Pin Up Girl (1944)

"Pin Up Girl" is a very typical wartime musical from Fox, not in the front rank but pleasant enough nevertheless. There's not much in the way of plot and what plot there is is ridiculous but it looks good in glorious Technicolour and it has Betty Grable, Joe E Brown as well as the great Martha Raye. None of the songs are particularly memorable and John Harvey isn't much of a leading man. Otherwise it's a passable enough way to spend an evening especially when the Condos Brothers are tapping their toes.

This movie has everything going for it – great cast, competent director and a screenplay originally prepared by Hollywood's top writing team of Robert Ellis and Helen Logan. Alas, the studio brought in Earl Baldwin to revise the script, when studio head, Darryl Zanuck, decided to use the movie as a boost wartime vehicle for Betty Grable. Now I know a lot of people love Betty Grable. She has lots of pep, I'll give her that, but for me, peppy is not a quality that appeals unless it's firmly based on common sense. And although Betty was strong on brain power in real life, on the screen she was almost always cast as an idiot. "Pin Up Girl" is no exception. This time, she promises to marry almost every serviceman who accosts her, even though she has no intentions whatever of doing so. This is her way of boosting the morale of the servicemen, but, as you and I know, it's an idea laced with peril, particularly if we take her stratagem a step further and realize that it's based on a latent idea that the servicemen will be killed in action. For me, this puts a shadow over the whole movie. And there were other things I didn't like. I mean, just about all the characters are idiots. How could anyone be so stupid that they couldn't recognize Grable, even though she might be wearing glasses and slightly change her hair style. This sort of stratagem will work on the stage, but it's unsuitable for movies – unless, of course, you make the character a twin. And alas, I thought the marching girls outstayed their welcome too. They repeat their moves at least ten times. Even five would been more than sufficient, especially as their uniforms are so unattractive. Joe E. Brown is disappointingly cast in an inconsequential role (he doesn't even get a chance to use his famous yell) and hero John Harvey as he himself admitted, lacks screen charisma (though evidently he came over extremely well on the stage). So, all told, this is a very disappointing movie riddled with problems. Available on an excellent Fox DVD.

Joe E Brown and Martha Raye were 2 veteran vaudeville performers, as well as film personalities, both known, among other things, for their unusually wide mouths. Both were primarily comedians, but neither is allowed to be funny in this '44 Fox Technicolor. Martha was also a singer and does get to do a couple of solos. She and Betty were last seen together in a film when they were both contracted with Paramount, playing sisters in the '38 B&W "Give Me a Sailor", costarring Bob Hope. In that delightful little domestic comedy, Martha was the star and Betty the supporting actress. Here, the tables are turned, with Betty the star performer and providing most of the comedy, along with occasional inputs from rotund Eugene 'bullfrog' Palette, who plays her office boss.Unusual for a Grable film, she lacks one of her usual leading or supporting men. Instead, her romantic interest is a rather faceless serviceman in the form of John Harvey. Actually, this was a rather common ploy in musical comedies during the later part of WWII. Other notable Fox examples include "Something For the Boys" and "The Gang's All Here". Perhaps the most extreme example is Warner's "Hollywood Canteen". The idea was to present a 'nobody' serviceman that servicemen could better identify with, as the leading lady's romantic interest.It sometimes happened in '40s musicals that specialty acts provided the most interesting musical, comedy or gymnastic act, and this is perhaps one of those films.The gaudy roller skating dance act by 'The Skating Vanities', accompanied by Martha's "Red Robins, Bobwhites, and Bluebirds" is certainly the eye candy highlight of this film, and a part of its flag waving aspect. The Condo Brothers also did a couple of nice tap dance numbers, and Betty's dance with Hermes Pan to "Once Too Often" is OK. Later, there is a Viennese waltz scene, with dancers in very fancy classical European dress, preceding and following Betty's rendition of a more contemporary "The Story of the Very Merry Widow".Betty also gets to do a couple other musical numbers, mostly two renditions of "Don't Carry Tales Out of School".Perhaps the most unexpected aspect of this film is the finale overly long marching drill exercise, with rifles, executed by a sizable unit of WACs, with Betty as their competent drill sergeant. Would have been nice to have had some musical accompaniment, as in Warner's "This is the Army". I guess the message was: If we run short of fighting men to help win this war, we have plenty of fighting women to back them up!If you want to see the best Grable/Raye musical comedy, I recommend "Give Me a Sailor", as previously detailed. Betty looks even more beautiful at age 21 in that one. The emphasis is much more on comedy than music, with Bob Hope complementing Martha's comedy.

Not bad, not good for a Betty Grable flick. Story, like all the Fox musicals on the 40's is silly, but sometimes silly can be charming. PIN-UP GIRL focuses on Betty of course and those "million" dollar legs. The story of a want-to-be showgirl who is doing steno work could have somehow worked better with more fluid writing. A couple of good dance numbers, but nothing spectacular. Nice to see old timers Martha Raye and Joe E. Brown, but Martha plays a real witch in this one and takes the shine off her comedic talent. Too bad. Story itself does not focus and what happened to her girl friend, Dorthea Kent, who is in the first part of the movie, then is dropped like a hot potato. Her presence was missed as she was a good side kick to Betty. If you're a Betty Grable fan, and you must be to be reading about this movie, there are others a lot better. Too bad they're not available on DVD. By the way, the DVD transfer is quite nice.