User Reviews

While "Her Highness & the Bellboy" (June Allyson and Robert Walker's other MGM pairing in 1945) was formula, it had the benefit of a better script and Hedy Lamarr. This war comedy took the male star of "The Clock" (Walker) and paired him with the break-out star of "Two Girls & a Sailor" (Allyson) from the previous year, giving June another sailor (for at least the film's opening), and they are a nice young, romantic team, if not the equivalent of Powell and Loy from the previous decade. MGM's formula seems tiresome and less sophisticated in a wartime setting, especially since Walker's character (newly married to Allyson on a whim) is discharged days into their marriage. Toss in Allyson's insufferable boss (Hume Cronyn) and a vampish neighbor (Audrey Totter), and you've got pretty much more of the same that MGM had been doing since sound came in.

i cringed at the wedding night scene of Walker and Allyson getting lovey dove and preparing for bed, and Allyson showing up in pigtails and her "jammy's", causing Walker to laugh at her, telling June that she looks like a little baby bunny. It was supposed to be cute but just showed off the character's immaturity, making them annoying rather than endearing. Cronyn and Totter both seem far too old to be making plays for Allyson and Walker, and I half expected Totter to utter, "Kiss Me My Fool!" with her inconsistent accent. They are cliched baddies with ridiculous situations and even more absurd dialog.

The only ones who escape ridicule here are Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, getting too few scenes as the delightfully funny superintendent of the apartment building and Reginald Owen as Totter's "benefactor". Even with only a handful of scenes, Anderson adds more character and wit, and Owen tones down his usual pompous behavior. Had this been reworked as a sequel to "The Clock" with Garland and Walker facing similar situations in the mature manner that their characters had been written and directed with, it would have been a better movie, especially if set after the war had ended.

June Allyson and Robert Walker make an appealing girl next door-boy next door couple who discover each other by accident when he is nearly finished his tour of duty in the navy at the end of WWII. Like many girls and young women of the times, she is attracted to him partly because he is wearing a uniform, thus has a steady, if meager,income. They decide to get married after knowing each other only a few days and knowing he will be leaving the area immediately. Unexpectedly, he is soon forced out of the navy, thus must move into the NYC apartment she has recently chosen. Like many new couples at the end of the war, she has a job to tide them over until he can find a civilian job. They discover various problems with their apartment, such as a front door with a knob problem, a leaky roof, and a fireplace with no chimney, along with a building elevator that tends to get stuck between floors.'Rochester, of Jack Benny fame, is the apartment building maintenance man, and thus is always showing up with his gravely voice to promise to get these problems fixed. Meanwhile, the couple always seem to be trying to outdo each other in buying presents for the other or furnishings for the apartment,that they can't really afford. A dinner party that includes her boss and his prospective boss is a comic disaster. Soon, June's boss takes a romantic interest in her, while a very aggressive sex siren in the apartment complex takes a personal and romantic interest in Robert, leading to jealousies that nearly have them walking out on each other. Fortunately, their apartment door knob stops working again at a critical moment, forcing them to stay together just long enough to cool down and realize that their still unstable attraction to each other trumps these unsolicited external pressures.

Maybe this film had greater appeal for audiences of the time, some of whom no doubt were personally experiencing something like what this couple was going through. However, I found it an amusing, well paced,romantic comedy, with several personable leading characters. Like Doris Day of the same era, June suffered a devastating leg injury as a child or teenager, yet eventually attracted attention as dancer-singer with a winning sweet personality. Her often half-hoarse voice also helped make her distinctive. She was cast in several films with Robert Walker in the '45-46 era, including the tribute to Jerome Kerns: 'Till the Clouds Roll By'.Robert rather reminds us of the later James Dean in looks and boyish charm, often combined with a rebel or misfit side. Like Dean, he would die young, tormented by the rejection of his only true love, a victim of alcohol and drugs.

I saw "The Sailor Takes a Wife" on TCM just this afternoon. I didn't think it was particularly good or bad, it's just that it didn't have a comment and I've been waiting for the chance to be the first to comment. Well, the basic premise of the movie is simple. Mary (June what's her face that was in the so-called "musical" remake of "The Women" which had a non singing or dancing Ann Miller and an eternally pregnant Menopausal Joan Blondell) works in a canteen during the war. She falls in love with John (Robert, the soldier from "Since You Went Away" and Bruno in "Strangers on a Train" Walker), whom is a sailor. (Is "whom" the correct word?) Anyway... Mary divulges that she could never fall in love with someone not in uniform and they get married. Mary rents an apartment, thinking hubby will be back for the weekend. He returns early however, as he is booted from the Navy because of an injury, leaving him home and a civilian. They have a series of quarrels and misunderstandings, mostly involving her old flame, nay ember, and the foreign woman on the 3rd floor. All in all, a good movie to watch when very bored or late at night or when you've already seen the Montel Williams show that's on.