Main Cast: George Raft, Vera Zorina, Charles Grapewin, George Macready, Charles Butterworth, Regis Toomey, Grace McDonald
Release Year: 1944
Country: US
Run Time: 122 minutes
Plot
Paramount Pictures did their patriotic duty with this World War II era musical, with a number of the studio's biggest stars making cameo appearances. Tony West (George Raft), his sister Kitty (Grace McDonald), and their father Nick (Charles Grapewin) tour together as The Three Wests, a failing act just scraping by in the latter days of vaudeville. With job opportunities drying up on the East Coast, Tony persuades the family to take their chances in California, and for once luck is with him. Not long after arriving in Hollywood, Tony is hired as a chorus boy on a musical starring Latin bombshell Vera Zorina (Gloria Vance). Cocky Tony offers Vera some much-needed advice on her dancing. She's intrigued by his confidence, and a romance blooms; soon, the two marry. Tony becomes a major star as Vera's on and off screen dancing partner, but when World War II breaks out, Tony's conscience gets the better of him. Tony is 4-F because of a bad knee, but he's ashamed to admit this, even to Vera, who thinks he's avoiding the service out of cowardice. Vera eventually gives Tony his walking papers, and desperate to show his support of our troops, Tony organizes an all-star U.S.O. revue bringing much needed entertainment to America's fighting men overseas. Follow the Boys also features guest shots by Marlene Dietrich, W.C. Fields (demonstrating trick billiard shots), Orson Welles (doing his magic act), Dinah Shore, The Andrews Sisters, Jeanette MacDonald, Sophie Tucker, Randolph Scott, Lon Chaney Jr., and Maria Montez, among many others. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Every Hollywood studio turned out one or more war-time revues like Follow the Boys, entertainments built around a wispy plot that should really have been jettisoned altogether for all the good it ever did. In the case of Boys, it's a particularly annoying one, with a fabricated crisis -- dancer is afraid to admit to his girl that he has a knee injury that makes him unfit for armed service -- that is too silly to be believed. Fortunately, as with most films of this sort, Boys doesn't pay too much attention to its purported story, focusing instead on the many, many acts that are its raison d'etre. Personal choice will dictate which of the acts make the biggest impression, but almost everyone will agree that W.C. Fields' classic pool room routine and Orson Welles' marvelous magic act (with a stunning Marlene Dietrich as an assistant) are right at the top. Kudos also to Dinah Shore, bringing her shimmering vocal prowess to several numbers, including "I'll Walk Alone" and "I'll Get By." Sophie Tucker's roof raising, clarion voice also deserves mention, as does Louis Jourdan's irresistible "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't," George Raft's nimble raindance to "Sweet Georgia Brown" and a nifty medley by the Andrews Sisters. Like most films of this sort, Boys goes on a bit too long, despite the generally high quality of the talent involved. As a film, it's no great shakes, but as a smorgasbord of entertainment, it's pretty good. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
