Tonight's Movie: Pin Up Girl (1944)

PIN UP GIRL (1944) is a 20th Century-Fox musical starring, who else, the most famous pin-up of the era, Betty Grable!

Betty plays Lorry, a performer at a Missouri military canteen who's leaving to work as a stenographer for the Navy Department in Washington, D.C.

I don't think I'll even attempt to describe the plot any further, as it involves Lorry taking on multiple false identities and being engaged to 500 men but actually falling for just one, Navy hero Tommy (John Harvey)...but it's a cute, tuneful, and colorful 84 minutes which I quite enjoyed. The story itself is far less important than the World War II escapism, with lots of musical numbers included.

One of the movie's funny conceits is that Tommy wouldn't recognize Lorry when, Clark Kent style, she puts on glasses. Glasses or no glasses, Betty's Lorry is cute as a button -- though it must be said that the decision to dye Grable's hair a harsh white blonde at this stage of her career was a big mistake.

Other than that small complaint, Grable plays comedy well and has several musical numbers. The best routine in the movie is "Just This Once," which she dances with choreographer Hermes Pan, who also partnered her in other films. It sizzles and is just great -- worth rewinding and watching their moves a second time!

Eugene Pallette and Dorothea Kent are on hand for some nice comedy bits. Joe E. Brown's scenes are mercifully fairly toned down and limited. Martha Raye, on the other hand, is just mean as a jealous woman. John Harvey, in his second film, doesn't really make an impression one way or the other as Tommy.

The movie is brimming with music, with Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra providing quite a bit of the accompaniment, playing on a fantastic three-tiered stand. The Stardusters vocal group which sings with the band includes June Hutton. There's also some fantastic precision tap dancing by the Condos Brothers and even a skating number by the "Skating Vanities."

Look for familiar faces such as Dave Willock, Irving Bacon, Marcel Dalio, Leon Belasco, Mantan Moreland, and J. Farrell MacDonald in small parts. One of the canteen workers is Adele Jergens; Nat King Cole was said by IMDb to be a canteen pianist, but I'll need to go back and see if I can spot him! Everyone's favorite "dress extra," Bess Flowers, can be clearly seen as a patron at the Diplomacy Club.

The beautiful Technicolor photography was by Ernest Palmer, with direction by H. Bruce Humberstone.

I watched the movie on DVD in the 20th Century-Fox Marquee Musicals series. The nice disc includes a deleted Betty Grable song, and the box includes a glossy fold-out sheet on the film along with a set of postcards.

PIN UP GIRL was also released on Blu-ray by Twilight Time.

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