Something for the Boys

Mild musical boosted by Miranda's sheer pizazz. I love that wacky part where her tooth tunes into a radio station. Heck, that's even better than an iPhone. It's a TCF production, which means well-stocked production numbers with lots of girls kicking up their heels. I guess that's what they mean by the title. Then there's Phil Silvers doing an early version of Sgt. Bilko and talking faster than a machine gun spits bullets, along with a fetching Vivian Blaine as eye candy. And catch a young Perry Como doing his tunes in typically sleepy time fashion.

But a chuncky O'Shea seems an odd choice of leading man for a musical. Nonetheless, this was wartime, so the leading man pool was limited. All in all, the songs may not be memorable, while, the script underplays the promising premise. Still, there's Miranda doing her wacky bit, plus lots of colorful stage bits, and a share of chuckles. So the musical may not be front-rank, but does have its compensations, and even now, remains 'something for the boys'.