Meet the People

Broadway star Julie Hampton (Lucille Ball) visits a shipyard for the bond drive. William "Swanee" Swanson (Dick Powell) wins a date with her after some fast talking. On their date, he tells her about a musical that he has written.

I don't like the style of music and it's made worst by the fact that Lucille Ball is not the one singing. I'm definitely more interested in Lucille Ball and her non-singing is a real disappointment. These leads are not necessarily most known for their song and dance. The story is obviously a nod to all the women working the hard-hat jobs. It's even making fun of the Axis leaders including a monkey Hitler. In a way, it feels very constructed for its time and the humor feels forced. The closest to a laugh comes from Lucille Ball putting on her dress. For a moment, she does a little bit of physical humor. Maybe the monkey Hitler got some bigger laughs back when it was released.

Let's put on a show for the war effort...or some arrogant playwright or something. Dick Powell plays a pompous jerk who somehow finagles a famous actress (Lucille Ball) into not only falling in love with him but also getting his play produced. The movie is basically the struggle to get the play made. The struggle, by the way, is only such because of Powell's temper tantrums. Good grief who thought this character was appealing? Powell is a likable actor but here he sulks his way through the whole film. "My show! My show! My show!" Shut up already you whiny baby. This guy wants his precious play to be authentic to real working class people, but he never seems real or working class himself.

Powell also has poor romantic chemistry with Lucille Ball. For her part, Lucy is a bit wooden and lacking the brilliant spark we all know she possessed. The supporting players like Virginia O'Brien, Bert Lahr, and June Allyson are the best part of the cast. There's also an annoying guy doing bad impressions. I'm not going to bother looking up the actor's name. Just know he's awful.

The movie is way too long for such a thin plot and commits the cardinal sin for any musical comedy: it's hardly ever fun. The musical numbers are so-so, with O'Brien's "Say That We're Sweethearts Again" being the standout. It's probably the only thing that you walk away from this film remembering.

I went into this movie hoping for the best. I like wartime musicals in general. Dick Powell and Lucille Ball did good jobs with their roles; however, the writers gave them boring dialog. The love-interest between the two of them was not given any real growth; just suddenly it was there. I did not think much of the music; the best number was the snippet we heard of Spike Jones with "Der Fuhrer's Face." The one complete number that Spike Jones did had little of his great musical comedy; pretty tame stuff,even with the monkey. Bert Lahr's comedy skits were interminable.

There were parts to enjoy: Lucille Ball was quite a looker, and there was a good selection of bit players who really deserved more time on screen.

Although the war industry in the United States during WWII produced huge amounts of weaponry, you'd never think so if you watched "Meet the People"! Although it's supposedly set at a shipyard, you never see anyone work at all! Instead, they sing, dance and put on shows all the time...or at least that's what I learned from this movie!

The story begins at the shipyard and a famous actress, Julie Hampton (Lucille Ball), is there for a bond rally. Naturally, the ship builders are a very loyal lot and they invest heavily in the bonds. What they also have is a soon to be discovered playwright and singer, William Swanson (Dick Powell). Soon he and Julie are working on getting his play produced but soon Swanee stomps off and refuses to allow them to put on the play. The director is sure Swanee will change his mind but when he doesn't, Julie returns to the shipyard to convince Swanee to change his mind.

What follows is essentially a giant talent show spread throughout the rest of the film. Folks are breaking into song and dance numbers every few minutes (complete with costumes that appeared from no where) and practically ANYTHING encourages them to perform. As for me, it felt like a showcase for MGM's second and third stringers....and I felt as if they should have pared down the number of numbers and emphasized the plot more than they did as it was a bit tedious at times. Back when it debuted, films like this were not that uncommon and it probably did well at the box office. Today, however, it seems a bit dated and is more a time-passer than anything else.

Forget the period propaganda or the corny jokes. This movie has some sensational music in it, great arrangements & great singing, especially one of the greatest songs written by one of the greatest teams: Rogers & Hart's "I Like to Recognize the Tune". A gorgeous rendition by one of the most beautiful pop songs ever written or performed. Worth reviving this movie (& then there's Spike Jones).