john5th

This is a breezy musical about the housing shortage in wartime America, circa 1944. As usual Jane Frazee is a delight to watch and listen to and here she is paired with the female Jerry Colonna, Vera Vague as the work/roommate. Rosie and her pal squabble with two guys over the only remaining boardinghouse room in town and Rosie, after "working overtime on a B-19" down at the plane factory, eventually warms up to Frank Albertson (not your typical young juvenile lead, this was wartime after all) and everything works out for the big finale sung at the work site. Three or four nice tunes and some light comedy (a couple of very funny moments - all the teenagers seem to be a lot more mature about their romantic relationships than the adults and they stay up all night doing the conga!)make this an easy hour to pass.

Tahiti Honey is a modestly entertaining and typical Republic musical with some tired shtick and a slightly irritating plot line BUT - Thanks to the beautiful face and singing voice of Simone Simon and the always deft comedic timing of Dennis O'Keefe it is all pleasantly watchable. Simon pretends to have an injured boyfriend named Johnny in the American military and she tags along with the members of a swing band (The Tahitian Bombshells, The Russian Bombshells etc.) led by Dennis O'Keefe who begrudgingly aids in the deception. Though he plays gruff, O'Keefe is falling for Suzy (Simon) and who in their right minds wouldn't? Ridiculous plot contrivance arrives when Tim Whelan (remember Shirley Temple's Dad in Poor Little Rich Girl?) shows up out of nowhere and he is (!) an injured American flyer named Johnny who swears he saw Simon's face (though he never met her before) before being injured and temporarily blinded. Wow! What really is memorable in this short film is the very fun music, especially the excellent title song (which you will never get out of your head),another great ballad called You Could Hear a Pin Drop and the amusing novelty numbers. Not for everybody but if you like attractive escapist hokum then "Take Tahiti Honey"!

Despite contrary opinion this film is unchallenging fun, great entertainment and a wonderful showcase for the kind of show biz performance that is all but gone today. Eleanor Powell is very funny as a stunt crazy publicity agent who for starters fakes getting shot during her own show! She competes with partner Dennis O'Keefe (also very good as the son of the agency owner) to bring in bigger and better clients. In the process of lining up acts and artists we see a huge production number called Circus In The Sky featuring Sammy Kaye and his band and a host of circus acts all at the top of a skyscraper. Another hare-brained scheme results in a wonderful Cab Calloway number called Hepster's Dictionary that is projected on to the side of a building in Times Square, naturally resulting in the arrest of Ms. Powell. Other highlights include Powell dressed as a pinball(!) dancing in a giant pinball machine set, an odd dance with a horse as partner, 2 numbers by the the inimitable Sophie Tucker and the always funny W.C.Fields. For a glimpse at the last gasp of Vaudeville, an era when down-on-their-luck actors could trust their memoirs to a PR agent, enjoy the very unique Sensations of 1945.