SHIP AHOY (1942)

Tommy Dorsey and his band play their last date in New York before setting sail for a gig in Puerto Rico. After the show, band singer Tallulah Winters (Eleanor Powell) is whisked away by some government agents and asked to perform a patriotic duty: take a small prototype of a magnetic mine, an American military secret, and deliver it to a contact in Puerto Rico. After she is given the mine (small but with a very powerful charge) and sent to the ship, we discover that the agents are actually foreign spies, led by Dr. Farno, who are using her like a drug mule might be used today. Farno got the idea from a pulp fiction adventure story written by Merton Kibble (Red Skelton), whom we meet as he's dictating three different pulp stories—one involving his popular superhero Wonder Lad—to three secretaries at the same time. Merton's assistant Skip (Bert Lahr) is sweet on Fran (Virginia O'Brien), a chorus girl with Dorsey's band, and he convinces Merton, who is ready to collapse from stress, to join him on the ship to Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, real government agents are also on board, having learned that the mine is being transported. On the ship, Merton and Tallulah begin a tentative romantic relationship. Once in Puerto Rico, Tallulah delivers the mine, but when she realizes that Farno is a spy and that the bad guys want to dispose of her and Merton, she taps out an SOS with her feet, while doing a spectacular tap number, to notify the genuine American agents that she's in trouble. All is made right by the fadeout.

Despite seeming like a plot-heavy movie, this is actually a fairly frothy musical—I'd estimate that at least half of the movie's 90 minute running time is devoted to songs and production numbers. However, this isn't a musical where people burst into song on the streets; all the music is presented in a performing context. In addition to Dorsey, Powell, and O'Brien, we are entertained by the legendary drummer Buddy Rich and by an up-and-coming crooner named Frank Sinatra (who isn't actually given screen credit). Though the narrative has some clever turns, the musical performances are the reasons to watch. Rich gets a couple of energetic solos, Sinatra sings nicely, and Powell burns up the screen, especially in a number in which she is tossed across the half-length of a pool and caught by a man on a large floating platform. Her Morse Code tap number at the end, to "On Moonlight Bay," is a fitting climax. I'm not a fan of Skelton's rather manic manner, but Lahr is fun in his vaudeville shtick way, and I love the deadpan Virginia O'Brien. For me, it was worth watching the whole movie to see her turn to the camera in the middle of singing a comic number to Lahr, who's been pestering her constantly, and exclaim, "Murder, Jack!" Skelton's highlight is struggling with a small suitcase that contains the magnetic mine. I was startled to hear Tommy Dorsey use the slang term "Groovy!"—I had assumed that was strictly a 60s thing. John Emery is Farno and William Post Jr. has a nice moment or two as one of the agents. Fun, but only essential for fans of Powell and O’Brien. Pictured are Lahr and O'Brien. [TCM]