Jive Junction

How does a minor production company keep costs down but still get the public's attention in the middle of the war? One way is to combine elements of major studios' successes and hire one known quantity as headliner. Here, the known quantity is the handsome former child star Dickie Moore, leading a group of largely unknown actors.

As for the end product, this one has all the elements of a wartime musical, B-picture style: a patriotic theme (without the bevy of stars of a Stage Door -- or Hollywood -- Canteen), a pseudo "let's put on a show" element (in the form of a school orchestra contest), and (thankfully) lots of music. Calling it a mishmash would be unfair, because the film does flow enjoyably, and there's just enough plot to hold it all together.

In the opera-gets-no-respect department, this film introduces a new talent, soprano Gerra Young, to draw the curious, but also delivers on the title's promise to provide plenty of the more popular jive of the day. (Hmmm, what movies today combine rap and opera?) And for whatever reason, this film turned out to be Young's only screen appearance.

In short, "Jive Junction" provides a brief break from the concerns of wartime, whether for the troops at the front or for families back on the home front.