Reveille with Beverly (1943)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Charles Barton

Writers:

Howard J. Green (story) and
Jack Henley (story) ...

Release Date:

4 February 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Romance | War

Tagline:

The HOTTEST rhythm in pictures! (original poster)

Plot:

Beverly Ross moderates an 5:30 am radio show with swing music, dedicated to the local servicemen. Two...

Plot Keywords:

Swing | Radio | Headlines | Slang | Switchboard Operator

Cast

Ann Miller	...	Beverly Ross
William Wright	...	Barry Lang
Dick Purcell	...	Andy Adams
Franklin Pangborn	...	Vernon Lewis
Tim Ryan	...	Mr. Kennedy
Larry Parks	...	Eddie Ross
Barbara Brown	...	Mrs. Beverly Ross
Douglas Leavitt	...	Mr. Ross
Adele Mara	...	Evelyn Ross
Walter Sande	...	Pvt. Puckett aka Canvassback
Wally Vernon	...	Stomp McCoy
Andrew Tombes	...	Mr. Smith
Bob Crosby	...	Himself (as Bob Crosby and His Orchestra)
Bob Crosby Orchestra	...	Themselves - Bob Crosby Band (as Bob Crosby and His Orchestra)
Freddie Slack	...	Himself (as Freddie Slack and His Orchestra)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Based on the radio program "Reveille With Beverly" created by Jean Ruth.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)

Soundtrack:

Take the 'A' Train

Wartime entertainment

This is a truly awful "B" movie. It is witless and often embarrassing. The plot, the basic "making into show business" routine, is almost nonexistent. In fact, the film is merely an excuse to push the war effort and highlight some popular music groups of 1942, including the Mills Brothers, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Bob Crosby, and Freddy Slack. Each group gets about the standard three minutes, the exception being the Mills Brothers, who for some reason warranted two numbers. Ann Miller doesn't get to dance until the last couple of minutes of the film, and she has little to do but strut her stuff amid a barrage of patriotic propaganda.

The most interesting moment in the film, in my view, occurred in the Duke Ellington segment. The band appears to be playing in a train, standing in awkward positions. (In the deep South at the time, the band was segregated in railroad cars when traveling.) Johnny Hodges is seen next to Duke, and Harry Carney may also be identified. In the last moments of the film, trumpeter/violinist Ray Nance rushes down the aisle to the camera and does an "uncle Tom," bugging his eyes and wiggling his head the way Willy Best did in many films. For modern viewers, especially jazz fans, this homage to segregation is sad indeed. Some movies go best unseen.