Anchors Aweigh (1945)

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Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Topic Started: Aug 22 2009, 09:50 PM (105 Views)
Laughing Gravy	Aug 22 2009, 09:50 PM Post #1
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra have four days of shore leave in Los Angeles, and have both fallen in love with Kathryn Grayson. It's gonna take more than 2 hours worth of singin' and dancin' to sort things out. Gene & Francis Albert made 3 films together; I'd only seen the last one, 1949's On The Town, which I love. (The second one is Take Me Out to the Ball Game; ain't seen it.) In any case, a young friend of mine was telling me how she was raised watching MGM musicals courtesy of her grandparents, whose favorite was Anchors Aweigh, which I'd never seen. So I promised her I'd watch it, and now I have. It's okay. I like Gene Kelly (Oscar nominee for this film) and his dancing a lot better than I like Frank and his crooning, and Miss Grayson's operetta singin' does nothing for me. The picture was nominated for five Oscars total, including Best Picture (it lost to The Lost Weekend) and won one for its score. Pianist/conductor José Iturbi plays himself, and he's great. Oh, yeah, and this is the picture in which Gene Kelly dances with Jerry the cartoon mouse, the best sequence in the film by far. There's a shocking lack of parenthood in this film, with young children (includng Dean Stockwell) wandering around apparently parentless for most of the film's running time. It's an okay movie, though, thanks to Gene's hoofin', mainly. Oh, and it's also a nice reunion of former Hal Roach comics: you'll find Edgar Kennedy (as a cop, naturally), Billy Gilbert, and Grady Sutton all lurking about.



Frank Hale	Aug 24 2009, 01:17 PM Post #2
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	Our situations are reversed: I’ve never seen On the Town or Ball Game. But I’ve seen Anchors Aweigh several times over the years and have gradually grown to loathe it. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps it's just too predictably slick in that ghastly Louis B. Mayer/MGM way. And certainly Frank Sinatra at this stage of his career is a problem. I agree that José Iturbi is great, though.



panzer the great & terrible	Aug 27 2009, 08:37 AM Post #3
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,351 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Okay is kind. Like the man said, the best sequence is Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the mouse, and it's being kind to call that "best." I'm with Frank. This is a creepy movie about an America that never existed except behind Louis B. Mayer's beady little eyes. It's impossible to believe that people ever behaved this way. If anybody in real life was as kittenish as Kathryn Grayson, do you think she wouldn't get laughed out of high school and be bitter and cranky? Agreed -- I loathe the movie.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Frank Hale	Aug 27 2009, 01:14 PM Post #4
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	It’s not only that Mayer’s America never existed, but that he personally was such a monstrous hypocrite at every level. DeMille, Jack Warner, and John Wayne in comparison were your favorite old uncles. I try to look at films as independent works, disregarding their literary sources, backstage problems, etc. etc.. But I find that very difficult to do with MGM pictures from this era. Congratulations to that young lady who can enjoy Anchors Aweigh without my cynicism.



Laughing Gravy	Aug 27 2009, 02:51 PM Post #5
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Well, y'know, maybe it's a culteral thing. Her grandparents were Filipino immigrants, and perhaps the story of sailors on the loose in town but eschewing their lusty pleasures to look after a runaway kid resonated with 'em. Or maybe they just liked Gene & Jerry hoofing. Who knows?



panzer the great & terrible	Aug 27 2009, 05:28 PM Post #6
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,351 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	True: I have a cynicism about my own culture that many folks who grew up under worse circumstances don't share -- I stand corrected and indeed humbled. The American Dream still exists for many, thank God, even if it doesn't for me.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


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