Main Cast: Betty Grable, John Harvey, Martha Raye, Joe E. Brown, Eugene Pallette
Release Year: 1944
Country: US
Run Time: 83 minutes
Plot
Despite the film's title, Pin-Up Girl offers surprisingly few glimpses of the famed Betty Grable "gams." This lively Technicolor musical casts Gable as Lorrie Jones, secretary at a USO canteen frequented by handsome servicemen. Falling in love with war hero Tommy Dooley (John Harvey), Lorrie contrives to be near him wherever he goes by posing as a world-famous Broadway star. As a result, she is hired as a USO entertainer -- and becomes a star for real. Despite considerable competition from such veteran funsters as Joe E. Brown and Martha Raye, the film's comic honors are stolen by Dorothea Kent, cast as Lorrie's bespectacled, man-hungry best pal. Choreographed by Hermes Pan, the dance numbers in Pin-Up Girl are among Betty Grable's best, especially "I'll be Marching to a Love Song" -- portions of which later showed up in the patriotic two-reeler The All-Star Bond Rally. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Pin-Up Girl is an awfully thin little musical, even for star Betty Grable, who rarely got vehicles that were worthy of her talents. Even more disappointing is the fact that Pin-Up, starring the most famous pin-up girl of her time, fails to deliver on the promise of its title: Grable is rarely given the chance to show off her fine physical assets, primarily due to the fact that she was pregnant at the time of filming. As is often the case with Grable films, the musical numbers have to carry the picture and while the songs themselves are not especially distinguished, Grable makes the absolute most out of them and forces even the duller ones into something to see. Of special interest is the "Once Too Often" sequence, notable for the appearance of Fred Astaire choreographer Hermes Pan, who performs a semi-apache dance with Grable that's a definite highlight. As her co-star, John Harvey is a bit too insubstantial, and comics Martha Raye and Joe E. Brown use their generous-sized mouths to try for as many laughs as they can, but don't have the material to garner much success. Pin-Up isn't awful, but there's not much aside from Grable (and Pan) to recommend it. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
