I Won't Play

A Warner Brothers Short Subject.

The biggest liar in the Marine Corps claims to be a musical genius, but his buddies get mighty sore when a piano is delivered to their South Seas island base and the fellow says `I WON'T PLAY.'

Propelled by the wise guy personality of Dane Clark and the loveliness of Janice Paige (who gets to sing `Body and Soul'), here is an enjoyable, lighthearted little film which still should entertain viewers today. This is the type of fast-moving escapist fare that was so valued by weary movie audiences as World War Two dragged into its sixth year.

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something like writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. This particular film was the winner of the Academy Award for the Best 2-Reel Live Action Short for 1944.

Joe Fingers is a Marine stuck on an outpost in the South Pacific. He loves telling tall tales out of boredom. The men don't always believe him but can't get enough of his stories. Movie star Kim Karol makes a surprise visit and the boys see an opportunity to catch him out on one of his lies.

It's a nice little story. It's a short. It could do more but it's still only a short. I'm not sure that it deserved to get the Oscar. The story and the times probably had a lot to do with the win. It's a fine short and it brought the war home in a non-threatening way.

Somewhere in the South Pacific, some marines are holding an advance position. There's not much to do but yarn, and Dane Clark is the champion at that. According to him, he fixed Rhapsody in Blue for Gershwin, got Sinatra his first gig and arranged his music for him, and made Janis Paige a star. Also he's a great piano player. The other marines don't know what to make of him until they get a piano.... which he refuses to play. Then they shun him, until Janis Paige, on a USO tour, makes a stop for refueling and puts on a show.

It's Dane Clark being a sleazy sort of guy, which he did a lot in this stage of his career. He was, of course, much more, as he would demonstrate over the next 44 years and more than 150 screen appearances.

I Won't Play (1944)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Oscar winning short about an Army blabbermouth (Dane Clark) who keeps telling the men in his squad that he helped form and influence several Hollywood stars. None of them believe him when they receive a new piano that he refuses to play but a Hollywood actress (Janis Paige) shows up to change their minds about their friend. This is an extremely well directed short by Crane Wilbur that features good work from both Clark and Paige. Paige also gets to show off her singing voice with a wonderful version of Body and Soul.

Joe (Dane Clark) is a rather unpopular guy in his unit fighting in the South Pacific. That's because he is a name-dropper...and he claims not only to know some of the biggest stars but claims to have actually helped the likes of George Gershwin and Frank Sinatra to hit it big! He's obviously a blowhard and time and time again, the guys try to trap him in his lies. Imagine their surprise when one of the folks Joe claims to have helped in her career lands at their base! Now, it's time to put up or shut up, Joe!

This is well acted and shows that Warner Brothers could make some nice short films to help the war effort. It hold up nicely over time and is worth seeing.