GIVE ME A SAILOR (1938)

Navy sailors (and brothers) Jim and Walter are spending shore leave in San Francisco. Both are sweet on Nancy, though her sister Letty has a crush on Walter. A number of plotlines are set in motion early on: 1) We discover that Nancy is quite free with her affections, and isn't much of a housekeeper or cook, which is why Letty lives with her, to help her entertain; 2) we also discover that Jim and Letty write to each other in a secret code, and when Jim learns that Walter is going to propose to Nancy, he lets her know; 3) Letty has baked a batch of "yum-yum" cookies to enter in a national contest. When she asks her ne'er-do-well cousin to take a picture of her for the entry, he accidentally snaps her legs by mistake and that picture is sent off with the cookies; 4) Walter is arranging for his captain to use a hunting lodge at Paradise Valley; 5) Nancy is hosting a big picnic bash, for which Letty is doing most of the work. After all these things are set up, it's just a matter of dominoes falling as slapstick confusions and complications ensue.

This is Bob Hope's third movie (he plays Jim) and he is billed second to the more established Martha Raye (Letty)--her shtick was mostly being loud and homely, but though she can't compare to her co-star Betty Grable (Nancy) in looks, she's not as unattractive as her reputation would have it. Hope and Raye, pictured above, have good chemistry (they were paired in four movies between 1938 and 1939) and it doesn't take us long to realize that Jim and Letty belong together--though whether Nancy deserves Walter, or vice versa, is up for grabs. The funniest scene by far is when Letty puts on a mud face pack and can't get it off when company comes. The snafu of the leg picture pays off when Letty wins a beautiful legs contest and is suddenly rich, and therefore is suddenly desirable to both Jim and Walter. Jack Whiting (Walter) didn't have much of a movie career--this was the sixth and last film he made; he’s adequate though he fades into the background compared to other leads. This is an enjoyable bit of 30's romantic comedy; it doesn't quite fit the screwball genre conventions, but it's got lots of laugh lines goofy situations and physical comedy, and it's fun to see Hope and Raye and Grable in their early days. Funniest line: when the guy who develops the picture of Raye's legs is told it's a picture of her "yum-yums," he says, "I'll say it is!" [DVD]