Classic Musical Round-Up

"FOR ME AND MY GAL" (1942)
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Judy Garland and a debuting Gene Kelly really shine in this patriotic, sentimental ode to vaudeville. In WWI, a brash, charming dance comic (Kelly) teams up with a beautiful singer (Garland) as the two struggle with their personal and professional lives amidst wartime. 
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The ending is about as believable as "Sergeant York", but seeing Kelly and Garland feel each other out singing the title song in the first reel is worth the price of admission - or maybe a few war bonds. [B]
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"THE HARVEY GIRLS" (1946)
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A western-musical of sorts, "The Harvey Girls" is a bit of a wayward duck - colorful and fitfully amusing, but musically flat and awkward. The opening number, "On the Atchinson, Topeka and the Sante Fe" went on to become a big hit, but listening to Virginia O'Brien's "Wild Wild West" is enough to dash for the mute button. 
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Even Ray Bolger, the Scarecrow himself, is an enigma with his shoehorned dance exhibitions and goofy geriatrics. By the end of the film, I had forgotten who he was exactly and my apathy or bewilderment in regards to the answer is the epitome of what is an ultimately forgettable trip down that Atchinson, Topeka and the Sante Fe. [C]
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"ANCHORS AWEIGH" (1945)
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This star-studded, overcooked sailors-on-leave musical is the prototypical example of the kind of tangential excess that sometimes plagued the MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's. 
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At once a delightful romantic puzzle with elements of screwball comedy, the film ultimately proves to be all over the place - Frank Sinatra crooning here, Gene Kelly tapping there, Kathryn Grayson's operatic soprano in the middle, it takes an animated sequence to finally convince us that this thing is only intermittently focused. [B-]
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