Customer Reviews

Up in Arms [VHS]

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

 

 

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

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!

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

Redheaded David Daniel Kaminsky became a well-known player along the "Borscht circuit" playing in the Catskills of upstate New York in the late thirties. Kaye later played in the successful Broadway show "Let's Face It" which co-starred Eve Arden and Vivian Vance in 1941. Goldwyn's faith in the 31 year-old Kaye was justified; the newly peroxided Kaye made his debut in this remake of Eddie Cantor's "Whoopee", and became a household name.Danny plays a confirmed hypocondriac who's so frightened of maladies that he's secured a job as the elevator operator in a medical building! The scene in the cinema lobby is brilliant and he's got the lovey Doris Dowling and the rather unphotogenic Dinah Shore around him while he wreaks havoc in this screwball comedy which made him an instant star.

If you love or loved Danny Kaye's zany face and body language, you will love the scene in which one of Danny's so-called buddies catches him using his record player ...I literally fell of the couch laughing and breathing heavy!

It sounds odd but we were the first family with a VCR (then called VTR I think) on our block. This was one of my favorite movies to watch again and again and memorize as a pre-teen who loved musicials growing up in the late 70's. The Movie Theater scene and the Performance for the Colonel are two of my favorite scenes. But I'm sure that I still have most of the scenes memorized. I loved his antics, charm and charisma and it was my first Danny Kaye movie I had ever seen. Went on to love "A Song Is Born" which is also NOT AVAILABLE on DVD. What can we do to get these classics out on dvd? I'm tired of watching the clips on [...]. Great movie (just don't get too caught up in the stereotypes as it is a pro-war movie of it's day). Dinah Shore's numbers are wonderful!

Up in Arms is very funny. It has all the wit and charm of the one and only original Danny Kaye.

Sam Goldwyn's lavish Technicolor musical, UP IN ARMS (1944) certainly looks good, but on the whole is not very satisfying. Danny Kaye plays an annoyingly speedy hypochondriac who likes to convince others that they're deathly ill with "ichthyo colitis," a fish disease. Oh yah, illness is always amusing.

There's not a single memorable song here and Danny's rapidfire scat number is the worst of them. Also, a full scale dream sequence zoot-styled dance number done on a floor covered in dry ice haze is spoiled because Kaye absolutely CANNOT dance. This elaborate piece needed the terpsichorean skills of Gene Kelly, not this spastic clown.

Finally, the story's just DUMB. Pain-in-the-neck Danny gets drafted and he drives everybody in the PTO (including his CO) nuts. Dinah Shore looks greasy here. There's no other way to describe it. Dana Andrews is under-utilized and the fourth part of their little circle, Constance Dowling is a cypher.

Other than the above.... great movie!
(It's no surprise that "Up In Arms" is not available on DVD.)

As for the rest of the cast-
Maggie Dumont's turn is (for her) uncharacteristically spirited. Elisha Cook Jr. appears, along with Louis Calhern, Benny Baker and Lyle Talbot. Uncredited cameo from Virginia Mayo.

This way Danny Kaye's first film. He is adorable as usual. The plot is simple, but enchanting. Danny is a person who is always thinking he is sick, so they enter him in the army. Dannyy in love with one girl, but she is in love with his best friend. But the best part of the film is when he preforms in a zoot suit with Dinah Shore. Also Virgina Mayo is an extra in this his first film. Great starter film!

This is only the second Danny Kaye film I have had the absolute pleasure of watching, and he certainly didn't dissappoint. The scene at the beginning of the film is fantastic, and Kaye's outstanding ability to tongue-twist as a song, mixed in a conversation is hilarious! It has a lovely plot and Kaye steals every scene, from his serious romantic side to his outrageous physical comedy. There are loads of brilliant one-liners in there from Kaye, and his character being a hypochondriac just adds to the enjoyment. If you haven't seen 'Up in Arms' yet, then what are you waiting for?