Seven Days' Leave (1942)

You won't be disappointed!

Pretty Good

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Blistering performances.

Copyright 13 November 1942 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York release at the Capitol: 10 December 1942. U.S. release: 15 October 1942. Australian release: 14 October 1943. Copyright length: 87 minutes. Australian length: 8,019 feet. 89 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Soldier needs to marry socialite within seven days to get $100,000 inheritance.COMMENT: Not a highly-rated musical by most critics, but I found it vastly entertaining. Its fast-paced highjinks are of special appeal to nostalgia radio buffs: Harold Peary does his Gildersleeve - complete with fatuous giggle - and the script takes in no less than two radio shows, including the hilarious "Truth Or Consequences",As for the songs: Beyond an obviously dubbed voice handling Mature's chores as a crooner, there's a great line-up including Ginny Simms' "Can't Get Out Of This Mood" - a wonderful solo number which is then delight¬fully reprized by Marcy McGuire and Arnold Stang. Miss McGuire (who is supposedly a puckish sixteen but actually looks somewhat more mature) also has the delightfully zesty "Touch Of Texas" song and dance. The dances themselves are most energetically staged - and here Mature is in unbelievably rhythmic form, particularly in the rousing opener, "Please Won't You Leave My Girl Alone?", which is lavishly reprized at the conclusion by the whole cast.As if this were not enough, both Les Brown's and Freddy Martin's Orchestras strut their stuff; and there's also an hilarious spoof contributed by Lynn, Royce and Vanya of the de rigeur nightclub number of numerous "B" musicals where a top-hatted Fred Astaire second-rater whirls a girl around the dance-floor for an inordinate amount of cheap footage. If these skillfully mistimed acrobatics don't raise a few laughs, Peter Lind Hayes is on hand with some maliciously accurate Ronald Colman, Lionel Barrymore and Charles Laughton impersonations.You would think there was not much left for Miss Ball to do, but as usual she proves herself an expert comedienne, handling both slapstick and wit with equal dexterity - and so attractively photographed and costumed as to make Mature's interest totally believable. Her "punishment" on "Truth Or Consequences" is a gem.Anyone who fails to be entertained by at least some aspect of this film is mighty hard to please. I liked it all, just about. True, the fast gallop slows to a canter now and again, but Tim Whelan is as sure-footed a director as they come. All told, Seven Days' Leave is breezy, zestful, escapist, nostalgic if juvenile entertainment, presented with craftsmanship and style, and enacted by a marvelous cast.Mature joined the Coast Guard for the duration of the war after this one. An amiably dashing fellow when he was young, Mature had an unexpected gift for tongue-in-cheek. Alas, when he returned to Hollywood in 1946 he began to take himself all too seriously. Producers obliged by casting him as Doc Holliday, Samson, Demetrius, Horemheb, Chief Crazy Horse, Zarak Khan, Kasim Khan, Hannibal, etc. His talent for self-parody was not utilized again until After the Fox (1966).

ONCE AGAIN WE bring you a picture to be reviewed that we should have done some time ago. In fact, we did believe that we had done this for SEVEN DAYS LEAVE (RKO Radio Oictures, 1942), but we must have confused this with another Service Comedy. (I think it was DONDI.) ANYWAY, THIS MOVIE stands out as being quite unique, difficult to classify and definitely custom tailored to a United States just entering World War II. From beginning to end all of the action takes place in NYC with a gang of newly trained, uniformed Soldiers. But it is far, far away from any Theatre of War. It would appear that it is a sort of 'Bachelors Party' for the Military.THE CAST OF this one features so many of the performers who were popular at this time. This featured group was not only made up of film actors; but who was on top of his game in Music, Theatre, Vaudeville and Radio. So, we had a healthy helping of the varying musical talents of Les Brown, Freddy Martin, Mapy Cortes, Ginny Simms and the eccentric dance team of Lynn, Royce & Vanya.FROM THE WORLD of big time Network Radio, we see Ralph Edwards & Company recreate a broadcast of TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES. The 'show' interestingly enough includes the pre-show warm-up and 'selection' of contestants.AND THOSE CONTESTANTS were the co-stars Lucielle Ball & Victor Mature. For the muscular Mr.Mature, this was a radical departure from his other roles that he would play. His 'Johnny Grea' proved that he could handle comedy, as well as his greatly varied characterizations in ONE MILLION B.C., KISS OF DEATH and SAMSON & DELILAH.OF COURSE THE co-star, Lucielle Ball was smooth in her performance; which was more of a straight role. This was long before she had become both a Redhead, as well as being 'Lucy Recardo.' THE VERY TALENTED Peter Lind Hayes made a rare film appearance as a sort of second banana to Victor Mature; giving him ample screen time to both do some great comic bits and to display his abilities as an impersonator of well known actors Ronald Coleman, Lionel Barrymore and Charles Laughton.THE PICTURE SERVED to introduce to two others, now familiar to several generations since. The first was Harold Peary, from THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE show (a spin off from FIBBER McGEE & MOLLY). The powers that be at RKO thought that including GILDERSLEEVE would be a draw. (Well, Schultz, we can't say we disagree.) THE OTHER PERFORMER bowing in his first flick was Arnold Stang. Small, be-speckled and speaking in a near slur, he would have a long and highly visible career on Radio, TV, the Movies and in commercials. His tag-line of "Chunky! What a chunk o' chocolate!", can still be heard reverberating across the years! (in our minds) THE STYLE OF acting in use here would appear to be a throwback to an earlier era. it is very much like that used in Vaudeville, Burlesque and in the Silent Movies. The overdone expressions and held poses would seem to suggest a kinship with both Newspaper Comic Strips and the popularity of the Comic Book; which had only recently emerged as a force in publishing.AT THE CONCLUSION of this Comedy-Musical fun fest, we have the women now in uniform seeing off the soldiers on a troop transport; which was heading into a true Theatre of the War. It didn't matter either.THE FRIVOLITY WAS now over and was replaced with the grim realities of combat.

This film is a most interesting and intriguing cultural document: it was released in November of 1942, or less than a year after the attack at Pearl Harbor. As most any person who paid attention in their American history class might know, the first year of the declared war against Japan, Germany and Italy did NOT go very well for the United States. Aside from the shocking losses sustained by the fleet at Pearl Harbor and by the Army Air Corps units there, and the deaths of civilians on Hawai'i, there was the slow-moving disaster in the Philippines as the Japanese forces invaded, and rolled up the resistance. U.S. and Philippino losses in that first year of the war were heavy, and the treatment of the prisoners of war there was shocking and brutal, and fairly well-known before 1945.Watching this film, now, some sixty-four years later, one almost gets the sense of this being a "mockumentary." Of course, it isn't. It's a romantic comedy. But Victor Mature and his Army buddies are entirely too happy for newly minted soldiers facing the grim reality of mortal combat.This film is a goofy, confusing and fast-paced romantic comedy. It has some nice comedic moments but the true value of this film fiction lies in the romantic music and in the performance of Lucille Ball.Personality wise, Victor Mature comes off as being kind of ... cheesy ... which is unfair because many people who have considered his entire career find in him an actor capable of subtle and nuanced performances. He could and did play 'noble and heroic' types and he could also be the less-than-acceptable Cad & Bounder. In this film he's a high-voltage goof-ball surrounded by screwball types.Film buffs who do not know much about cinema productions made during the war really ought to make it their mission to see this film the next time it comes around on Turner Classic Movies. It is fun, in the aforementioned goofy way, Ms. Ball scintillates, and the singing of Ginny Simms and the big band music is exceptional, truly exceptional.Some day, some day soon, hopefully, some august person will write a dissertation or a pop culture book on the subject of ...Where Did Rock & Roll Go Wrong ? Looking back at Bill Haley & The Comets, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, the doo-wop era and the blues-oriented vocal groups of the 1950s, most anyone can see that rock & roll music grew out of the "swing" movement in the big band era. But what happened to the genius deployed in the big band styles ? How could it have become obsolete so quickly ? Was it "television" that killed the big bands ?? Get a load of the song stylings in this peculiar film, crafted, clearly crafted, as a form of 'feel good' entertainment for the home-front at a time when the news was bad, grim and getting grimmer, and most anyone will have to ask -- where did all those brilliant singers go ??? This is a good film and got a six, but only because the plot is entirely paper-thin. But that didn't stop either Ball or Mature from hamming it up and having a very good time on the silver screen.

Glamorous WW2 comedy is an RKO fest of musical talent with believe it or not, those contract singing and dancing stars Lucille Ball and (yikes!) Victor Mature! He even sings with someone else's baritone too! It is like seeing GlennClose and Sylvester Stallone in a remake of HIGH SOCIETY...or maybe even Jungle Jim and Betty Grable in an imitation PHILADELPHIA STORY. It is an assembled musical with familiar but oddly placed actors and sets: RKO musicals of the 40s had MGM production values but with Republic talent. They have superb art direction and music but somehow out of place actors. HIGHER AND HIGHER is like this: lavish mansions with beautiful furniture and chandeliers, big orchestras, patios, modern nightclubs etc.....and then all these un-together actors placed in roles you might feel better if MGM or Paramount stars were there instead. Lucy is exceptionally beautiful in this film and dressed to impress. Marcie Gray, that teenage Shirley Temple of hep and jive is along for the dancing and comedy as well...so it looks totally like out-takes or a rehearsal for HIGHER AND HIGHER even more so. Good music and fun and quite expensive looking, SEVEN DAYS LEAVE is a patriotic musical of its day...but with Lucy and Victor? It all works in spite of itself.