Navy Blues (1941)

[Swithin]

I've been a huge fan of Navy Blues since it played on Million Dollar Movie when I was a wee lad. It's a musical comedy about sailors and girls in Waikiki in 1941. Of course there was a little problem related to the fact that a comedy about sailors in Hawaii that opened in September 1941 was never going to be a huge success, but it more than broke even. (Follow the Fleet was also on Million Dollar Movie. Both films made me want to join the Navy, when I was about five years old.)

The film stars Jack Oakie, Jack Haley, Ann Sheridan, Martha Faye, Herbert Anderson, Jack Carson, and, in his first movie, Jackie Gleason as Tubby; and of course the Navy Blues Sextet. Directed by Lloyd Bacon. The songs by Arthur Schwartz and Johnny Mercer are very good, particularly the title number and "In Waikiki," which is sung by Ann Sheridan in a grass skirt, in one of my favorite musical scenes of all time.

Oddly, Arthur Schwartz and Johnny Mercer are not credited in the film's entries on Wikipedia or IMDB.

"You can make a comfortable living, from the things you fish from the sea,
You can get a lot without giving, in Waikiki."

[TikiSoo]

I always thought this movie standout too. Especially enjoy Martha Raye-who knew she was such a great singer?