Customer Reviews

Skirts Ahoy [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Esther Williams AKA The Million Dollar Mermaid stars in this MGM musical where she among other young ladies join the Navy. Although this film wasn't on a high budget, done by a popular director, or had alot of popular actors, Esther uses her charm to pull the movie together and bring the classic boy meets girl story to life!

Esther plays Whitney Young who leaves her fiance at the alter and joins the Navy. There she meets two other young ladies who are also having trouble with love. One was left at the alter, and one just can't be in the right place at the right time.

They decide they want to travel the world and forget about men altogether, that is until Whitney meets and falls in love with her Lt. Commander. From then on, all she wants to do is win him over whatever the cost. The other two girls play out their own stories of how they find happiness.

No Esther Williams movie would be complete without a swimming scene, and this film is no exception. Esther joins two young children in the pool and creates a very cute performance with some great little swimmers complete with a toy ladder and sailboat.

Just when the girls think they are going to give up, each find their happiness in a corny, but almost tearful conclusion. I really enjoy this film when I want to get away from it all. Skirts Ahoy! may not have been a blockbuster hit, but it definitely is an enjoyable film that can be watched over and over again.

Skirts Ahoy! is an engaging and wholesome film for the entire family. It has romance, comedy, big stars, music, and patriotism!

Though this charming and genuinely entertaining tale of lovelorn naval waves was never a box office blockbuster, make no mistake, there were a lot of "heavy weights" attached to this picture. So...here is a little trivia lesson. In addition to the hugely successful stars of the day, Vivian Blaine, Debbie Reynolds, and Esther Williams,the M.G.M. box office queen at the time, Skirts Ahoy was produced by the hugely successful Joe Pasternak. Mr. Pasternak's eclectic productions range from "Jumbo" with Doris Day and Jimmy Durante to "Spinout" with Elvis Presley.

Mr Pasternak produced several films with Doris Day, who by the way, was another M.G.M. box office queen. Skirts Ahoy was directed by Sidney Lanfield, who would go on to direct T.V. classics like Burke's Law, McHale's Navy, and The Addams Family. The film's choreographer was Nick Castle. Castle choreographed many Martin and Lewis films in the 50's and nearly every Jerry Lewis movie in the 60's. Some of his T.V. credits include The Andy Williams Show and the pilot episode of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In!" Now, for the die hard trivia buffs...Nick Castle is the father of director Nick Castle Jr., whose films include The Boy Who Could Fly, The Last Starfighter, Dennis The Menace, and Mr. Wrong with Ellen Degeneres, to name a few. Castle Jr. is also the screenwriter of the futuristic cult film, "Escape From New York" directed by John Carpenter. Nick Jr. got his "break" in the business playing the psychotic killer, Michael Myers, also credited as "The Shape" in the break out horror film "Halloween", also directed by John Carpenter. So you see, this little sailor movie has some impressive roots!

My favorite scene in Skirts Ahoy is the Five DeMarco Sisters singing "What Good Is A Gal Without A Guy"

Are these girls gorgeous? Yes!

Is their harmony brilliant? Yes!

Am I prejudiced? Yes!

And why? Because I am proud to say that the Five DeMarco Sisters are my beautiful and amazingly talented mother and aunts.

Does that make my accalades any less true? No!

Take a moment and turn up the volume when my gloriously gifted family sings "The Navy Waltz" with the Men's Chorus, if this harmonious nod to our service men and women does not stir your soul, then call the ship's doctor...cause you got heart trouble!

The DeMarco Sisters have a new CD entitled "It's Been A Long, Long, Time". This CD features 29 fantastically arranged songs with a pure and powerful harmonic sound that will leave you breathless! A sound that my brother Stephen and my sister Jamie were privileged to enjoy for many years.

To wrap up my review...add Skirts Ahoy to your film library. It's a nifty, naval, musical that will take your cares AWEIGH!

LISA BRANDI (Daughter of Anne DeMarco)

This movie isn't terribly accurate as to actual Boot Camp life, but it was filmed at Great Lakes Naval Station about 10 years before I was stationed there in 1962-3. The barracks, the furnishings, everything in the background shots look just the way they did when I was there. I thoroughly enjoy this movie everytime I watch it just for the memories!

First saw this movie while in WAVE Boot Training, Fall 1952, at Bainbridge NRTC. How we laughed at what was supposedly bootcamp! My fondest memory, the talent show, with the songline "You Gotta give me Water, 'Cause a Whole lot of water makes a WAVE!" A fun reminder of those days.

It is hard to find movies that you can trust showing to your children. Besides it being a fun movie, I was stationed at GLAKES Naval Station where it was filmed 10 years previously and it brings back lots of old memories.

I grew up knowing many of the old classics. This one has to be a top 10 on the list! I bought it for my mom and we never stop watching it. Any movie with Esther Williams is a classic time piece that should be in your home!

This film contains the single attempt of MGM to bring Billy Eckstine to the silver screen, though the plot line stalls and the dialogue is silly, Mr "B" delivers a true knockout punch in his scene as a night club singer. His appearance onsreen equals majesty.

This movie is a wonderful look at an era gone by. Esther Williams shows her wonderful since of humor and beauty in this fun filled movie. Look for the wonderful song "What goods a girl without a Guy!?" The music in this movie is timeless and fun for the entire family. END

A FANTASTIC MOVIE... which I first seen as a young man in Hollywoods Golden Years the 1940 s.... so for I have managed to source 160 of these musicals, my wife & me, LOVE THEM.... were in our 80th years... but films like this make you feel young again...

All these Musical STARS were dynamic personalities in real life: I am speaking from my experiences, I spent Forty years CHASING MOVIE STARS... as a living & hobby,

I visited very... very many of them out in California... and it was beyond my wildest dreams meeting them....

I eventually wrote a book about my experiences, entitled HIGHWAY TO HOLLYWOOD,

it contained 1200 photographs and 500 pages... all factual stories.

This was my tribute to them STARS who treated me as a STAR..

I met Esther Williams in London at a Funds raising Dinner in 1999, along with a huge contingent of MGM STARS .... what a nite to REMEMBER......

Why do they not make such films anymore? I am sick of the , explicit language and violence with gore most films have as a routine these days.