Anchors Aweigh (1945)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

As Good As It Gets

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

If you get Anchors Aweigh, On the Town, and Take me out to the Ball Game confused, you're not alone. After all, two are about sailors on leave, two feature Betty Garrett and Jules Munshin, and all three musicals star Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra! Anchors Aweigh features songs from Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, but the most famous musical number from this film is the dance duet of Gene Kelly and Jerry the mouse. You've probably seen this dance included in famous film montages, but when you watch the entire movie, try and put yourself in 1945's place. What a thrill—and what special effects!—to see Gene Kelly dance with half of Tom and Jerry! It was pretty spectacular, and it remains one of his most famous dances.The plot follows two sailor buddies on leave; they want to see the sights and the girls, but when they both start to fall for the same girl, there's a problem. Adorable Kathryn Grayson is the center of the love triangle, but while she gets to sing a couple of songs, it's Gene Kelly who stands out in this campy, happy-go-lucky, pro-soldier, post-war, silly musical.If you don't think you can sit through all of it—because you're not a die-hard Gene Kelly fan, or you'd rather watch a Frank Sinatra movie where he actually acts—at least watch the cartoon dance number. It's adorable.

Surprisingly, I loved this movie. I'm not huge on musicals, but this movie was done incredibly well. Clarence and Joe were so lovable and such a great duo together. Donald was adorable and really pulled at my heartstrings. The kindness and silliness of Joe and Clarence as a pair was refreshing and I had a smile on my face the ought the entire movie. The songs were fun and light, and I think that's such a great thing to add to movies filmed during this time period. War was so embedded in the every day lives of people, it must've been a nice relief to enjoy leisure time and see a different side of the war- and how soldiers were real people too, and wanted the war to be over more than anyone. I also especially loved the high angles and panning of all of the pianists playing their piano on the stage towards the end of the film, it was a beautiful touch.

Anchors Aweigh is the first film of the Frank Sinatra-Gene Kelly trilogy, tapping into classic Hollywood musicals odd fascination with sailors. It wouldn't be the last time Kelly or Sinatra would play a sailor and what an underrated comedic duo they are. Gene Kelly is loveably egocentric, constantly lying about his exploits with dames and rubbing the fact that he got leave in his comrades' faces so much that he sings a musical number about it; the interactions he shares with Sinatra are priceless. Reportedly Kelly was known in real life for being a control freak and getting his own way, so I wonder how much of his personality is reflective in his performance. Frank Sinatra is largely the opposite of Kelly, girl shy and completely gawky, a stark contrast to what he later became; he sure toughened up over time. Anchors Aweigh can around the beginning of new era of film musicals, at a time when the genre became almost exclusively one filmed in colour and when the distinctive style of the MGM musical took off, separating them from the likes of the Astaire & Rodgers musicals of the past. Unlike Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly was off the people, usually playing commoners on screen. Fred Astaire did play a sailor in Follow the Fleet but no doubt Gene Kelly suits it better.Perhaps the film's best highlight is Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry of Tom & Jerry fame. It might not be as technically advanced or as smoothly animated as later live action/animation hybrids but it's one of the most awe inspiring. They animators even make note to include Jerry's reflection in the floor. The studio originally wanted Disney to allow them use of Mickey Mouse for the number, which seems very hard to believe. The inclusion of some very Disney looking animated creatures, including two which look suspiciously like Bambi and Thumper, suggests the studio was serious about including Mickey.The other unique aspect of Anchors Aweigh is the documentary like look at MGM studios in 1945 during one portion in the film. A peak at the dream factory itself, with people in costume, props everywhere and what look like studio workers in suits going about their business. It's unabashed self promotion but hey, it's one entertaining commercial. This use of on location filming including the scenes as the Hollywood Bowl show shades of what was come several years later in On the Town. I do wish they though could have shown some more of 1945 Hollywood but the sets present in Anchors Aweigh are something to marvel at. Even with the odd background which is clearly two painted backdrops placed side by side with a dividing line clearly visible, the sets create a cartoon like Technicolor world that you wish real life could look like; just look at that set of the Spanish part of town; such artificial beauty. The only downside to Anchors Aweigh which prevents it from being a greater film is the run time and much of this is largely due to the amount of which is spent in the house of Kathryn Grayson's character; I really started to get sick of the sight of it, especially since the movie takes place in Hollywood and there are places so much more interesting they could be. The characters keep returning to the house several times throughout the movie, which wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't for the large chunk of time that was spent there when they first arrived at it; by far the most frustrating aspect of the film. Thankfully the good outweighs the bad and the good isn't just good, it's amazingly good. There's really no dud musical number present, they're all so very, very beautiful.

While Broadway was singing "New York, New York" with Leonard Berntein's hit musical "On the Town", MGM paid tribute to itself with this story of two sailors finding romance in tinsel town rather than the Big Apple. Of course, the same two stars, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, would do tribute to Manhattan just four years later with equal success, even if in retrospective, that movie musical is a shell of its Broadway self. In the case of "Anchor's Aweigh", shy Sinatra is looking for a girlfriend, assisted by outgoing Kelly, and they both find love with classic aria singer Kathryn Grayson and the more gregarious Pamela Britton. Grayson is hoping for a screen test with orchestra leader Jose Iturbi to work both at Carnagie Hall and to appear in an MGM musical, so this gives the boys of the story an entrance to the Culver City lot where dreams are made.The story is slightly overlong, but simple, and it is presented in the most beautiful and lavish light, typical MGM gloss with high-end production values and an animation sequence that is today considered one of the classic moments of world cinema, let alone the American movie musical. That segment has Gene Kelly in a kingdom ruled by Jerry the Mouse, an unhappy monach who has forbidden singing and dancing because he believes he can't do it himself. Gene bounces Jerry off his ample muscles and they do some moves which are straight out of the much later break dancing. As seen in lush Technicolor, this segment is out of this world and a shear delight.The beautiful Kathryn Grayson sings a lovely rendition of "Jealosy", and while her acting would improve in time, it is her singing here that you will remember. Sinatra introduced the standard "I Fall in Love Too Easily", and gets to do a duet ("I Begged Her") with Gene on a naval base, showing his dancing chops in this, his first MGM musical. A highlight of the film which hasn't gotten its due is a rendition of "The Mexican Hat Dance" where Gene performs with an adorable little girl, Sharon McManus (obviously not Mexican) in what appears to be set on Olivera Street in downtown L.A. The Freed unit, the leader in MGM musicals, ironically, didn't produce this one; Joseph Pasternak, who produced a series of Deanna Durbin musicals at Universal and later most of Grayson and Jane Powell's operatic films, was responsible, with George Sidney as director. To say they don't make em' like this anymore is a true understatement.