All Girl Revue (1940) User Reviews

Lots Of Songs and Dances In This 'Short'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 6/10 · 14 February 2007]

The headline states: "Girls Take Over" - "Fair Sex To Rule City For A Day." The story begins, "Oodles of fun," said her honor, the Mayor, in her first official interview at the city hall this morning. The girls will assume all the responsibilities of the city administration for one day."

To open the "show," we hear the mayor (a very cute June Allyson) and three other ladies sing, "We Have To Make The City Pretty." Later, we hear two other songs, one by Edith Brandell and other by the operatic Beverly Kirk, and then see two dance numbers. There is quite a bit to offer in just eight minutes....like watching a mini-musical.

It's very dated looking and sounding, of course, but it's cute in a way. Allyson came off the best, so it was no surprise that she was the only one who was or became a star. She had that quality. This was part of the "The Roaring Twenties" DVD.

Perky June Allyson a few years before becoming a big star...

[Doylenf · 4/10 · 15 October 2008]

The only reason for watching this very dated musical short is the chance to see JUNE ALLYSON just a few years before she made her big movie star debut in "Best Foot Forward" at MGM.

This is a drab looking Warner musical short with June as the Mayor for a Day who wants to "Make the City Pretty" and joins the other gals for a reception to honor the arrival of Madame Beverly, an opera singer (BEVERLY KIRK). There's also a musical moment at Grand Central where a chorus line of girls do a tap routine imitating the shuffling noise of a train getting set for departure.

None of it is really interesting enough to make it an item I'd recommend, but fans of June Allyson will be able to sit through it just to watch the perky actress before stardom.

The Swing Matriarchy

[boblipton · 5/10 · 28 June 2019]

Girls take over the city for a day and decide to clean up the town.... in the words of the song Mayor-for-a-day June Allyson sings at the beginning of this short, "Gotta make the city pretty" by shining up garbage cans.

This Vitagraph short is a bizarre one, although there is a nice line of indentical-looking chorines dancing in Grand Central Station. The plot of this short has the mayor head over to greet visiting opera singer Beverly Kirk.

There are some decent songs by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin, but nothing outstanding. Director Lloyd French tries to spice up the standard musical revue that the Warner Brothers' shorts unit had been turning out, but it winds up looking bizarre rather than funny.

Fun Musical Short

[Michael_Elliott · 7 March 2010]

All Girl Revue (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Innocent and charming enough one-reeler has the Mayor (June Allyson) having an all girl day and making every government position help by a lady. What do they do with it? We get several music numbers as the ladies sing and dance for nine-minutes. There's not too much to this film plot wise but it's still pretty entertaining as the short runs by very quickly and has some good music as well. The highlight, and what's going to bring people in, is Allyson who really gets to shine here. Her voice is perfect and the songs suit her quite well. She has a certain charm and innocence that really works well here and she's certainly tthe magic to the film. Fans of hers will want to check this out and if you don't know who she is, this here will leave an impression on you.

Not much in the way of plot...

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 8 December 2016]

About the only reason to see this film is if you are a die-hard June Allyson fan, as she plays the lead in this practically plot less musical. Ostensibly, the plot is about the men giving the women control of the city government for the day and June is the acting mayor. But absolutely nothing is done with this plot...nothing...well, apart from making women look bad when she demands a mirror in the office because ladies, apparently, MUST have this and aren't really serious about work. Instead of developing this, however, there's one song and a crazy song and dance number. In other words, they totally sacrificed plot in order to shove a lot of music into the picture. It's not terrible...but sure is lacking the qualities you need to make it worth seeking. Not terrible...but not very good either.

Silly but fun

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 13 March 2010]

Short about what happens when girls (women) are allowed to rule an unnamed town for a day. June Allyson is the mayor and sets out to make the city more pretty (!!). It seems a famous (unnamed) opera singer (Beverly Kirk) is visiting the town that day and they want to make it perfect for her.

The short itself is harmless fun. 95% of the dialogue is sung and all the songs are tuneful it instantly forgettable. It also has a truly jaw-dropping tap dancing number in a train station. This also has some forgotten female dancing and singing acts. So it's fun as a harmless little short and also as a reminder of some really great female singers and dancers.

Vest Pocket Busby Berkely-like Musical

[redryan64 · 5/10 · 6 December 2014]

THE GIRLS HAVE taken over the town and this is a musical. With those two premises' being established, the one reeler short landed on its feet, hit the ground running and stayed its course to the end. (So Schultz, how's that for using multiple clichés?)

WHEN WE FIRST viewed this on Turner Classic Movies a few days ago, we must confess that we were ignorant of the fact that the perky and beautiful young woman who was cast as "the Mayor" was perky and beautiful June Allison. Hers is the only name that we recognize in the credits and her performance bode well in showcasing what would be her definite "Star Quality."

PERHAPS SOMEONE GOT the idea to do this by crossing the standard "Boys Day at City Hall" plot with the females only policy as displayed in the film version of the Clare Booth Luce play, THE WOMEN (MGM, 1939). (Just a hunch, Schultz.)

OTHER THAN THAT, there is not really a lot to recommend this and it seems to race along at a very merry rate, but not fast enough for Schultz and myself. Perhaps a little 1940's style 'cheesecake' and good old fashioned titillation would have livened things up a bit.

"Fair sex to rule city for a day!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 7 December 2016]

It wouldn't be too hard to set aside eight minutes in your day to catch this lively musical number. It's upbeat and entertaining and features June Allyson as an unnamed city's 'Mayor For a Day', her position earning a comment when someone hinted that she was only going to be a day mayor. Her retort - 'at least I'm not a nightmare'.

Other prominent females in the show include Edith Brandell as the 'Information Please' lady, and Beverly Kirk as a visiting opera singer. My favorite act in this quickie was the spirited train station choreography of the dancing troupe, offering up a uniquely inspired imitation of a train rolling in. The fast paced short definitely qualifies as a musical since it's song and dance in it's entirety. You can have some fun with this one.

All girl embarrassment

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 22 November 2017]

"All Girl Revue" is a black-and-white short film from 1940, the days of World War II, so this one is already over 75 years old. The writers are not too known, but the director is Lloyd French and he made an impact through his works with Laurel and Hardy earlier in his career. Still his effort here is also not entirely forgotten. It is a brief musical that has woman claim the power for one day and we hear them singing about making the city pretty from start to finish. The most known cast member is probably June Allyson who appeared in here a while before her Golden Globe win. Actually, this was a very forgettable film. The story was extremely absurd and not in a good way, the performances were absolutely nothing special either. But I think this is still a somewhat good watch from the perspective that it determines nicely how clever a feminist is. Those call this a feminist or girl power movie or anything got it all wrong. It's rather the opposite as it shows how women focus on the arts and do nothing crucial when really being in charge and being given all the power. You could make a point for this being a sexist movie, but maybe there you would be stretching things a bit too far too. The one thing that is for sure that this is not a quality movie, simple entertainment without any kind of depth for women at home during war while their men are in the military with this weird parallel to actual life in the first half of the 1940s. This one deserves to be skipped. Don't watch.

Got to keep the city pretty.

[AkiraKurosawa · 10/10 · 28 October 2005]

In this gem of a short subject June Allyson, not yet the star that should would eventually become, plays a temporary mayor for a city in order to make it more attractive. With the help of several other well meaning dames, she urges other city employed women to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

A musical short, the first two songs in this one are amazingly catchy. Particularly a song about an overworked information girl. We are then presented with a near-opera number and finale that's very cheerful and features quite the funny little joke.' You can catch this one on the Warner Brothers "Roaring Twenties" DVD. Recommended.

Information Please!

[Sylviastel · 8/10 · 27 March 2015]

Even though women finally got the vote in 1920, women were relegated to second class citizens behind men. This film short is a musical where June Allyson is Mayor of New York City. A world famous opera singer is coming to town. This light musical short indicates that women were still not perceived as equals in a male dominated society. New York City still hasn't had a female mayor to this day. The music is sweet and light hearted. There is not much of storyline but it is entertaining. June Allyson is terrific in the role. The other singers also do a wonderful job. If the film was meant to entertain, it did a good job. As for enlightenment or education, it displayed how women were relegated to love interests, comedic characters, but never equals to women in politics.

June Allyson

[jrm-63250 · 10/10 · 11 March 2020]

June Allyson makes a great entrance with the opening song and the rest of the cast carries it through to the end. Great short!

So Much Fun!

[mbsheik · 9/10 · 1 October 2017]

This fun one-reeler finds June Allyson appointed as mayor-for-a-day in a tongue-in-cheek look at how things would be if the reins of power were held by the fair sex. As is usually the case with Vitaphone shorts, things happen fast, and right off the bat June realizes there's work to be done, so she and her assistants get down to business to the bouncy We've Got to Make the City Pretty, followed by a trip down to the train station to meet Madame Beverly, the opera star, soon to be arriving on the Guest of Honor Special. At the station, we're treated to the upbeat Information, Please, performed by the harried information kiosk girl, and which is then used as the number for the film's impressive dance production. We then switch to Madame Beverly performing I Love to Sing a Long Note on the incoming train, and before you know it, it's howdy-do, welcome-to-the-city, and one more medley of the three numbers to wrap it all up. With songs by the Warners crack team of Saul Chaplin and Sammy Cahn, All Girl Revue is one short that fans of the genre shouldn't miss.