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'.

Many of the Fox musicals were wonderful and fun, particularly ones that starred Alice Faye or Betty Grable. This WW II effort, "Something for the Boys" was marginally okay, starring Vivian Blaine, Carmen Miranda, Phil Silvers, Michael O'Shea, Perry Como, Sheila Ryan, and Glenn Langan - not exactly Alice Faye, John Payne, Cesar Romero et al.

In "Something for the Boys," Silvers, O'Shea, Blaine, and Miranda are cousins and inherit a dilapidated southern mansion in need of fixing and a lot of money to do so. Sergeant Rocky Fulton (O'Shea) thinks it might be a great place to rent so his men could have some place to be with their wives. He says his men will do the work to fix it up, and they do.

To get the rest of the money they need, they put on a show - big surprise there.

For some reason, it is now 2013 and Fox Movie Channel still hasn't fixed this film and put it in the right order. The reels are still all mixed up and we have part of the show before there's a discussion or rehearsal, and by the time Sheila Ryan comes along, you think it's another character because she's already been there and had a scene with Miranda and Blaine. It's a mess.

If you let all that go, if you can, the music is pleasant enough. Perry Como was adorable and sings "I Wish We Didn't Have to Say Goodnight" divinely. Blaine sings the only song intact from the Broadway musical, which is the title song. She was a wonderful talent and livened many a Broadway show. Phil Silvers is funny, as he always was.

Carmen Miranda brings all her energy and talent to this film, as a character who can divine what's playing on the radio -- a talent Silvers late puts to good use.

It's a pleasant movie, very colorful, but be prepared to be plenty confused due to the reels being in the wrong place.

Another film found on the Carmen Miranda DVD Collection, this reunites her with Vivian Blaine and Phil Silvers, and adds actor, Michael O'Shea. Vivian, Phil, and Carmen! are cousins who inherit a grand estate; the trouble - there's no grand to be found, not a cent. Then, the old mansion gets renovated with the help of soldiers, who are based nearby.

Right off the bat, I'll say this would have been more enjoyable (for me, anyway) if there had been a more believable love interest for Vivian other than Michael O'Shea. He doesn't seem to add that extra kick that Power, Ameche, or even Payne, could do with their leading ladies. It's not that O'Shea's not likable; he's just kind of bland and uninteresting. That really factors a lot in my rating of this movie.

Miranda does have a colorful song at the end of the movie, but getting there through some tedious goings-on does get on one's nerves. Carmen and Phil make the most of their roles and make the film as good as can be. This may not be Carmen's best film, but it does have some redeeming moments. Just watch something else first.

One thing I'll mention now, as this is my last review of the Carmen Miranda set, is that I didn't like how they make Carmen Miranda talk badly: not using correct English, mixing up catch-phrases, like it's funny to see her being ignorant, like it's endearing or something. I know I don't write or talk well or correctly all the time, but it gets old and feels somehow demeaning to treat her characters that way.

If you want to see Carmen Miranda and/or discover her for the first time and enjoy her larger-than-life and electrifying performances, buy her DVD set. "Something for the Boys" and "Doll Face" are the weakest of the bunch. But they all showcase a talent and star Hollywood will never see the likes of again.

This is a Carmen Miranda movie, and she's is the main reason to endure the rest of it. For instance: the manic-anything-for-a-laugh humor of Phil Silvers only occasionally raises above annoyance, the lead Michael O'Shea is singularly charmless, the meandering plot poorly peeled off the Cole Porter Broadway success is pretty silly--and only one Porter song makes an appearance in the first ten minutes. So why watch it at all? Miranda dazzles and sparkles and plays with the King's English in full Fox Technicolor drag, and there's a chorus number in pink polka dot aprons that is great top-tapping fun; Vivian Blaine sings a few forgettable numbers in the wistful Alice Faye style, and if you look closely, you can see Judy Holliday in a bit role. Verdict: Fun for patient Miranda fans or fans of World War II patriotic flag-wavers; perhaps a bit silly for most modern viewers. Major bonus: Extras include an hour-long near-definitive biography of Carmen Miranda, which, in some ways, is better than the film

As is the usual case with Cole Porter shows, they never arrive intact to the big screen. In the case of Something For The Boys only the title song at the very beginning of the film and sung by Vivian Blaine is kept in the score.

Vivian Blaine has the part that Ethel Merman played on stage for the 422 performance Broadway run. She is one of three disparate cousins who inherit a rundown old southern mansion that saw its best days during the run of the Confederate States Of America. The other cousins are Carmen Miranda and Phil Silvers. Their grandfather must have led an interesting life. While they're deciding what to do with the dilapidated house, their savior comes in the person of Sergeant Michael O'Shea. In a character obviously based on Glenn Miller, O'Shea is a bandleader drafted into the army and he hits upon the idea of converting the mansion into a guest house for army wives. And in the tradition of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland they decide to put on a show to raise the needed capital to fix the house up.

The rest of the score is composed by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson and truly nothing memorable comes from it. Perry Como plays a small part and only sings. He never really clicked as a film star.

Romantic complications ensue when Sheila Ryan shows up also and she and O'Shea were an item before the war. Ryan is one of those southern belles dripping with honeysuckle and acid.

And of course we've got Carmen Miranda and that's always a treat.

Despite the emasculation of the Cole Porter score, Something For The Boys is pleasant enough entertainment about three cousins doing their bit for the war effort.