Review of Moonlight and Cactus

This little WWII era musical was one of a half-dozen or so B movies Universal Pictures produced "starring" the legendary sister trio The Andrews Sisters, although here as in the others they are subordinate to the main storyline and are basically around just to sing. This is a typical, unmemorable boy meets girl tale starring the utterly gorgeous Elyse Knox (later, Mark Harmon's mother) and the pleasant but obscure Tom Seidel. Seidel owns a dude ranch and when he and his service buddies (most of them remarkably long in the tooth like Shemp Howard and Tom Kennedy) have a 10 day pass he takes them back home where he finds a young beauty (Elyse) is now managing the place with a all-girl crew including the Andrews gals. She's doing a fairly great job - though has a "little" problem with somebody apparently stealing some of the cattle! The storyline is second to the songs which are almost non-stop once the Andrews appear by the end of the second reel. The songs themselves aren't that much but their singing is wonderful. Blonde Patty Andrews has more to do in the story than older sisters Laverne and Maxine and she has a bit of a Betty Hutton touch to her limited number of lines (her sisters have virtually none).Elyse Knox is utterly beautiful and carries herself with a pleasant dignity like something of an American Madeleine Carroll. The most amusing moment has Shemp Howard pretending to be Patty as he runs his hands over Tom Kennedy's torso from behind in hopes of locating the money Kennedy has won from him in a crap game. This little movie shot on just a few sets (and not a cactus in sight, by the way) has some charm and if you admire any of the cast it's definitely worth a look.