Main Cast: Bing Crosby, Betty Hutton, Sonny Tufts, Ann Doran, Gwen Crawford
Release Year: 1944
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
This peppy wartime musical stars Bing Crosby as radio crooner Johnny Cabot, the heartthrob of millions. To escape his frenzied fans, Johnny joins the Navy, where is he ordering to aid a WAVE recruiting drive. He is helped(?) in this endeavor by Betty Hutton, amusingly cast in a dual role as twin sisters Susie and Rosemary, one a shy retiring brunette, the other a bold and brassy blonde (Vera Marshe doubles for Hutton is some scenes). Part of Johnny's recruiting strategy is to stage a musical show, as good an excuse as any for a steady stream of bouncy musical numbers. This is the film in which Bing Crosby and Sonny Tufts, both in blackface, introduce the Johnny Mercer-Harold Arlen standard "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive." Sharp-eyed viewers will spot Yvonne de Carlo, Mona Freeman, Mae Clarke, and Noel "Lois Lane" Neill in small roles. Here Come the Waves was partially remade by Martin & Lewis as Sailor Beware. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
How much one enjoys Here Come the Waves may very much depend on one's appreciation or and/or tolerance for Betty Hutton. Not that Waves is a solo Hutton vehicle by any means. The lead star is Bing Crosby, and while he's certainly not putting himself out to mine dramatic depths (which would be pretty hard to find anyway, given the circumstances), he turns in an enjoyable performance in his patented easygoing style. He's also in fine voice (and, on one occasion, not-so-fine blackface), and Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer have supplied him with some first-rate songs, including the sensual "That Old Black Magic" (written for an earlier film), the jaunty "Let's Take the Long Way Home," and the infectious "Accentuate the Positive." They've also given Crosby and Hutton an appealing duet in "I Promise You" and a boisterous "Poughkeepsie" for Hutton. Of course, Hutton could make "Ave Maria" boisterous, and that's part of the problem some will have with Waves. In truth, Hutton does do some very nice underplaying here -- but almost all of it is when she's portraying the "quiet" twin sister. When she's called on to be the raucous one, she lets out all the stops -- and then lets them out again. This can quickly become wearing, especially when the screenplay offers little of substance to offset her outbursts of energy. If one has a taste for Hutton, Here Come the Waves should be just what the doctor ordered; but even those who don't like Hutton should enjoy Crosby, the score, and the breezy direction. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
