Customer Reviews

Pin Up Girl [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is WONDERFUL that FOX is releasing some Betty Grable movies once again...and finally on DVD!! "Pin Up Girl" was primarily a
follow up to the release of millions of copies of her famous pin up picture in 1943. It is a typical Fox Musical...with a large dash of vaudeville (roller skating specialties) and Our Betty playing a secretary (watch her take off her glasses and WOW just about everybody!)...who pretends to be a musical comedy star. There is A BIG NAME BAND and Betty dances with
Hermes Pan! O.K....we watch Betty because she is a great entertainer (and by popular demand, A PIN UP)...her films are
bright and colorful light entertainment. Betty suffers the
embarassment of plots that bring on migraine, but Betty is a
trouper. Bottom line: you will LOVE BETTY...not the movie. We can hope that this will triger the release of some of Betty's
films that have never been on video of any kind. I would really prefer to buy my Betty Grable movies from Fox than from mysterious people on e-Bay and I sincerely hope that this means we will soon be able to do that! Please bring us "Coney Island", "Sweet Rosey O'Grady", "The Dolly Sisters", "Mother Wore Tights"....and everything she made between 1950 and 1955.
Betty Grable was a wildly popular star. Some of her plots are
a little threadbare by now...but BETTY will always be THE WOMAN WE WON THE WAR FOR and a phenomenal popular entertainer. Thanks for bringing her back to us. THREE stars for the movie.
For BETTY: a THOUSAND!!

Grable plays Lorry Jones, a stenographer and part-time USO entertainer in this WWII flagwaver. Slight plot concerning fibber Lorry, who gets herself into all kinds of bother with her fancy tales. But she bites off more than she can chew when she upstages Martha Raye for the attention of Gaudalcanal hero John Harvey. An unlikely plot, but Grable's sense of comedy and some expert dancing - with Hermes Pan - gives it lift off. Good support from Raye and Joe E Brown. The finale must be seen to be believed! Grable as a drill sergeant? However it a a perfect piece of parade-ground marching and should be in every military manual! Great fun, if you ignore the plot.

PIN-UP GIRL isn't one of Betty Grable's better offerings; it was quickly thrown together to take advantage of Grable being the Number One pin-up girl during WW2 (hence the title). A very young Martha Raye gets a great supporting role as wisecracking Marian, and Betty Grable gives her all in the leading role.

Betty Grable plays Lorry Jones, a War Department typist who doubles as a USO entertainer desperate to hit the big time. Her penchant to tell tall tales lands her in all sorts of trouble as she fibs her way into the company of handsome war hero Tommy Dooley (John Harvey) by pretending she is a big musical star. Further complications arise when she is appointed as his secretary.

Not at all in the same league as the flashy SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES or MOON OVER MIAMI, the movie of PIN-UP GIRL absolutely pales in comparison. Betty Grable gives her usual ten-million-dollar performance and makes everything come together, but only just. Without her this movie would have never been made, it was tailored completely to her media profile at the time, and Grable fans are the only ones who will only really appreciate this movie.

Skewering her real life role of a pin up girl, this 1944 movie stars Betty Grable as Lorry Jones a pretty and feisty young girl who works for the USO and is heading for Washington DC. Aboard the train, a conversation with friend Kay (Dorothea Kent) reveals that the pair isn't headed for the USO, but will instead take jobs as stenographers.

On the way, the pair decides to visit New York, where they see Molly McKay (Martha Raye) flirting with Guadalcanal hero Tommy Dooley (John Harvey). Later, Lorry claims to know the hero to gain admittance to the packed Club Chanteuse. The Club itself is a grand affair; a huge swing band plays on a giant stage that stretches from floor to ceiling, whilst the actual show consists of singers, dancers and even roller-skating routine featuring the Skating Vanities!

When Tommy eventually turns up at the club, he is immediately besotted with the cute Lorry. But Molly - the real star of the Club Chanteuse - is secretly seething; she knows that Molly is a fake so she asks her sing a song from the show. Lorry gets back at Molly when she belts out the tune as if she sang it every night on stage, even with back up singers!

Lorry and Kay continue on their journey to Washington DC and eventually bump into Tommy who coincidentally is looking for a stenographer - of course he picks Lorry. Of course Tommy can't tell who Lorry is because she's wearing glasses and has her hair in a bun, and every time he looks at her, she's looking back at him with crossed-eyes!

The story is silly and trite and almost non-existent, and it's all merely an excuse for framing the elaborate musical numbers, which are centered on the three-tiered bandstands where Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra sit. Indeed most of the action takes place in the nightclubs where Lorry and Tommy mostly hang out.

Obviously made for all the GI's, the film has an innocent quality combined with a sort of fierce patriotism and you really get the sense that the film is pushing the merits of the allied war effort. There's no doubt that Grable is sparkling and bubbly and she does a good job with the singing and dancing, even though the role is a bit of a caricature. But you can easily see how much she contributed to the war effort.

It's interesting to watch films such as this - not just for the flashy musical numbers, which sometimes border in the gaudy, but also for the social relevance, and for the forties nostalgia.

Although Pin-Up Girl may not be the best example of a War musical - the film is slight and is basically restricted to the pattern of boy-meets-girl and they live happily ever after - it's still a welcome and harmless diversion - just like Betty Grable, with her long silken legs, was a distraction for lonely soldiers of World War II. Mike Leonard July 06.

This film, although not one of Grable's best, is still enjoyable. The plot is rather contrived, but is still humorous. Some of the songs are corny, but, again, they are still enjoyable. Due to advancing pregnancy, producers didn't want to use the "Song of the Very Merry Widow" routine. Instead they substituted one that consisted of Grable leading girls in complicated military marches. Although the finale leaves much to be desired, the film is still enjoyable and was a top money-maker at its time.

It's a shame that all the Fox musicals haven't been released on DVD, especially the gorgeous Technicolor titles featuring Alice Faye, Betty Grable and Carmen Miranda.
Most agree that this wasn't Betty's best film ... the ending is especially weak, although the all-girl marching routine is impressive. The commentary by noted film historian/critic Richard Shickel is not especially helpful and uninspired. His comments on Martha Raye and Joe E. Brown are good but he incorrectly states that this was their only film together ... wrong. They co-starred in "$1000 A Touchdown" for Paramount in 1939. And this was Raye's third film with Grable, which Shickel doesn't mention. He also passes up the fact that Raye was married to one of the dancing Condos Brothers in the movie. The notes in the colorful and well-designed DVD liner by film historian Sylvia Stoddard are much more fun and accurate.
The film transfer itself seems a bit on the dark side, but it's still gorgeous.
Thanks, Fox! As a Grable and Raye fan, I've waited for this for a long time!

The good news is that Fox finally released a Betty Grable musical on DVD, so I'm guessing fans are really happy about that. The bad news is that, as many have pointed out, they picked one of the worse. The reason seems pretty obvious: Grable is best remembered nowadays precisely for being a WWII "Pin-Up Girl" and, like when this film was first produced, the DVD makers are just banking on that. Betty Grable musicals were formulaic and not particularly sophisticated. They relied too heavily on her charms (and showing off her famous legs), but even her charisma cannot do much to save this movie. If you love Betty Grable no matter what, rejoice the fact that at least one of her musicals is on DVD, if not, then I suggest you skip this one and wait for the DVD release of one of her better movies.

Betty Grable may have been seven months pregnant when this picture wrapped; but she puts in a fine performance with this musical. She sings well and dances, too. Fox does a marvelous job of hiding the fact that she's pregnant. The plot is razor thin as it was with many musicals of its time; but again the singing and dancing are why people go to see musicals--and you won't be disappointed there.

Grable plays Lorry Jones, a carefree gal who promises her heart to a mere 500 men to make them happy since she figures she'll never bump into them again when World War II is over. Lorry goes to New York for a weekend romp with her friend Kay, played by Dorothea Kent, before the two have to report for their new jobs as stenographers at the Naval Department in Washington. Naturally, the moment the ladies hit New York things begin to happen--and fast. They see the famous war hero Tommy Dooley played by John Harvey at Grand Central Station and there's competition for him right from the start in nightclub singer Molly McKay who is played by Martha Raye. Eventually they all wind up in a nightclub as the romantic sparks begin to fly between Lorry Jones and Tommy Dooley. Several musical numbers later, along with some incredible dancing both on foot and on roller skates, Lorry and Tommy may actually have the chance at a longer term relationship--provided, that is, that Molly, a Marine and the other 499 men Lorry casually said she was engaged to don't get in their way.

As one reviewer notes, I couldn't help but compare this to the great MGM musicals of the day. The two numbers in which the two men tap dance are wonderful; and I also thoroughly enjoyed the colorful number where the beautiful dancing girls wear huge feathers of red, white and blue. However, Grable fans will be the ones who will be the happiest with this movie as it really doesn't quite measure up to other musicals--even the other musicals in which Grable starred while she was at Fox!

The cinematography reflects good judgment and forethought; the characters are well framed within the picture which gives this mid 1940s war time musical a rather "pure" and "conservative, going with the mainstream" quality. The choreography shines with each and every dance number; I believe that a great deal of work went into figuring out how to stage those musical numbers.

The DVD has a few extras worth noting: you get a deleted scene of Grable singing a song that was cut from the final production; and there is a commentary by Richard Schickel. There are trailers for this movie and three other Fox musicals, too.

After all is said and done, however, this is Betty Grable's movie; and Grable's fans will enjoy Pin-Up Girl the most. The plot is rather thin and the acting by John Harvey is nothing special; but Grable gives a solid performance. Fox takes great advantage of the fact that Grable WAS a "pin-up girl" in real life. If you like musicals you'll probably enjoy this one but rate it about a B+. However, true blue Grable fans will love every minute of this movie.

This film's finale is a staged rifle drill by dancing girls -- and they perform as well as almost any military unit you will ever see, with Betty Grable calling cadence. It's worth watching the entire film just to see them march.

This is a great film if you enjoy silly humor, musical comedy and hair brained high jinx. Betty Grable's character gets into the thick of it with this film when she and a girlfriend head off to Washington for a new start but like Bing Crosby gets talked into stopping in Vermont in White Christmas, Betty Grable convinces her girlfriend to stop in New York City.

After a few white lies the girls find themselves neck deep and more in trouble. If you enjoy classic musical comedies by entertainers such as Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire you'll laugh and sing along with Pin-Up Girl.