El amor lo vence todo

During WWII, Warner Brothers made several films which were a combination of a showcase for the various talent at the studio as well as a chance to bolster the war effort. These films had very little in the way of plot and featured lots of cameos as well as singing and dancing. They were entertaining but rather shallow entertainment. Here with "Starlift", Warner has resurrected the old formula and updated it for the Korean War.

The film begins with two soldiers insinuating themselves into the lives of a couple famous Warner stars--Doris Day and Ruth Roman. The pushy soldier does this by pretending that his buddy is friends with Nell Wayne* and the two ladies offer to bring them back to their hotel to see Nell. There, the guys meet James Cagney and Nell--but Nell is confused--who are these guys? Well, by now, Ruth and Doris really like the two guys and although they DON'T know Nell, they agree to accompany them back to the base to meet the rest of the fellows. There, the stars agree to put on a USO-type show for the men. What follows are mostly song and dance routines as well as a disappointing plot involving Nell and one of the soldiers. I say disappointing because it went from kind of cute at first to strange and confusing--and unsatisfying. And, considering that the film is really just a showcase for their talent, this might explain the weakness of the plot.

By the way, among the man soldiers in the film you will probably notice Jack Larson. Jack played Jimmy Olsen in "The Adventures of Superman".

*I have no idea why Janice Rule is called 'Nell Wayne' in this film. Perhaps the studio was considering using this moniker for her but soon dropped it. However, apart from Miss Rule, the rest of the stars go by their own familiar names. I was a bit confused by this--especially since the film acted like 'Nell Wayne' was an established star and I'd never heard of her before this!

I recommend this film despite the low rating. Though it is saddled with a simple story and it has a disjointed narrative, it features a plethora of stars and some memorable moments.

The story revolves around a base where military personnel wait for deployment in the Korean conflict. Some Warner Brothers stars (e.g. Doris Day, Ruth Roman, and Gordon MacRae) who play versions of themselves entertain the troops there. The story eventually settles into a plot about an Air Force crewman who is a hometown acquaintance of star Nell Wayne (Janice Rule). But just as that story becomes interesting, it shifts to another, unrelated musical performance.

But some of those vocal performances are very enjoyable, especially those by Day and MacRae. Jane Wyman also sings. Look for the dancing of Janice Rule. And Virginia Gibson, who performs as a saloon girl in a musical number featuring Gary Cooper and Phil Harris that is very entertaining.

Addendum 10/20/23: Among the many beauties in the film, watch for Patrice Wymore., a knockout who taps and sings with an all-girl band. Patrice was married to Errol Flynn until his death.

If you want to see all of the Warner Stars from 1950 - 1955, they're all here. It's fun to see so many famous faces like Doris Day and Gordon MacRae, but there is no real plot to this movie. Troops are sad, stars cheer them up, troops are happy. There are some cute tunes and it's actually a lot of fun to see just how many stars they can cram into this film - but only a few of them stick around for the whole movie. MGM did it so much better in the 40s with movies like TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY and THOUSANDS CHEER. Those films at least had a plot, with stars giving cameos - this seems to be a bad imitation of those films. It's still a worthwhile film, but don't spend an arm and a leg trying to find it, it's not THAT great.

The only time this movie ever really comes to life is when Doris Day is on screen. Sadly, she disappears after about 30 minutes. Her musical numbers, " 'S Wonderful" and "You Ought to Be in Pictures" are the film's high points, and she delivers them as only she can. Day just lights up the screen and proves once more how underrated she is as a vocalist. She's also charming in her small scene visiting Jack Larson, who plays a hospital patient.

As for the rest of the movie, the script is even more dreadful than the one for "Hollywood Canteen," of which this bears a resemblance. Janice Rule and Rick Hagerthy have zero chemistry as the romantic leads. The "comedy" routines by Peter Marshall and Tommy Noonan, and Phil Harris, Dick Wesson and the others, are cornier than an Iowa field. Virginia Mayo's South Seas number and Patrice Wymore doing "Liza" helped relieve the tedium, but Doris Day is clearly the standout. If only she'd been in more of the movie, it would have been so much better.

Of course the plot is dreary and there's not enough singing and dancing. For me, there never is. As a movie, it rather sucks, but as a DVD it is just fine. Just go to the numbers with Doris, Gordon and the people you like to watch perform. The surprising highlight of the film is Janice Rule. She and Gene Nelson dance together in two numbers. This is the only time she got to dance in a movie. I knew she danced on Broadway in "The Happiest Girl In The World", but I didn't see it and THIS I can see. I'm glad that this is on DVD. I can watch Janice Rule dance anytime I want. She was wonderful.Patrice Wymore dances to and "sings" Gershwin's "Liza". Sounded like Bonnie Lou Willams. She seemed to be the voice double of every lovely non-singing lady at Warner Bros. when she wasn't recording with Gordon Jenkins. Virginia Mayo's number was quite good and I wish they would put "She's Working Her Way Through College" and "She's Back On Broadway" in a set with some other pictures that she did at that studio. Also, how about all three versions of "The Desert Song" and the three of "Showboat" ? I would buy all of these tomorrow. Hey, if you do, please include Ava's tracks.