Pin Up Girl

source: Pin Up Girl

A girl from the Midwest breaks into show biz, becoming the toast of returning servicemen, but has to disguise herself in the process. Not one of Grable's better musicals, but still has its share of entertainment. Grable's sparkling, of course, and the Technicolor is great, along with the costuming. The trouble is the tunes are forgettable, while the curtain-closer of girls doing close-order drill goes on about 5-minutes too long. I must say, however, the girls manage a precision that would be the envy of a company of Marines. Now no one takes the storyline of a musical as anything more than a rack to hang the musical hat on. Here, however, the storyline is kind of dumb when Lorry (Grable) fools everyone just by putting on eye-glasses! Now, I'm prepared to believe a lot for movie's sake, but not that the Grable figure or blonde tresses can be disguised just by putting on a pair of glasses. Then too, leading man Harvey is a nice guy, but a little short in the charisma department. On the other hand, there's the incomparable pairing of Martha Raye and Joe E. Brown, in a battle of comically over-sized mouths. Anyway, except for a couple flat dialog scenes, there's enough overall energy to lift the spirits of wartime audiences, while there's always the incomparable Grable for the rest of us.

"Pin Up Girl" is a very typical wartime musical from Fox, not in the front rank but pleasant enough nevertheless. There's not much in the way of plot and what plot there is is ridiculous but it looks good in glorious Technicolour and it has Betty Grable, Joe E Brown as well as the great Martha Raye. None of the songs are particularly memorable and John Harvey isn't much of a leading man. Otherwise it's a passable enough way to spend an evening especially when the Condos Brothers are tapping their toes.

"Pin Up Girl" is only a fair musical comedy. I say fair because the plot is VERY predictable and I've seen such plots many times. On top of that, the show has too many musical numbers...way too many. The show begins with two ladies, Lorry (Betty Grable) and Kay (Dorthea Kent) in New York. When they cannot get a table at a fancy restaurant, Lorry begins lying her head off--saying that they are supposed to have dinner with a famous war hero, Tommy Dooley (John Harvey). Unfortunately, the real Dooley shows up and Lorry keeps lying more and more instead of fessing up. She tells them that they are Broadways stars and that she is the leading lady named Laura. The next day, Lorry and Kay head back to Washington, DC, where they work at the War Department. Now considering there were 128123081340123 servicemen in Washington during the war, the odds are against Lorry and Tommy meeting again. Well, if you think this, you obviously know nothing about movie clichés! In fact, it turns out that Lorry is a secretary and she is assigned to work with Tommy!! But, in a 'clever move', she puts on glasses and quickly convinces him she is NOT Laura (sort of like Clark Kent). Considering Grable's famous figure, it's utterly mystifying how the guy even noticed she was wearing glasses!! Lorry agrees to help the lovestruck Tommy to find this dream girl! Now if this plot sounds pretty stupid, then you'd be absolutely correct. It's utterly ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that such a bold-faced liar would end up with the guy by the end of the film--but you know that she will--even with Molly (Martha Raye) trying to break up this romance, as she wants Tommy for herself. In addition to a formulaic and cliché-ridden plot, the film features several songs too many. In particular, the Broadway style song and dance numbers make the film very stilted. Naturalistic songs that are sung between the leads are not in this one--just stage-bound ones that seem to make the plot grind to a halt. The only thing I really liked about this silly film was seeing Dorthea Kent playing a 'normal' person--too often in her films her style was VERY broad, nasal and annoying. Here, she is pretty good. So is this film for you? Well, if you simply adore old musicals and/or Betty Grable, then perhaps. However, there are many, many musicals of the era that are much better--with better casts, songs and plots.

This is arguably the worst movie Betty Grable ever made once she became a star. It is, of course, quite possible that in 1944 it would have filled a gap in a world hungry for escapist entertainment but today almost nothing earns any praise from Grable herself, who does what she can with a lacklustre script and score to the usually reliable Martha Raye, Joe E. Brown and Eugene Palette in support. B. S. Pulley, later to feature prominently in Guys and Dolls as Big Julie is also on hand albeit uncredited as is June Hutton who is featured with the Charlie Spivak orchestra. James V. Monaco and Mack Gordon have done much better work than this although they did turn in a complete score. This one is best forgotten.

This musical/comedy fluff was harmless fun for a nation at war. We get the troop's number one pinup gal, big band music, song and dance numbers, a cotton candy plot, and it's all in Technicolor! Anybody interested in the WWII era will enjoy watching this film, just imagine yourself as one of the boys in uniform or as Rosie the Riveter. The final musical routine with Betty marching with & drilling 2 companies of military women is well executed and must have been just what America wanted to see at the time. Remember: Buy U.S. War Bonds. Available at this theater.

This is a patriotic flag-waver of a film that could never be made anymore. The emphasis is on pulling together and supporting the armed forces, all in gleaming colour. It is a wartime film that says although the world is in a spin if we work together to beat the foe, things will work out fine in the end. It is sweet as a sugar coated pill, made to cheer the people up in World War 2. And who better to do that than blonde Betty Grable, lively and bright and charming. There are flashes in the film of the classic pin-up picture of her looking saucily over her shoulder. A formula film then but it does have some bright spots. Joe E Brown and Martha Raye being loud and cantankerous. The dancing Condos Brothers who tap dance like furies. The gorgeous technicolour. Charlie Spivack's band. The musical numbers are OK though the roller skating number and the marching sequence hilarious in the wrong sort of way. There is a real gem in the film, a number called 'Once Too Often', which is a sour song of love and betrayal, at odds with the rest of the saccharine mood of the film. Grable sings it well then dances it with the great Hermes Pan. In her split skirt showing those million dollar legs, she and Pan do a sexy routine together. It's the best thing in the whole movie.

This movie has everything going for it – great cast, competent director and a screenplay originally prepared by Hollywood's top writing team of Robert Ellis and Helen Logan. Alas, the studio brought in Earl Baldwin to revise the script, when studio head, Darryl Zanuck, decided to use the movie as a boost wartime vehicle for Betty Grable. Now I know a lot of people love Betty Grable. She has lots of pep, I'll give her that, but for me, peppy is not a quality that appeals unless it's firmly based on common sense. And although Betty was strong on brain power in real life, on the screen she was almost always cast as an idiot. "Pin Up Girl" is no exception. This time, she promises to marry almost every serviceman who accosts her, even though she has no intentions whatever of doing so. This is her way of boosting the morale of the servicemen, but, as you and I know, it's an idea laced with peril, particularly if we take her stratagem a step further and realize that it's based on a latent idea that the servicemen will be killed in action. For me, this puts a shadow over the whole movie. And there were other things I didn't like. I mean, just about all the characters are idiots. How could anyone be so stupid that they couldn't recognize Grable, even though she might be wearing glasses and slightly change her hair style. This sort of stratagem will work on the stage, but it's unsuitable for movies – unless, of course, you make the character a twin. And alas, I thought the marching girls outstayed their welcome too. They repeat their moves at least ten times. Even five would been more than sufficient, especially as their uniforms are so unattractive. Joe E. Brown is disappointingly cast in an inconsequential role (he doesn't even get a chance to use his famous yell) and hero John Harvey as he himself admitted, lacks screen charisma (though evidently he came over extremely well on the stage). So, all told, this is a very disappointing movie riddled with problems. Available on an excellent Fox DVD.

Joe E Brown and Martha Raye were 2 veteran vaudeville performers, as well as film personalities, both known, among other things, for their unusually wide mouths. Both were primarily comedians, but neither is allowed to be funny in this '44 Fox Technicolor. Martha was also a singer and does get to do a couple of solos. She and Betty were last seen together in a film when they were both contracted with Paramount, playing sisters in the '38 B&W "Give Me a Sailor", costarring Bob Hope. In that delightful little domestic comedy, Martha was the star and Betty the supporting actress. Here, the tables are turned, with Betty the star performer and providing most of the comedy, along with occasional inputs from rotund Eugene 'bullfrog' Palette, who plays her office boss. Unusual for a Grable film, she lacks one of her usual leading or supporting men. Instead, her romantic interest is a rather faceless serviceman in the form of John Harvey. Actually, this was a rather common ploy in musical comedies during the later part of WWII. Other notable Fox examples include "Something For the Boys" and "The Gang's All Here". Perhaps the most extreme example is Warner's "Hollywood Canteen". The idea was to present a 'nobody' serviceman that servicemen could better identify with, as the leading lady's romantic interest. It sometimes happened in '40s musicals that specialty acts provided the most interesting musical, comedy or gymnastic act, and this is perhaps one of those films.The gaudy roller skating dance act by 'The Skating Vanities', accompanied by Martha's "Red Robins, Bobwhites, and Bluebirds" is certainly the eye candy highlight of this film, and a part of its flag waving aspect. The Condo Brothers also did a couple of nice tap dance numbers, and Betty's dance with Hermes Pan to "Once Too Often" is OK. Later, there is a Viennese waltz scene, with dancers in very fancy classical European dress, preceding and following Betty's rendition of a more contemporary "The Story of the Very Merry Widow".Betty also gets to do a couple other musical numbers, mostly two renditions of "Don't Carry Tales Out of School". The Charlie Spivak Orchestra provided most of the music. Perhaps the most unexpected aspect of this film is the finale overly long marching drill exercise, with rifles, executed by a sizable unit of WACs, with Betty as their competent drill sergeant. Would have been nice to have had some musical accompaniment, as in Warner's "This is the Army". I guess the message was: If we run short of fighting men to help win this war, we have plenty of fighting women to back them up! If you want to see the best Grable/Raye musical comedy, I recommend "Give Me a Sailor", as previously detailed. Betty looks even more beautiful at age 21 in that one. The emphasis is much more on comedy than music, with Bob Hope complementing Martha's comedy.

I've just seen Pin Up Girl for the first time and found it good in parts, but not brilliant. Betty Grable plays a secretary and is a singer as well. She says she's engaged to every service man she has signed her photo for. She does fall in love with a man who's in the Navy and after several misunderstandings, she becomes engaged to him. Despite being made during the Second World War, Pin Up Girl was shot in colour and it certainly is very colourful. There are some good songs and performances, although can be a little heavy going at times. One viewing is probably enough for this movie. Not too bad though. Rating: 2 and a half stars out of 5.