Up in Arms (1944)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Elliott Nugent

Writers:

Owen Davis (play)
Don Hartman (writer) ...

Release Date:

27 March 1944 (Brazil)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Plot:

Hypochondriac Danny Weems gets drafted into the army and makes life miserable for his fellow GIs. He's...

Plot Keywords:

Hypochondriac | Army | Best Friend | Stowaway | Screwball

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Danny Kaye	...	Danny Weems
Dinah Shore	...	Nurse Lt. Virginia Merrill
Dana Andrews	...	Joe Nelson
Constance Dowling	...	Nurse Lt. Mary Morgan
Louis Calhern	...	Col. Phil Ashley
George Mathews	...	Private Blackie Snodgrass
Benny Baker	...	Butterball
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Info Jones
Lyle Talbot	...	Sgt. Gelsey
Walter Catlett	...	Maj. Brock, Psychiatrist
George Meeker	...	Meeker, Ashley's aide
Tom Keene	...	Captain, Ashley's aide (as Richard Powers)
Margaret Dumont	...	Mrs. Willoughby
Donald Dickson	...	Singer at dock
Charles Arnt	...	Mr. Higginbotham

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Unrated

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Movie Connections:

Version of Whoopee! (1930)

Soundtrack:

Melody in 4-F

I just got up off the ground laughing

As a general Rule, I hate Hollywood musicals - Certain Musicals. This is just my personal taste and no offense to those who love musicals. Mostly because, and I bet a lot of people will agree with me, the music is just badly written. Always there are exceptions to the rule, and one of those being Danny Kaye (Another being Kay Kaiser).

The Technicolor on this is just fantastic and the music and lyrics are of the best of the Danny Kaye films. It is a great comedy on it's own having a pretty hilarious premise and several incidents that have you howling in laughter even after 60 years or so. Danny Kaye is a dailectition of superb talent, and his fake Scottish in this movie is hilarious.

Finally, Danny Kaye was a Musical genius, and I do not know any other entertainer who could use his flapper and a musical instrument as well. I have laughed Long Hours due to this guy all through my life, even if I have seen the film several times! Hahaha! Dinah Shore has a real swell number as well- Kind of in the middle of the film. I like Dinah Shore as his "leading lady" - I like how she is dressed, I love the sharp shoulders on her costumes, she was about as odd as he was. And this oddity is what made this film so classic. His most beautiful leading lady was always Virginia Mayo, but Shore is really funny and so it is a good match up.

Of course there is the Danny Kaye­™ "Dream Sequence" and this one is fantastic. I love the flaming Women Torches- Goldwyn always made a little mini production out of those sequences. I don't know if Danny himself suggested these, but several of his movies have them and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" Practically consists of them. Wonder Man is another. So of course "Up in Arms" has a couple very good imagination sequences like that, including the ending.

But nothing is as good as Kaye standing in front of a full Orchestra, dementing the music. This film has one scene in particular, where you can certainly say, that music, used as a comedy tool, works very well.