Warner Bros. Pictures puts its best foot forward to help the war effort with “This is the Army.” Producers Jack L. Warner and Hal B. Wallis hired Irving Berlin to write the music and lyrics for this tuneful World War II morale booster. Berlin even performed one of his own musical numbers – “I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.” Another highlight was Kate Smith singing a rousing extended version of “God Bless America.”
The cast includes Ronald Reagan, Rosemary DeCamp, George Murphy, Joan Leslie, Alan Hale, George Tobias, Charles Butterworth, Dolores Costello, Una Merkel, Stanley Ridges, Ruth Donnelly, Dorothy Peterson, Gertrude Nielson, and Jack Young as Franklin D. Roosevelt. There was a moment of irony when Young as FDR entered the theater and “Hail to the Chief” as played. It is unlikely that anyone in the room or theater could have realized that an actual future U. S. President (Reagan) was also among them.
Director Michael Curtiz (“Casablanca” 1942) expertly handled the job of dealing with the cast of thousands and instilling good production values into the film. The numerous musical dance numbers were well choreographed by Leroy Prinz and Robert Sidney. The polished screenplay was penned by Casey Robinson and Claude Binyon. All we know is that we are in it for the duration after a viewing of the watchable box office sensation “This is the Army.”
This is the Army (1943)
cinema
My Review
Warner Bros. Pictures puts its best foot forward to help the war effort with “This is the Army.” Producers Jack L. Warner and Hal B. Wallis hired Irving Berlin to write the music and lyrics for this tuneful World War II morale booster. Berlin even performed one of his own musical numbers – “I Hate to Get Up in the Morning.” Another highlight was Kate Smith singing a rousing extended version of “God Bless America.”
The cast includes Ronald Reagan, Rosemary DeCamp, George Murphy, Joan Leslie, Alan Hale, George Tobias, Charles Butterworth, Dolores Costello, Una Merkel, Stanley Ridges, Ruth Donnelly, Dorothy Peterson, Gertrude Nielson, and Jack Young as Franklin D. Roosevelt. There was a moment of irony when Young as FDR entered the theater and “Hail to the Chief” as played. It is unlikely that anyone in the room or theater could have realized that an actual future U. S. President (Reagan) was also among them.
Director Michael Curtiz (“Casablanca” 1942) expertly handled the job of dealing with the cast of thousands and instilling good production values into the film. The numerous musical dance numbers were well choreographed by Leroy Prinz and Robert Sidney. The polished screenplay was penned by Casey Robinson and Claude Binyon. All we know is that we are in it for the duration after a viewing of the watchable box office sensation “This is the Army.”