Anchors Aweigh
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Anchors Aweigh
Plot
This mammoth musical is at base the story of two sailors on leave in Hollywood. Brash Joseph Brady (Gene Kelly) has promised his shy pal Clarence Doolittle (Frank Sinatra) that he will introduce Clarence to all the glamorous movie starlets whom he allegedly knows so well. Actually, the only actress whom Joseph meets is bit player Susan Abbott (Kathryn Grayson). He arranges for the golden-throated Susan to be auditioned by musician José Iturbi, but when she seems to want to return the favor romantically, Brady tries to foist the girl off on Clarence. But Clarence only has eyes for a fellow Brooklynite (Pamela Britton). Also involved in the plot machinations is runaway orphan Donald Martin (Dean Stockwell). Featuring Kelly dancing with such partners as a cartoon mouse (courtesy of MGM's house animators Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera), Anchors Aweigh was a huge hit in 1945, assuring audiences future Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra teamings. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
Anchors Aweigh is best known for the "King Who Couldn't Dance" sequence, a mixture of animation and live action that features Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry the mouse (of Tom and Jerry fame). This sequence deserves its reputation, for the blend is seamless and the dancing is captivating. Nothing else in the film really matches this segment, but it's still a light, quite enjoyable diversion. Kelly is in excellent terpsichorean form, whether dancing a charming duet with a little beggar girl or demonstrating his flair for acrobatics in the "La Cumparsita" ballet; he also does more than hold up his end of the dramatic chores, with one of his patented wolf-on-the-surface/creampuff-underneath portrayals. Frank Sinatra handles the ballads (including the lovely "I Fall in Love Too Easily") with aplomb, and Dean Stockwell is cute without being annoying. Kathryn Grayson (unflatteringly costumed by Irene) is bland but serviceable (although her fans will be delighted with her vocal performance), but her sweet and unaffected rendition of the simple "My Heart Sings" is noteworthy. Anchors' 139 minutes is too long for its very slight story (and the majority of José Iturbi's role could easily be cut with no damage), but the extra length doesn't detract from the film's modest but very real appeal. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- Frank Sinatra - Clarence Doolittle
- Kathryn Grayson - Susan Abbott
- Gene Kelly - Joseph Brady
- José Iturbi - Himself
- Dean Stockwell - Donald Martin
Credit
Randall Duell - Art Director, Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Stanley Donen - Choreography, Gene Kelly - Choreography, Kay Dean - Costume Designer, Irene - Costume Designer, George Sidney - Director, Adrienne Fazan - Editor, Sammy Cahn - Composer (Music Score), George Stoll - Composer (Music Score), Jule Styne - Composer (Music Score), Sammy Cahn - Songwriter, Jule Styne - Songwriter, Charles P. Boyle - Cinematographer, Robert Planck - Cinematographer, Joe Pasternak - Producer, Richard A. Pefferle - Set Designer, Edwin B. Willis - Set Designer, Isobel Lennart - Screenwriter, Alex Romero - Assistant Choreographer, Natalie Marcin - Short Story Author| Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004 Film), Anchoress (1993 Film) | |
| Anchors Aweigh: The United States Navy Story (1990 Film), Ancient Aliens (2009 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Anchors Aweigh (film)
| Anchors Aweigh | |
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 original poster |
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| Directed by | George Sidney |
| Produced by | Joe Pasternak |
| Written by | Natalie Marcin (story) Isobel Lennart |
| Starring | Frank Sinatra Kathryn Grayson Gene Kelly |
| Music by | Georgie Stoll (musical direction) Axel Stordahl (orchestrations) Calvin Jackson (incidental music) |
| Cinematography | Charles P. Boyle |
| Editing by | Adrienne Fazan |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Warner Home Video (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | July 14, 1945 |
| Running time | 143 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American Technicolor musical comedy film directed by George Sidney and starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, and Gene Kelly, in which two sailors go on a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, accompanied by music and song, meet an aspiring young singer and try to help her get an audition at MGM. In addition to a live-action Kelly dancing with Jerry the cartoon mouse, the movie also features José Iturbi, Pamela Britton, Dean Stockwell, and Sharon McManus.[1]
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Contents
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Plot
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 wants to just meet a girl. They find a little boy named Donald who ran away from home and wants to join the navy. Taking him home, the two sailors meet his young beautiful singer-wannabe Aunt Susan who is not as old as Donald made her sound. Clarence develops a crush on her, so he asks Joe to help him get Susan to like him. While trying to get Clarence a date with Susan, Joe boasts to her that he personally knows a big time music producer who can audition her. The only problem is, Joe doesn't know the music producer and he's starting to fall in love with Susan himself. Joe also tells the boy, Donald, a story about a sailor and a mouse that turns out to be Jerry Mouse. Clarence eventually meets and befriends a girl from his hometown of Brooklyn.
Cast
- Frank Sinatra - Seaman First Class Clarence "Brooklyn" Doolittle
- Kathryn Grayson - Susan Abbott
- Gene Kelly - Gunner's Mate Second Class Joseph "Joe" Brady
- José Iturbi - Himself
- Dean Stockwell - Donald Martin
- Pamela Britton - The Girl From Brooklyn
- Leon Ames - Admiral's aide reads citation for medals
- Sharon McManus - Little Mexican Girl
- Sara Berner - Jerry Mouse (in Tom and Jerry cartoon)
Songs
- "Main Title" - MGM Studio and Orchestra
- "Anchors Aweigh" - MGM Studio and Orchestra and Jose Iturbi
- "We Hate to Leave" - Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra
- "Brahms's Lullaby" - Frank Sinatra (Sang to Donald to come back again with Joe)
- "I Begged Her" - Gene Kelly & Frank Sinatra
- "If You Knew Susie" - Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly
- "Jealousy - Kathryn Grayson
- "What Makes the Sunset" - Frank Sinatra
- "(All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings" - Kathryn Grayson
- "The Donkey Serenade" - Jose Iturbi
- "The King Who Couldn't Sing and Dance" - Gene Kelly
- "The Worry Song" - Gene Kelly & Sara Berner (as Jerry Mouse from the cartoons "Tom and Jerry")
- "The Charm of You" - Frank Sinatra (featuring a rare appearance of Guitarist Benito Mayorga with the orchestra)
- "The Mexican Hat Dance" - Gene Kelly & Sharon McManus
- "Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" - Jose Iturbi
- "I Fall in Love Too Easily" - Frank Sinatra
- "La cumparsita" - Gene Kelly (Music by Francisco Mayorga and "The Guadalajara Trio")
- "Waltz Serenade" - Kathryn Grayson
- "Anchors Aweigh (Reprise)" - Dean Stockwell
- "Anchors Aweigh (Reprise 2)" - MGM Studio and Orchestra Chorus (THE END)
Background
The movie was written by Natalie Marcin and Isobel Lennart and directed by George Sidney. It was the first in a series of buddy pictures teaming the cocky dancing Kelly with the (against type) shy singing Sinatra, which culminated in 1949 with On the Town. The production tried to mix some of the more successful story elements and set-pieces from earlier MGM musical hits, such as Meet Me in St. Louis.
It won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture, which was received by the musical director Georgie Stoll. In 2001, Kevin Spacey purchased this Oscar statuette at a Butterfield & Butterfield estate auction and returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Anchors Aweigh was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gene Kelly), Best Cinematography, Color (Robert Planck, Charles P. Boyle), Best Music, Song (for Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) for "I Fall in Love Too Easily") and Best Picture.
The movie is famous for a musical number where Gene Kelly dances seamlessly with the animated Jerry Mouse (voiced by Sara Berner). Tom Cat appears briefly as a butler in the sequence supervised by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The animation was entirely done by veterans Kenneth Muse, Ray Patterson and Ed Barge. Originally, the producers wanted to use Mickey Mouse for this segment. Some sources claim Walt Disney initially agreed to loan out Mickey, but Roy Disney rejected the deal. According to Bob Thomas's book on Roy Disney, the studio was in debt after World War II and they were focusing on trying to get their own films out on time. According to Roy, they had no business making cartoons for other people.[2]
The film offers rare color glimpses of the wartime MGM studio, including the Thalberg Building, the frontgate, the backlot, the commissary, and one of the scoring stages, as well as an on-screen performance by real members of the MGM studio orchestra. There is also a memorable scene at the Hollywood Bowl, where Sinatra sings "I Fall in Love Too Easily", after Iturbi and a group of young pianists have performed an arrangement of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. In the audition scene with Iturbi, Grayson sings a special arrangement by Earl Brent for coloratura soprano and orchestra of the waltz from Peter Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. And Iturbi conducts the United States Navy Band for a patriotic rendition of the title tune. Many of the memorable scenes in this film were later featured in the That's Entertainment! tributes to MGM.
Awards and nominations
- Winner: Academy Award, Original Music Score, Georgie Stoll (although the contributions of one of the first black composers and pianists in the MGM music department, Calvin Jackson, went uncredited,[3] this was not uncommon even for white studio musicians)
- Nominated: Academy Award, Best Picture
- Nominated: Academy Award, Best Actor, Gene Kelly
- Nominated: Academy Award, Best Cinematography (Color)
- Nominated: Best Song, "I Fall In Love Too Easily" (Words and Music by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, Sung by Frank Sinatra)
Trivia
On an aircraft carrier entering San Diego Harbor, Admiral Hammond, in the name of the Secretary of the Navy, awards Petty Officer Second Class Joseph Brady (Gene Kelly) and Seaman Clarence Doolittle (Frank Sinatra) Silver Stars for actions on the USS Knoxville. When Doolittle is blown overboard, Brady dives in the water and saves his life.
The real USS Knoxville (PF-64) served in the European Theatre of Operations, but never in the Pacific.
In popular culture
- Paula Abdul was inspired by the scene of Kelly dancing with Jerry to create the video for her song "Opposites Attract", where she dances with an animated cat.
- In the Family Guy episode "Road to Rupert", the character Stewie Griffin dances with Kelly in an attempt to rent a helicopter. To do so, the animators took the original footage, removed Jerry Mouse, and replaced him with Stewie. The dialogue was performed by Stewie's normal voice actor and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. However, Jerry's reflection can be seen below Stewie.
References
- ^ Higham, Charles; Greenberg, Joel (1968). Hollywood in the Forties. London: A. Zwemmer Limited. p. 85. ISBN Not Given.
- ^ Bob Thomas. "Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire." Eventually Disneys lent out their effects wizard Joshua Meador to spruce up MGM's 1956 Forbidden Planet.
- ^ Clora Bryant & Steven Isoardi (1999), Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles, University of California Press, p. 68.
External links
- Anchors Aweigh at the Internet Movie Database
- Anchors Aweigh at the TCM Movie Database
- Anchors Aweigh at AllRovi
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