The Yanks Are Coming

Hollywood musicals were usually the domain of studios like MGM and Twentieth-Century Fox, occasionally studios like RKO or Warner Brothers made one. However, the so-called 'Poverty Row Studios' rarely tried this genre--mostly because this was way outside their usual range of pictures. Usually these ultra-low budget studios specialized in B-movies--westerns, comedies, mysteries and adventure stories. However, this is an odd case where a Poverty Row movie studio (PRC) tried to make a musical--an idea that was doomed from the start not only because it was outside their scope but because PRC made many, many god-awful films! So, the fact this film stank came as no surprise to me! The film starts on a very false note. A famed celebrity talks about quitting the business and enlisting in the military now that the US was involved in WWII. In fact, this was VERY common among the Hollywood elite--tons of them joined at that time. So, when the guy talks about joining and one of those he tells openly derides this and calls him stupid for joining, you know this is ridiculous. Such anti-patriotic sentiments may have existed at the time, but frankly, saying them so loudly might have gotten your teeth kicked in at this those around you!! NO ONE would have said anything so overtly anti-war at that time...no way. This scene was obviously meant as propaganda and came off as fake...and stupid, as WWII was very popular at home. It simply was the thing to do...period and this guy's anti-American effort routine throughout the film was just dumb.

The rest of the film is a bit like "Buck Privates"--except with a lot more singing and no comedy. I think they DID intend for it to be a musical-comedy...but it wasn't funny. The closest to this was when one soldier said that the other looked like Maxie Rosenbloom--at which case the other got angry like it was an insult--insisted he didn't--yet this guy really was Maxie! Overall, the film featured adequate acting (and no better), a poor script and bad songs (though a couple of them COULD sing well). It's the sort of schmaltzy patriotic stuff that audiences ate up at the time but plays rather poorly today.

This is a musical - sorta. It portrays the adventures of a Broadway actor and songwriter who wants to serve his country - Over There - but is too old to be enlisted in the army. So he finds his own way of going about it.

It's really a fun film to watch, but in 2005 maybe more for the weirdish anthropology than for anything else. In the introduction the voice over talks about how "when people get too cocky and sloppy with their flag waving, some other nation will eventually come along to prove how necessary it really is to wave flags" - or something to an equally nationalistic effect. Also, the time colorite is priceless, there's a scene with some youngsters who can't even be communicated with because of their constant breaking in to jive. Also, if you're in to marching bands, this should be your choice for the evening.

This movie was made when everyone loved the United States. Young people should just watch the first few minutes and then rush off to their safe spaces.