gosh, Joe, weren't you a little rough on that boy? I thought he had something.
Joe Woods: Kindest thing I ever did for him. Never get anywhere in this business. Looks too much like Burt Lancaster.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Des monstres attaquent la ville (1954)
- SoundtracksYou're But Oh, So Right
(uncredited)
Music by Sammy Fain
Lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, and Jack E. Leonard
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 35m(95 min)
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1