Customer Reviews

Give Me a Sailor [VHS]

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This is a fairly entertaining musical farce which concerns a love triangle involving two pairs of siblings. Bob Hope and Jack Whiting are fellow officers in the Navy who meet Betty Grable and Martha Raye while on leave. Whiting falls for Grable, but Raye is smitten with Whiting, while Hope wants Raye and Whiting to get together so he can worm his way into Grable's good graces. Hope coaches Raye on how to get Whiting hooked, but nothing seems to happen until a photograph of Raye accidentally turns up in a "best legs" contest...Raye garners a lot of attention from the the picture and her loud, obvious yet entertaining personality finally wins over Whiting. The finale has Hope and Raye go down the aisle in a double wedding with Whiting and Grable. Raye is quite funny wearing a hardened facial mask which is hard to crack!

This has to be my all-time favorite Bob Hope movie. I could watch it over & over...it's been the background flick of choice for while housework gets done for some time now. Humor, plot, humor again. If you like Bob Hope, you'll love this movie.

A fine example of screwball farce, SAILOR showcases the unique and variegated talents of irrepressible Martha Raye as one of a pair of Larkin sisters, each of whom is after one of a pair of U. S. Navy Brewster brothers, and the question soon arises as to which of the possible pairings will ensue. Paramount, developing a Bob Hope/Raye team, casts Hope in his third feature for the studio as Jim Brewster, with Jack Whiting as brother Walter, each angling for the glamourous one of the Larkins, Nancy (Betty Grable), a competition which began when all four were youngsters. Raye portrays Nancy's sister Letty, who has agreed to assist Jim in garnering her sister's affection in return for his aid in winning the heart of Walter who is ignorant of the machinations about him, none of which is terribly complex for what is, after all, a musical comedy. Raye performs one of the five Ralph Rainger/Leo Robin songs, as does Grable (with Whiting), but it is Letty's gorgeous legs that win for her first prize in a national photo contest, ironic in light of Grable's pinup popularity, due to her own shapely stems, with American fighting men during World War II. Walter eventually notices Letty because of her new celebrity status, and the usually rather rambunctious singing comedienne has an opportunity to show him why he is mistaken in preferring her sister. Of the three films which Raye and Grable made together, this is perhaps the most blithe, and a scene wherein Letty uses overmuch facial masking which hardens to her deliciously acted consternation, draws gales of laughter wherever the picture is shown. Although we find Hope playing second lead to Raye, he plays his part with his normal aplomb and his comedic timing is impeccable as always, although his ad libbing is minimal. Leroy Prinz is responsible for the interesting choreography, and a splendid novelty scene has Grable singing "What Goes On Here In My Heart" while dancing with a collection of eager-to-please partners. Clarence Kolb, as the commanding officer of the Brewsters, is impressive as ever, and Director Elliott Nugent is able to call upon his father J.C. to perform as the Larkins' sire. Consistent with the director's customary panache and rapid pacing, SAILOR offers many treats, musical and otherwise, with the important editing function neatly handled by the generally overlooked William Shea.

Typical zany 30s comedy tailored to the talents of Bob Hope and Martha Raye. Martha plays a homebody who enters a cake-making competition, but inadvertendly a photograph of her legs is also sent with the cake! Guess what! Martha loses the baking prize but ends up winning the Most Beautiful Legs competition.

But it is nice to see Betty Grable (who plays Martha's young sister) in her pre-stardom days, giving us a preview of what was yet to come. She was maturing nicely - without any mention of her celebrated legs. She sings and dances "What Goes on Here in My Heart" to the backing of Jack Whiting's Orchestra.

Bob and Martha have some fine comedy moments, but Betty is cast here in a strangly unsympathetic role. However all ends happily - as they did in those crazy Thirties comedies. Screwball fun.