Best Foot Forward
There's an endless supply of energy in this sweet-natured musical comedy, for the most part based closely on the 1941 Broadway musical choreographed by Gene Kelly and starring several of the performers (June Allyson, Nancy Walker, Gloria DeHaven, and future director Stanley Donen among them) found in this film. Lucille Ball (who was not part of the stage version) plays herself against an unlikely backdrop: a military academy full of frisky boys. Ball is the reluctant guest of a diminutive cadet, Bud Hooper (Tommy Dix), who wrote her a mash note and invitation to be his date at a school prom. Ball's publicity man (William Gaxton) seizes upon the situation as a perfect PR stunt and convinces her to travel 3,000 miles to join Hooper at Winsocki Military Academy's dance. When Ball actually shows up, mayhem ensues: Hooper, who never dreamed she would accept, has to disinvite his girlfriend, Helen (Virginia Weidler), and ask Ball to pretend to be her lest the actress herself not pass muster with the institution's screening committee. Helen fights back while Hooper tries to keep Ball from the clutches of other cadets who'd like to, say, take the famous redhead for a walk in the moonlight. Meanwhile, Harry James and his orchestra let loose with "The Flight of the Bumblebee," and the cast hoof and sing their way through such fun numbers as "Three Men on a Date," Alive and Kickin'," and "What Do You Think I Am?" Music and lyrics are by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Edward Buzzell (Go West,At the Circus) directs.--Tom Keogh