Anchors Aweigh

Plot synopsis:
Joe Brady and Clarence Doolittle are Navy sailors who have a four-day leave in Hollywood. Joe has his heart set on spending time with his girl, the unseen Lola. Clarence, the shy choir boy turned sailor, asks Joe to teach him how to get girls. Donald, a little boy who wants to join the navy, is found wandering around the boulevard by a cop, who takes him to the police station. Clarence and Joe end up being picked up by the cops to help convince Donald to go home. After the two sailors wait at home and entertain Donald, Donald's Aunt Susie arrives. Clarence is smitten with her from the beginning. Susan goes on to tell them that she has been trying to find work in music, and longs to perform with José Iturbi. Trying to make Susan impressed with Clarence, Joe tells her that Clarence is a personal friend of Iturbi, and that he has arranged an audition for Susan with him. That night, they go out to a cafe where Clarence meets a girl from Brooklyn, and they hit it off. The next day, Joe visits Donald's school, and tells the kids the story of how he got his medal, and how he brought happiness to a lonesome king (played by Jerry Mouse from Tom and Jerry, with Tom briefly appearing as a servant), and joy to the forest animals of the kingdom.
Meanwhile, Clarence has been trying to get into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios to find Iturbi with no luck. After many failed attempts to find Iturbi, all hope is lost for Joe and Clarence, who want to come clean with Susan and tell her there was no audition. On Clarence and Joe's last day of leave, Susan runs into Iturbi at a café, who has no idea of the audition. Susan begins to call Joe, whom by now she has fallen in love with, to yell at him. Iturbi stops her and agrees to get her a screen test, which turns out to be very successful. The movie ends as Iturbi conducts the choir in singing "Anchors Aweigh", and Joe, Susan, Clarence and the girl from Brooklyn kiss.

Tags: storytelling

Review:
Released some months before the end of the war, "Anchors Aweigh" is one of Gene Kelly's major musical triumphs of the forties Under the direction of George Sidney, it had the benefits of a pleasant score, andbest of allthe services of Gene Kelly in his first true starring role at MGM The year before, in Columbia's "Cover Girl," he had revealed an innovative approach to dance on the screen, a light but agreeable singing voice, and considerable charm In "Anchors Aweigh," although he was billed under Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson, he was laying the solid groundwork for his most revealing years at MGM The film's story, a kind of dry run for "On the Town" four years later, follows sailors Kelly and Sinatra on shore leave, spend their holiday in Hollywood, where they become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer (Grayson) and her little nephew (Dean Stockwell).Grayson, it appears, has her heart set on an audition with conductor-pianist Jose Iturbi She gets the audition, of course; Kelly gets Grayson after some misunderstandings; and Sinatra, has forgotten to be shy, and has lost his heart to a girl from Brooklyn (Pamela Britton).The plot is conventional for the period but, regrettably, it now seems barely tolerable But there is Gene Kelly, who dominates the movie with his agreeable personality Perhaps he grins too much, but when is permitted to dance, the film finally lifts off the ground "I Begged Her," his early song and dance with Sinatra, is amusing and slightly absurd, in which he imagines himself as a bandit chieftain in a Spanish courtyard, courting maiden Grayson with a flamboyant flamenco dance and some athletic leaps He also does a charming Mexican dance with little Sharon McManus in the square of a Mexican settlement in Los AngelesThe highlight of the movie, however, is Kelly's famous dance with the cartoon character Jerry the Mouse (of "Tom and Jerry" fame).
Delightful and innovative, it skillfully combines live action and animation in its tale of a sad mouse king who refuses to allow music in his kingdom until Kelly, a sailor in the "Pomeranian Navy," wearing a striped shirt and a beret, shows him how to dance "Look at me, I'm dancin'!" says the gleeful mouse king....
ANCHORS AWEIGH sees two eager young sailors, Joe Brady (Gene Kelly) and Clarence Doolittle/Brooklyn (Frank Sinatra), get a special four-day shore leave.
Both times I felt that ANCHORS AWEIGH was the better film in terms of plotting and structure--all the dances and songs fit the moment in the plot, and they develop the characters and story rather than hamper them.
The musical *is* splashy with great songs bursting out all over, like the duets between Kelly and Sinatra ('We Hate To Leave', 'I Begged Her' and 'If You Knew Susie'), the singing of Sinatra ('What Makes The Sunset', 'The Charm Of You', and the best of all, 'I Fall In Love Too Easily'), and without a doubt the always inventive, always breathtaking dancing of Kelly.
Famous for the scene where Gene Kelly dances a duet with Jerry Mouse, this zippy musical is also the one where Kathryn Grayson trills 'Jealousy', and Frank Sinatra sings in the arena of a thousand pianos ('I Fall in Love Too Easily').
Her little boy (Dean Stockwell, who would turn up much later in TV's Quantum Leap) wants to join the US forces, and so he meets sailors Kelly and Sinatra heading out for a bit of leave.
Joseph Brady and Clarence Doolittle are two sailors, who have a four-day shore leave in Hollywood.Joe knows everything about girls and can't wait to see Lola, while Clarence is shyer and needs some advice from his buddy on how to meet girls.They then run into a little boy, Donald Martin, who has ran away in order to join the navy.They take him home and meet his beautiful aunt Susan, who wants to be a singer.Clarence wants Susie to be his girl, but his shyness gets in the way.But he doesn't feel shy with a waitress, who comes from Brooklyn, like he does.Soon Joe notices he's in love with Susie.The boys are in a fix when they lie to Susie on meeting with a big time music producer they don't even know.As they are in a fix with their feelings.George Sidney's Anchors Aweigh (1945) is a great musical comedy.Gene Kelly is top-notch, once again, in his singing and dancing routines.Frank Sinatra is terrific as the shy guy from Brooklyn.Shy isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Frank Sinatra, but he plays his part well.Kathryn Grayson is fantastic as Susan Abbott.We sadly lost this gifted actress and operatic soprano singer last month at the age of 88.The 9-year old Dean Stockwell does amazing job as the little fellow wanting to become a sailor.Jose Iturbi does great job performing himself.It's magic what he does with the piano.Edgar Kennedy plays Chief of police station.Sara Berner is the voice of Jerry Mouse.There's a lot of great stuff in this movie and some fantastic singing and dancing numbers.Just look at Kelly and Sinatra performing "We Hate to Leave".It's so energetic."If You Knew Susie (Like I Know Susie)" is quite funny.It's a nice moment when Frank sings Brahms' Lullaby to little Dean Stockwell.It's lovely to listen to Grayson singing the tango "Jealousy" .The most memorable sequence is the one that takes into the animated fantasy world, and there Gene sings and dances with Jerry Mouse.Also Tom Cat is seen there as the butler.They originally asked Mickey Mouse but he refused.The movie was nominated for five Oscars but Georgie Stoll got one for Original Music Score.Anchors Aweigh is some high class entertainment..
Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra play sailors on leave who get mixed up with Kathryn Grayson.
The film is best known for Gene Kelly's dance with MGM's Jerry the Mouse.
For a really nice, sweet, and funny movie with some good music, I recommend TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME which also stars Kelly and Sinatra together.
Gorgeous color photography only shows up the cheap sets and rear projection used for this sound stage-bound film.Frank Sinatra (playing the dope again) and Gene Kelly (he can't act) play two sailors on leave who get saddled with a runaway kid (Dean Stockwell) and his Aunt Susie (Kathryn Grayson in a cloying performance).
Along the way Kelly falls for Grayson and Sinatra gets stuck with a stiff from Brooklyn (Pamela Britton is a lousy performance).Maybe an OK story for the time, but the film is way too long and wanders all over the place, including several dance solos for Kelly and the famous cartoon sequence.
Anchors Aweigh is a Technicolour MGM musical focusing on Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra as two sailors on shore leave in Hollywood.Kelly did the choreography on two dream sequences show dances which are the highlights of the film.
The cameo from Tom and Jerry and the dance with with Jerry The Mouse is what makes this film well known.The other is the Paso Doble/Tango as Kelly playing a bandit which was impressive.The storyline of Sinatra being the young, naive sailor who falls for Aunt Susie and later a waitress from Brooklyn.
A kid who plans to run off to the navy which is a more humdrum affair.Sinatra never convinces as an innocent and looks too old (He was almost 30 years old.) Stockwell, who almost seventy years after this movie was made is still acting is charming as the kid.There is good chemistry between Kelly and Sinatra.The film is overlong and some of the songs just come across as a filler.
The joke among soldiers was that "GI" meant "Get Iturbi" (he did a lot of concerts at military bases).Gene Kelly was a great dancer and Frank Sinatra an excellent singer, but at the time this movie was made Sinatra was barely 30 and had only been under contract to Columbia Records for four years.
Although in my opinion this is one of the lesser musicals of stars Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson and director George Sidney, a lesser musical featuring anyone from that line-up is nothing to sneeze at, and in conjunction, the line-up makes Anchors Aweigh a pretty good film despite its flaws.Sinatra and Kelly are Clarence Doolittle and Joseph Brady, respectively, two Navy men.
Things become more complicated when Brady lies about Doolittle knowing a famous musician, Jose Iturbi, who is in residence at a film studio, and claims that Doolittle has set up an audition for Abbott, who is a singer and actress, in front of Iturbi.Because of the story, the music is a strange combination of militaristic music--because of the Navy premise, obviously, Broadway pop--what the stars tend to sing in more informal settings, opera--what Abbott's character excels at, Liberace-like popular classical--what Iturbi did, and Mexican music--because Abbott frequents a Mexican restaurant in a Mexican section of L.A. The combination doesn't work as well as it could.
Matched in excellence to the dance with Jerry the Mouse is a long song and dance number featuring Kelly and Grayson, where Brady is imagining Abbott in a scene from a period film while he woos her, having to resort to acrobatic stunts to reach her physically as she stands on a high balcony.As uneven and flawed as the film is, it is largely successful and entertaining to watch.
The musical numbers save the movie: "The Worry Song" with Jerry and Gene Kelly; "I Fall In Love Too Easily" by Frank Sinatra; the dance number with the little Spanish girl (Sharon McManus), too many others to list.
After all, two are about sailors on leave, two feature Betty Garrett and Jules Munshin, and all three musicals star Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra!
Anchors Aweigh features songs from Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, but the most famous musical number from this film is the dance duet of Gene Kelly and Jerry the mouse.
Adorable Kathryn Grayson is the center of the love triangle, but while she gets to sing a couple of songs, it's Gene Kelly who stands out in this campy, happy-go-lucky, pro-soldier, post-war, silly musical.If you don't think you can sit through all of it—because you're not a die-hard Gene Kelly fan, or you'd rather watch a Frank Sinatra movie where he actually acts—at least watch the cartoon dance number.
There's some patriotic flag waving, gorgeously choreographed dance numbers, your standard love story, a fantasy interlude featuring Tom and Jerry (yes, the cartoons) and some backstage musical bits reminiscent of the Busby Berkeley films from the 1930s.
However, as a result of trying to fit so much in, Anchors Aweigh feels overlong and drags quite severely in places.Kelly, Sinatra and their costar Kathryn Grayson try to keep the audience engaged through sheer star power, and their efforts are admirable (particularly Kelly's big solo number near the end of the film) but are never quite enough to compensate for the long stretches of tedium between the big musical set-pieces.
But they and we have a good time trying.Along the way, Kelly gets his legendary dance with cartoon mouse Jerry of Tom & Jerry, looking like it came right out of the Land of Oz. Then too, I like his really charming number with the little Mexican girl (McManus).
What matters is the song and dance (of course) and the leading actors: Gene Kelly (wonderful) and Frank Sinatra (a great singer and at this young age a mediocre actor).
The working class humour of Gene Kelly that have made his films less dated then most other musicals of the Golden Era of Cinema is completely on show here where the audience is treated to humorous dance numbers about hooking up with women and sarcastically showing sympathy to fellow crew members when they're awarded with leave.
Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, and Jose Iturbi star in "Anchors Aweigh," directed by George Sidney.Kelly and Sinatra are Joe and Clarence, two navy guys on leave in Hollywood.
They try to help, but there's a mix-up.This is a very energetic musical with great dancing and singing by Kelly and Sinatra.
Absolutely enjoyable singing and dancing movie starring Frank Sinatra and gen Kelly, as well as Kathryn Grayson.The film won and Oscar for George E.
The lovely Grayson (The Toast of New Orleans) dazzled us with her singing, and we had a lot of great songs and dance routines by Kelly and Sinatra, as well as the artistry of pianist-conductor José Iturbi.A classic Hollywood music from an era gone by..
Gene Kelly's dance with the mouse is one of the great moments in the history of musical cinema, but the rest of the movie wastes the talents of Sinatra, as well as Grayson.
But the script writers (to propel what would be a short film - Kelly has plans to spend four days having sex with one "Lola", an unseen good time girl in Hollywood) saddle Gene with Frank.
He keeps getting dragged back to Grayson's house, as Sinatra feels she is the right woman for himself, but needs Kelly to train him in love making.I suppose my presentation of the plot may annoy fans of ANCHORS AWEIGH, but I find this kind of story irritating.
While the singing and dancing and concert music of Kelly, Sinatra, Grayson, and Iturbi are first rate, it is annoying to have to take the idiocies of someone like Sinatra's character seriously.
It's a great dance and a great song and a very unique scene that hasn't really ever been copied or redone The movie by itself has some great laughs and is definitely worth watching, especially if you are a Gene Kelly or Frank Sinatra fan.
Kelly and Sinatra play Joe Brady and Clarence Doolittle, two sailors on leave in Hollywood who befriend a young boy (Dean Stockwell)who introduces them to his attractive young aunt (Kathryn Grayson) a struggling actress who is working as an extra at MGM.
The paper-thin plot leaves room for several great musical numbers including "We Hate to Leave", Joe and Clarence's lament to their fellow sailors as they're leaving the ship; Grayson's torrid rendition of "Jalousie"; Sinatra's dreamy rendition of "I Fall in Love Too Easily" (a number which is sadly deleted from some prints of this film), and "The Worry Song", a fantasy dance that Kelly does with animated Jerry the Mouse from Tom and Jerry fame.
And the scene at the Hollywood Bowl, with Sinatra and Kelly emerging from the woods above it at the top, and then running down the steps, while dozens of pianists play on the piano, is the best scene in the film, even though the scene in which Kelly dances with Jerry Mouse is more famous.
Sinatra knows nothing about girls--much like in "On the Town" best when NOT doing the fantasy sequences"Anchors Away" is the movie made famous by Gene Kelly's very famous dance number with Jerry Mouse (from Tom & Jerry fame).
The film begins with a ship coming into port and a couple sailors, Clarence (Frank Sinatra) and Joe (Gene Kelly), are out on the prowl for some 'dames'.
When we thinking in musical movies we expect to see gorgeous legs girls dancing in large stages,but this time too family movie even Sinatra was strangely dumb and behaved,just Kelly has some malicious thoughts along the movie trying make a appointment with a hot girl who so long spoke about and all audience expect to meet her,for a family movie once more Dean Stockwell made history...by the way a few boy who made successfully career after grow up like him...backing on movie is easy to watch but a lack of the other beauty legs and faces made a puritanical movie...just for adjusted families only!!
Anchors Aweigh is the first film of the Frank Sinatra-Gene Kelly trilogy, tapping into classic Hollywood musicals odd fascination with sailors.
A jolly musical featuring a great double act in the pairing of Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, who don't share quite as many song-and-dance numbers as you'd expect.
Yes, this is one of the great musical movies I grew up with with such great entertainers as Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, not to mention the petite and glorious voice of Kathryn Grayson.
Gene Kelly did a great job dancing, expecially to that tango (when he was trying to express his love to Kathryn).I enjoyed the classical music being played by Jose Iturbi.
"Anchors Aweigh" is the product of the classic MGM musical production unit, and on the whole the film is every enjoyable  good music by Jule Styne and others, excellent dancing by Gene Kelly (and even a passable job by Frank Sinatra), and a funny well-paced script.
One of the first of the best musicals, Anchors Aweigh features several memorable musical sequences, such as Kelly dancing with Jerry the mouse, Kelly dancing with 7-year-old Sharon McManus, Sinatra singing with Jose Iturbi playing piano, Kathryn Grayson singing with Iturbi conducting, and much more.
I will be honest the only reason I wanted to see this film was because of the piece of animation, and this sequence also featured reanimated in an episode of Family Guy. Basically navy sailors Joseph 'Joe' Brady (Oscar nominated Gene Kelly) and Clarence Doolittle (Frank Sinatra) are on leave for a few days and hanging out in Hollywood.
The highlight of the film is of course the little story (like the ballets of An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain) with Kelly meeting the king of an animated land, Jerry mouse from Tom and Jerry, getting his medal after a dancing lesson, the rest is alright musical too.
Two sailors (Gene Kelly as 'sea wolf' and Frank Sinatra as 'Brooklyn') get a 4 day leave to find some women in Hollywood, and discover gorgeous Kathryn Grayson(as Aunt Susie) in an unusual introduction.