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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Remake of " Whoopee", September 7, 2001
This film was Danny Kaye's first as a star for Goldwyn. Kaye plays Danny Weems, a hopeless hypochondriac who finds himself drafted into the army. While a passenger on an overseas transport ship, Danny is obliged to hide his girl friend Mary Morgan, who has accidentally stowed away on board, from the authorities. The plot (what there is of it) contrives to have Danny and Mary, together with Virginia played by the very talented Dinah Shore, who's in love with Danny, and Joe, who's in love with Mary, arrive simultaneously on the same South Sea island. After numerous comic and romantic complications, Danny emerges as the hero of the hour by capturing a whole bunch of Japanese soldiers. The film shows signs of post-production tampering-an offscreen narration, and abrupt ending-indicating. Despite its erratic editing and uneven scenario, Up in Arms contains some priceless moments, including Kaye's rapid-patter songs "The Lobby Number" and "Melody in 4F", both written by Sylvia Fine (Danny Kaye's wife) and Max Liebman. There are also a few cute "inside" jokes referring to the illogical nature of the plotline
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Movie, Absolutely Funny and Charming!, December 11, 2007
I first saw this film when I was a child and I fell in love with Danny Kaye! (Fraternally, of course, not romantically - not that there's anything wrong with that....) What a likeable, hilarious and talented performer! Watching Danny deal with his hypochondria is great. The Git-Gat-Giddit song is just uproarious. And the scene at the end with the zoot suits, the scat, and the great music/dance scene just make the movie end on a real high note. The whole thing is done tongue in cheek and it really works. Almost like a very early Monty Python film with out of place dream sequences and dance numbers. I just loved this one! Very entertaining. I hope it will be released on HD-DVD soon!
I don't know what the Amazon.com reviewer was thinking when he wrote:
"the film will nonetheless still have the politically correct police Up in Arms--the portrayals of the Japanese are stereotypical and cringingly embarrassing. Most notably forgettable is a scene in which Kaye's Danny Weems impersonates a Japanese officer and emerges a hero."
I am so sick of having decades old films measured by the politically correct standards of today. Let's face facts. The Japanese soldier of World War II was a fanatical and murderous piece of scum. Throwing Chinese babies onto bayonets, beheading American soldiers during the Bataan Death March, running concentration camps where soldiers and civilians were worked and starved to death, setting fire to sick and injured Filipinos in their hospital beds as the Japanese retreated from American forces liberating cities.... Do I really care if a movie made in 1944 while we were in the midst of the largest war in human history, fighting fanaticism and dictatorial abuse, portrays these murderous monsters in a "stereotypical and cringingly embarrassing" manner? Go jump off a cliff!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Century's Greatest All-Around Entertainer, October 11, 1999
Now that the year 2000 is upon us, it's quite arguable that Danny Kaye is perhaps the greatest all-around commedian and entertainer to grace the stage and screen in this century. While others could equal his performances in their own areas of specialty, Danny Kaye was a master of all of these specialties, singing, dancing, comic monologues, even romantic leads which were breathtakingly convincing and not forced. He could dance nearly as well as Astaire, was the equal of Durante in comic dialogues, could sing as well as any of the best popular vocalists of the day, and could do impersonations and accents in a way unsurpassed by anyone on the stage. He was as handsome as any leading man of the time and moved with incredible body grace. He was a joy to watch and Up in Arms was again, arguably, one of his best and funniest features. If such a competition exists, I'd be proud to nominate Danny Kaye as the best all-around entertainer of the Century. Frank Pierce
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