Three Sailors and a Girl (1953) User Reviews

"When we anchor for what we hanker..."

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 7/10 · 31 December 2002]

Roy Del Ruth was a talented second-rung director who spent his career shunting from one studio to another, never achieving the valuable symbiosis which boosted the careers of better-known directors who dedicated their talents primarily to one particular studio (such as Ford at Fox, Walsh at Warners, Capra at Columbia, Minnelli at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). 'Three Sailors and a Girl', a brassy musical comedy directed by Del Ruth for Warner Brothers, is an uncredited remake of 'Born to Dance', a 1936 musical directed by Del Ruth for MGM. 'Born to Dance' has better production values, a better cast and a better score (Jimmy Stewart warbling Cole Porter!), but 'Three Sailors and a Girl' is very enjoyable in its own right ... and its plot has almost nothing to do with George S. Kaufman's play 'The Butter and Egg Man', which is inexplicably listed in the credits here as source material.

'Born to Dance' and 'Three Sailors and a Girl' have exactly the same plot: a Navy submarine docks in New York, and three sailors (a singer, a dancer and a funny guy) go ashore. They meet a musically talented actress named Powell who deserves to be a star, and they pool their efforts to make her the star of a hit Broadway musical (as sailors do). In 'Born to Dance', the actress is vivacious tap-dancer Eleanor Powell. In 'Three Sailors and a Girl', the actress is Jane Powell (more brassy than usual, but quite good). The three sailors -- with the unfortunate nicknames Porky, Twitch and Choirboy -- are played by Jack E. Leonard (the funny guy), Gene Nelson (the dancer) and Gordon MacRae (the singer and romantic lead). MacRae was never better than his material, so here he's much less interesting than he was in 'Oklahoma!' and 'Carousel'. Gene Nelson is excellent as the acrobatic dancer, although he too has been better elsewhere.

The real find in this movie is Jack E. Leonard, a vulgar and heavy-set insult comic who pre-dated Don Rickles, and who is not normally considered an actor. He's not very good here, but he's better than I expected him to be, and he might have had a decent career in supporting roles. His 'singing' voice is nothing to boast about, although he acquits himself well alongside Nelson and MacRae in the opening number (a snappy ditty called 'Oh, So Right!'), and he's decent enough in a (poor) comedy number with Jane Powell: 'Show me a happy woman, and I'll show you a miserable man.' Leonard also does a comedy monologue which isn't funny, and which relies heavily on a ludicrous costume and a penguin walk. Jack E. Leonard was severely overweight: a fact which shouldn't have disqualified him from movie roles, but which renders him utterly implausible here in the role of an active-duty sailor. Even more implausibly, the three sailors finance their Broadway musical by having a whip-round among their shipmates (yes, we all know that sailors have got lots of money socked away) ... and then, when these funds prove insufficient, they get further backing from the Marines. (Yes, we all know that the Navy and the Marines always work hand in hand towards mutual goals.) Still, this is a fun movie, and I don't want to dissect the plot line.

Sam Levene, giving his usual performance, is quite good as the sharpy who produces the Broadway musical ... which of course is a hit. There's a totally unexpected (and very funny) cameo appearance by Burt Lancaster as a leatherneck, which leads to Levene speaking the funniest line in the movie.

Except for that Powell/Leonard duet, the songs (by Sammy Fain and Sammy Cahn) are excellent: very nearly as good as Cole Porter's score for 'Born to Dance'. I'll rate 'Three Sailors and a Girl' 7 points out of 10. Delightful!

The Mind Boggles At The Possibility

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 25 May 2010]

Warner Brothers musical Three Sailors And A Girl is based, very loosely based I might add on the George S. Kaufman play The Butter And Egg Man that ran on Broadway during the Twenties. It was one of Kaufman's earliest successes and one he did without a collaborator, unusual for him. It was the Navy participation in this film that was original.

Otherwise the plot has some down and out producer suckering a country yokel out of a lot of money to produce his show. In the film, the yokel is a sailor played by Gordon MacRae with a stern sense of morality, rather unusual for someone in the Navy. The crew has been on active duty for almost a year and their back pay which they've been unable to spend amounts to a considerable nest egg. While on Wall Street looking for an investment, MacRae, Gene Nelson, and Jack E. Leonard run into producer Sam Levene and he gets the boys to invest in his show. And the attraction is leading lady Jane Powell who falls for Gordon big time.

No big hits come from the score written by Sammy Fain and Sammy Cahn, but the numbers are serviceable to the plot. MacRae and Powell make a good team musically, too bad they were at different studios and didn't do more films together, Powell was on loan from MGM. Gene Nelson was as always great in the dance numbers, I've said it before on other of his films I've reviewed, he came along ten years too late, what a really big dancing star he would have been.

Jack E. Leonard was an early version of Don Rickles. I remember seeing him many times on the Ed Sullivan Show as a kid. His character was interesting, but too bad we didn't get one of his insult monologues for which he was so famous.

Part of the plot involves MacRae taking over the show and making a holy hash of it and Jane Powell calling in George Abbott, Ira Gershwin, and Moss Hart to contribute their talents to save the show. The real people weren't in Three Sailors And A Girl, just actors playing them. But as the show originated with George S. Kaufman, had all these people put their talents into this film for real, we might have seen a real classic unfold.

The mind boggles at the possibility.

First-rate second-rate musical

[marcslope · 7/10 · 1 August 2017]

Warners borrowed Jane Powell from MGM in 1953 and put her in a Doris Day kind of role, as an up- and-coming Broadway leading lady starring in Sam Levene's not-very-integrated-looking musical. Together they charm sailors Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, and Jack E. Leonard (trying to be Jackie Gleason, the Fat Funny One) into investing, and turn an out-of-town flop into a Broadway smash. Not an original story by any means, but it's lively, and the Sammy Fain-Sammy Cahn songs are good. It seems stinting of the screenwriters not to write in a girlfriend for Nelson, who has two spectacular tap numbers, and the no-name supporting characters (Georges Givot as a temperamental Ezio Pinza-like basso, somebody else as the sarcastic secretary, somebody else as the doofus playwright) don't have much interesting to do. But the songs and dances are really lively, and it's a chance to see Levene playing a Nathan Detroit-like schemer at the top of his form. MGM was making better musicals, even Warners was, but this one's an unpretentious good time.

Sailors with money? Where to put it - Wall Street or Broadway?

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 24 July 2021]

"Three Sailors and a Girl" is a lighthearted comedy musical, the only film that Jane Powell and Gordon MacRae made together. It includes Gene Nelson who was teamed with MacRae in a number of films. The boys are in the Navy and just docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yards for a month's ship repairs. They've been at sea eight months, and their pay is burning a hole in their pockets. They all have a 30-day furlough.

Most of the guys talk about living it up. That usually means a few nights of booze and girls, and then their money is all gone. But Choirboy Jones (Gordon MacRae) says he plans to invest his money to make it grow and amount to something. He said he's going to double - maybe triple his money, and he's heading for Wall Street. Well, it convinces a whole crew to chip in a chunk of their money for the same purpose. So, Choirboy is tabbed with two buddies, Twitch (Gene Nelson) and Porky (Jack E. Leonard) to invest a duffel bag full of dough -- $50,000.

But when they go to the top Wall Street investment firm of Morrow and Peabodu, they get sidetracked and conned into investing in a Broadway show. It happens to star a new singer, Penny Weston (Jane Powell), and a known actor, Emilio Rossi (played by George Givot). The original investor is Melvin Webster (played by Archer MacDonald) who wanted his play to be produced. His terrible plot is constantly being rewritten. After the promoter, Joe Woods (Sam Levene), gets into too many troubles, he sells the rights to the show to the guys. These musically talented gobs get more backing from the Army, the Air Force and the Marines, and put on a dazzling show. It all works out for the best in the end, and in a stroke of justice, Joe gets the show back and the boys double the money for the Navy guys.

There's lots of comedy, very good music and dancing and a nice romance in this film that people should still enjoy well into the 21st century. Watch for the Burt Lancaster cameo at the end. Here are some favorite lines.

Faye Foss, "Where would sailors get that kind of money?" Joe Woods, "How do I know? Maybe they're pirates."

Joe Woods, "We'll get married as soon as I get a hit. I wouldn't want a swell doll like you to marry a failure." Faye, "Oh, thanks."

Penny Weston, "But I wanna be an actress. I don't wanna make people like me just to get their money." Joe Woods, "Well, that's what every good actress does to every audience."

Melvin Webster, "Mr. Woods, I wrote a play about my childhood - a tragedy. You turned it into a musical comedy. Then you started changing scenes to get in stars. Now it's a ruin - no story, just scenes. We even have a scene of Shanghai to pay off the man who does your laundry."

Joe Woods, "Fail? Who said we failed?" Porky, "Just the audience and the critics."

Anchors Aweigh-Those three sailors are on the town!

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 29 November 2012]

For an old much recycled plot, this ain't too bad. Both a retread of the sailors on leave in the big apple plot and the George S. Kaufman play "Butter and Egg Man", this is a slightly above average musical with a talented cast and a few good songs. Three sailors on leave are conned into investing their money (and their pals) in a Broadway show. Producer Sam Levene is your typical New York shyster who has no idea of what he's doing so the sailors take over. Handsome Gordon MacRae falls for leading lady Jane Powell, while rotund Jack Leonard clowns and Gene Nelson dances. The show they do could be called "This is the Navy" but ends up becoming too technical so some well known Broadway personalities come in to doctor the show.

The silliness of the plot is topped by some of the musical numbers (by Sammy Fain and Sammy Cahn), most outrageously one ("I Got Butterflies") sung and danced in an auto shop utilizing much of the equipment. Powell has an amusing comedy number, "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (Or I'll Scream!"). Leonard comes off as a combination of Lou Costello and Jackie Gleason and tries too hard to be cute. Powell and Leonard do get to perform the amusing "Show Me a Happy Woman (and I'll Show You a Miserable Man)". That favorite tough girl Veda Ann Borg has some amusing lines. A fan favorite of the time has a cameo at the end with a hilarious reference. Overall, this is better than some of Warner Brothers' non-Doris Day musical numbers, thanks to the actress loaned to MGM for the occasion.

Lightweight Musical Comedy

[atlasmb · 5/10 · 28 July 2017]

Jane Powell and Gordon MacRae, supported by Gene Nelson and Jack E. Leonard, are the stars that carry this musical comedy. Powell displays real beauty (accented by some sharp fashions) while singing and dancing up a storm. MacRae's voice may be the best part of this film.

Jack E. Leonard appears in his first film. A stand-up comic better known for his appearances on television variety shows like "The Mike Douglas Show" or "The Merv Griffin Show", Leonard displays great energy and a surprising lightness on his feet.

The film is about the evolution of a stage musical that is backed by some sailors (and later, some marines). It starts off as a dog, but eventually becomes a hit. The film takes a similar path; it is only in the final act that "Three Sailors" feels like a solid piece of entertainment.

Look for Merv Griffin himself as a sailor. Burt Lancaster contributes a comic cameo.

As musical comedies go, this film is a lightweight, but it has moments that are entertaining.

A Hidden Gem and an excuse to show off Jane Powell's beautiful body

[RogerMooreTheBestBond · 10/10 · 20 May 2009]

This is a movie I had never seen until tonight and I loved it. Jane Powell is on loan from MGM in this Warner Brother comedy musical. This was the first time we get a great look at Jane Powell's beautiful figure. Gordon Macrae, Gene Nelson & Jack E. Leonard play the sailors on leave that try to help her out. The story starts out with Jane and her lame manager trying to get her a job. She does a song and dance that does not impress. Her manager removes the bottom of her dress and we get to see her beautiful legs in a short red dress. He throws them out. The sailors see her as she leaves and they like what they see. The sailors have fifty thousand to invest and her manager wants them to invest in her career. Gordon falls for Jane when she sings a song on the way to an audition. She sings a wonderful song with Gordon Macrae. I think it's called "When It's Love". The next day Jane rehearses wearing a very sexy and short blue dress. Later she gets really sexy during a scene on stage. She does a scene with Jack E. Leonard. Jane has on a white fur coat and quickly removes it to reveal a sexy black sequined swimsuit. She looks so sexy in that outfit and she has a perfect pair of legs! Soon they all find out the show they are backing is not good at all. Gordon buys the show and Jane's contract. She does a sexy number in another sequined bathing suit. He gets his buddies and the army guys to chip in. They go around looking for producers and tell them to help them because the services are backing the show. Next she performs for the producers in a white bathing suit outfit. Gordon gets a little big headed because he is running the show, but Jane sets him straight. They end up in trouble and sell the show to her manager who started all the trouble. I found this film on the WB shop site. It was a really nice surprise and a really good film. Jane Powell really show sex appeal here and I'm bit sure why she was not used in these kind of roles more often.

Pleasant, Familiar and Forgettable

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 25 May 2011]

An American submarine docks for shore leave in New York City. The sailors decide to invest their money in a Broadway musical, instead of spending it on women. The presence of Jack Larson and Merv Griffin among the sailors somehow makes this seem more plausible. The "Three Sailors…" of the title are singer Gordon MacRae (as "Choirboy" Jones), dancer Gene Nelson (as "Twitch"), and rotund comedian Jack E. Leonard (as "Porky"). They meet promising musical comedy star Jane Powell (as Penny Weston), "…and a Girl" completes the title. She wears some sexy costumes, to show off her hourglass figure. Also watch for the service station dance solo from Mr. Nelson.

**** Three Sailors and a Girl (11/23/53) Roy Del Ruth ~ Jane Powell, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, Jack E. Leonard

3 Sailors & A Girl-The Movie Should Go On Leave As Well **

[edwagreen · 4/10 · 26 June 2011]

You might as well have brought out Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland for this one. Sailors on leave get involved with Jane Powell in staging a Broadway show. There is even an over extending of the percentage owned by the show. This was certainly to the 1968 smash "The Producers."

Jack E. Leonard is in fine form as Porky, a portly sailor who can really dance and do some singing. Gordon McRae is Choir Boy and he is equally matched with Gene Nelson.

The song and dance routines are solid by the plot is so predictable and worn out already in movies.

Thirty days of shore leave for the navy guys. They should have extended the leave for the entire picture.

3 sailors and a goil

[mossgrymk · 3/10 · 5 October 2021]

The title should tip you off that inventiveness and originality will be in severely rationed supply here.

Jane Powell as a leggy pinup girl, singer and dancer, extraordinaire

[estherwalker-34710 · 10/10 · 16 September 2021]

Starts off like MGM's hit of a few years before "On the Town, with 3 sailor buddies on a ship seeing the NYC skyline, kidding each other, and doing a bit of singing before receiving a 30 day(in this case) leave pass, and heading out to NYC in search of dames and, in this case, investment opportunities, thanks to Gordon MacRae's ambition, collecting the pay of most of his buddies toward a hopefully profitable investment. .............. Instead of finding 3 girls to spend their leaves with, as in "On the Town", they discover one extraordinary petite girl in gorgeous super singer and dancer Jane Powell, who is quite enough for all 3. I thought I had seen nearly all of Jane's films, but fate left the best one for last. There is a DVD ,if interested. I like it even better than "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", which has more story, and less singing and dancing. Nearly non-stop dancing and singing and clowning by Jane, borrowed from MGM, and Warner's in house star singer Gordon MacRae, star dancer and singer Gene Nelson, and plump comedian Jack Leonard. Who could ask for anything more? For me, this isn't a 'minor' musical. It's a full blown musical, despite a screenplay involving the well worn backstage musical theme. No, there's no really memorable song, but plenty of serviceable ones composed by the team of Sammy Fain and Sammy Cahn. My one regret is that they didn't let Jane finish singing the Gershwins' most romantic song; "Embraceable You". You can hear a younger Jane sing it at YouTube, from "Nancy Goes to Rio". ........... Question: Who had shapelier legs than Betty Grable? Jane, of course!, and she wasn't bashful about showing them off many times during this, her sexiest performance. My only gripe is that her face was white as a sheet, and her platinum blonde hairdo didn't provide any color contrast with her face.. Maybe she was supposed to be Snow White?...........Now, for the main dialogue sections:...........Sam Leveno (Joe Woods) is excellent as the somewhat shady stage show producer, who has Jane as his star female. He's trying to get an investment banker to put some needed cash into his show. He has Jane give a sampling of her singing and dancing to impress the banker, who stubbornly insists that he doesn't invest in shows. The 3 sailors are just on the other side of the door, and hear Jane sing. When she and Woods emerge, they get acquainted, and Gordon is convinced to put all of the combined sailor's $50,000. Into the show. Unfortunately, they are saddled with George Givot, as buffoonish Emilo Rossi, who thinks he's a big shot actor and singer, but is actually incompetent, often unable to remember his lines. Also, their writer, played by the goofy, nerdy-looking Archer MacDonald, apparently wasn't the greatest(Unfortunately, a mere 2 years later, he committed suicide, shortly after his wife divorced him).. As a result, their maiden performance in Boston is a total flop, and they are out of money. Gordon resigns himself to go tell his shipmates that their money is gone. But, when he gets there, he chokes and tells that the show is ready for Broadway. Luckily, he happens to see a company of marines march by, and that gives him an idea. He arranges for them to see a sampling of Jane's singing and dancing talent, then begs them to put their salary into the show. It works, and now he has enough money to revamp the show, announcing that he is taking over as producer. But, Jane knows that he needs a more experienced director, producer and music composer to make a success of the proposed show , titled "Three Sailors and a Girl". Of course, the 3 sailors will be the male leads. Jane arm twists some notable professionals to join the production. As a result, the maiden show is a smashing success. The only problem is that the 3 sailors' 30 day leave is almost up! So, in a cameo, marine Burt Lancaster volunteers to take one of their places, but is turned down. End of story, thankfully, before the casting director has to deal with the problem of replacing the 3 sailors in the show!

lame

[ronfernandezsf · 1/10 · 28 August 2020]

This is a really lame musical. So so songs and stupid unbelievable plot. What was the show they were doing all about??? How could they change the scenery and costumes in a second??? dumb, dumb,dumb. Nonsensical and implausible. The only credits are an amusing performance by Miss Powell and some nice huffing by Gene Nelson. Otherwise forget this potboiler.

Not among MGM's finest

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 15 August 2022]

MGM made a ton of musicals over the years and the studio was the best for the genre. Some of them were terrific...some, well, were far from it. I would put "Three Sailors and a Girl" in the latter category.

The USS Texas has arrived in New York for shore leave (a VERY long one apparently). Before leaving the ship, three buddies come up with an interesting idea...that ALL of the sailors aboard pool their money. Then, the three pals set out to find a good investment for their shipmates. They come upon a jerk named Joe Woods, who sells them on the notion of investing their money in his latest musical show. They decide to do this because his leading lady, Penny (Jane Powell), has a gorgeous voice (at least according to the film). However, the play ends up being a flop...mostly due to a ham of an actor who is in the lead. Fortunately, he quits...and so does the producer! Now, without them, one of the sailors (Gordon MacRae) decides to play the lead AND producer! What next?

I had a hard time with this movie compared to some viewers because I found Powell's voice painful to listen to...as it was VERY high pitched and operatic. Like Jeanette MacDonald, you either love that style of leading lady or you don't. Apart from her singing, the movie was decent and enjoyable...but that WAS a big part of the film.