Navy Blues(Warner Bros.) (1941)

"NAVY BLUES'—PUBLICITY Still NB 117; Mat 206—30c ON THE BEACH AT WAIKIKI—Jack Oakie tries to make a little time with Ann Sheridan—and who can blame him? Scene is from their new filmusical, “Navy Blues,"’ which opens today at the Strand Theatre. Jack Oakie’s Clowning Swell in ‘Navy Blues’ “Put a cap and bells on him,” wrote one critic, “and you have Jack Oakie—a court jester with a broad streak of sentimentality that hides under the cloak of A: P2106. OWs # pictures for : lo, these last 713 years, is ; peddling the : Same sort of : antics now, in Warner Mat 104—15c Bros.’ “Navy Blues,” as when he _ first stepped before Hollywood’s cameras in 1928. Jack knows what audiences expect of him and he’d be the last man to vary his type of zaney humor. There’s only one noticeable change in the early-days Jack and the Oakie of today. That’s a more than sizeable girth, acquired somewhere along the way. Jack weighs in at about 60 pounds more today than when he first hit Hollywood. Everything else about the man is much the same, including the hoarsely delivered wise-crack, the love for laughs and other clowns about him with whom to trade banter. In this direction he’s well fixed at present, for in “Navy Blues” he’s cast with Martha Raye, Jack Haley, Jackie C. Gleason of New York night club fame and Jack Carson, no mean wags themselves. Jack’s also finding that Ann Sheridan, who heads the large filmusical’s cast, has a wit of her own. In fact Jack’s pretty darned happy about his role in “Navy Blues.” It’s the kind of clambake in which he feels at home. Still NB 65; Mat 207—30c “WHO, ME?" Jack Oakie wants to know and Jack Carson says, "Yes, you!" Jack Haley (left) and Oakie play slap-happy gobs and Carson their longsuffering superior in "Navy Blues," new comedy with music. / Navy Blues” Sails (Review ) Into the Strand With A Cargo of Fun for Everyone “Navy Blues,” Warner Bros.’ streamlined musical comedy which comes to the Strand Theatre Friday, trips the light fantastic from the opening scene to the closing grand finale 108 minutes later. Here is a compote of mirth, melody, dancing and_ song hits seasoned well to please the entertainment appetite of the most epicureanized theatre goer. Choicest plums in this movie dessert are the dancing-singing comediennes, Ann Sheridan and Martha Raye, and the boisterous buffoons, Jack Oakie and Jack Haley. The story which skips around on and off the battleship Cleveland anchored in Hawaiian waters, finds the Jacks hopping about from the frying pan into the fire every time. Their bag of pranks is as full as old Santa’s toy sack at Christmas time. Haley accuses his ex-wife, Martha Raye, of being an international spy and has her thrown into jail. Oakie pawns the ship’s trophies and can’t get them back. Both clowns Still NB 75; Mat 108—15c A GIRL AND HER GOB—Ann Sheridan and Herbert Anderson go romantic for this scene in "Navy Blues," gay musical funfest at the Strand. Ann Sheridan's Six Star Steps Ann Sheridan, who is doing all right for herself in Hollywood, recently formulated Six Commandments for a_halfdozen girls who hope to do as well. The girls are the Navy Blues Sextet, and all are getting their first good movie break in Warner Bros.’ “Navy Blues,” in which Ann stars. Here are Ann’s Commandments: 1—Everyone will kid you in Hollywood except your mirror. Keep it polished. 2—Be a good trouper and let the close-ups fall where they may. 3—Be nice to prop men: the producers can (and do) take care of themselves. 4—Know thy cutter — he’s your bread and butter. 5—Look for the silver lining, but keep an eye out for any loose gold floating around, too. 6—Honor thy diet, else the avoirdupois shall inherit the girth. The girls to whom Miss Sheridan issued her Commandments are Peggy Diggins, Marguerite Chapman, Kay Aldridge, Claire James, Georgia Carroll and Loraine Gettman of the Navy Blues Sextet. kidnap the fieet’s champion gun pointer, Herbert Anderson, who has been transferred to their ship, and bet their shipmate’s pay checks on the outcome of the target title. When their chicanery doesn’t work they get chased all over the island and end up in a couple of hula skirts where they do a swing version of the hula with Ann Sheridan, a bevy of native dancers and the Navy Blues Sextet. The only thing “right” that the Jacks do is to lead Ann Sheridan into the arms of gun pointer and hog caller Herbert Anderson to serve their own ends. Complications are so frequent they trip over each other and the picture is 108 minutes of laughs. Song hits “In Waikiki’ and “You’re a Natural,” as well as others written by Johnny Mercer and Arthur Schwartz, get a spring board swan dive into melody fame from the throats of Ann Sheridan, Martha Raye and the Navy Blues Sextet. The Sextet, a panoply of color, beauty and dancing grace, is composed of Peggy Diggins, Georgia Carroll, Loraine Gettman, Marguerite Chapman, Katharine Aldridge and Claire James. Lloyd Bacon’s direction is super-smooth, weaving the big song and dance numbers in with the story sequeneces with perfect integration. Performances are all well-keyed for comedy, and Ann Sheridan is at her best in the role of the cynical show girl who goes soft over a country-boy gob. Herbert Anderson, a_ screen newcomer, makes the most of this role and shows promise as an up-and-coming leading man with a grand comedy flair. If it’s fun you want, “Navy Blues” is your picture! Busy Comic Jack Haley Wishes He Were Twins Hollywood thinks it owes starry-eyed Jack Haley an apology for not discovering him sooner and keeping him busier, but Jack doesn’t agree. He’s glad he caught on as early as he did, and certainly he couldn’t be any busier than he is today. He’s in practically every scene of Warner Bros.’ “Navy Blues,” the big filmusical with a cast including Ann Sheridan, Jack Oakie, Martha Raye, Jack Carson, Herbert Anderson and the Navy Blues Sextet. His commitments are stacked up six deep ahead of him and when Hollywood can spare the man, Broadway is poised ready to spring at him. Jack Haley reverently wishes there were two or three of him, so one of him could get a rest now and then. Jack Haley was born in Boston, Mass., on August 10 and, in spite of a father, John Haley, who wished him to follow in his footsteps as a deepwater navigator, had his eye on a Stage career from the first. Jack made his singing debut at a church social when only six, followed it with class plays at Dwight Grammar School and Boston English High and low merely then, when he had saved $15, ran away from home. Followed a session as a song plugger in Philadelphia and then his first professional engagement, in vaudeville. Haley’s engagements after this came so fast and were so varied that space will al for their listing: First,. six months of small time variety, then big time vaudeville when he played the Keith Circuit with The Lightner Girls and Alexander for a year and a half. (One of the Lightner Girls, Florence McFadden, was later to become his wife.) Next Haley joined Charley Crafts in an act dubbed “Crafts and Haley,” and reached the goal of all vaudevillians, the Palace Theatre, New York. Then followed several years in Broadway musicals. Film producers took notice and Haley was on his way. Mat 103—15c Still NB 748; Mat 204—30c HONOLULU, HERE WE COME—and how do you like the scenery? Ann Sheridan (with the ukulele) leads the six lithesome lovelies of the Navy Blues Sextet in a bit of a tune in the Strand's new musical, "Navy Blues." 25