PrimeWire

From the thunderous Tommy Dorsey opening with drummer Buddy Rich & trumpeter Ziggy Elman leading The Hawaiian War Chant with dancing legend Eleanor Powell in full hula mode, this flick is a great Big Band film that has great songs like Tallulah (done with Ellie trading licks with Buddy, tossing drums & sticks around-while she does an 8 foot jump across a pool & dancing on tables), Tampico, Cape Dance, How About You, Moonlight Bay (with Morse Code tapping).

Expect to also see a young peak bobby-socks era Sinatra with the Pied Pipers chorus. Since it’s MGM we also get Cowardly Lion Bert Lahr romancing expressionless singer Virginia O’Brien (Shoot The Cupid To Me Stupid). Very much a pre-American entry into WWII film, that sets the tone for the (very light) mistaken-identity espionage story that puts Ellie at the center.