Skirts Ahoy! (1952)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The acting in this movie is really good.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Diverting bit of fluff from MGM about three women who join the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) to get away from their respective man troubles. One (Joan Evans) was left standing at the altar, one (Esther Williams) left someone standing at the altar, and another (Vivian Blaine) never got to the altar. The women go through training, singing and having fun along the way, until they get down to the important business at hand: landing a man.Vivian Blaine keeps things moving with her energetic performance. Joan Evans starts out being a terribly depressing character but she has a good turnaround about a half-hour in. Esther Williams seems to be going through the motions; not bad but not remarkable in any way. Barry Sullivan plays her love interest. The two have no chemistry at all. The DeMarco sisters are fun to watch. Debbie Reynolds has a cameo in a dance routine. Emmett Lynn is a scene stealer as Pop the plumber. The song and dance numbers are nothing to write home about. At least one of them ("What Good is a Gal without a Guy?") is downright embarrassing. Still, it's a hard movie to dislike. Everything is light and frothy with an enjoyable trio of stars. The highlight of the whole thing is (not surprisingly) Esther's big swimming scene, this time with a couple of cute kids.

Even though I am a fan of Esther Williams, I found this film very uneven.Skirts Ahoy! was released in 1952 when the U.S. was involved in the Korean conflict. The roles of women in society were changed significantly during WWII, which ended only about five years before. The country was adjusting quickly and creating social phenomena (the baby boom, the suburban real estate boom, and a search for equilibrium in the roles of the sexes) that would be studied for decades. Esther Williams, Vivian Blaine and Joan Evans play three Waves in training at the Great Lakes U.S. Naval Training Center. They are rather aggressive in pursuit of men--an attitude that many men would find off-putting, especially in the early 50s.Barry Sullivan plays the navy physician that Esther Williams pursues. I found his performance drab, making it difficult to understand her fascination with him.Vivian Blaine practically plays Miss Adelaide from Guys and Dolls here, a role she perfected on Broadway in 1950 and, later, in the film (1955).Esther gets her moments in the pool, of course. As usual, the aqua routines are not really a part of the overall plot. And the studio managed to throw in a number of music and dance numbers that are the same way, so that Esther is an audience member during them. It's pretty remarkable that the local dinner club features Billy Eckstine. In a show on the base, we find Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds, Bobby Van and a full selection of orchestra, drill teams, and choral groups.The dance number featuring Debbie and Bobby was fun. Both are so fresh that their roles are uncredited. Singin' in the Rain was released in the same year, so who knew Debbie would be such a hit when Skirts Ahoy! came to theaters?I particularly enjoyed the performances of the (5) DeMarco Sisters. Great harmonies, great energy.The film has an improbable resolution, but the entire plot is merely a device to separate the swimming and musical numbers.

This is a terrible musical in a decade of great ones. It is absolutely dull. Somewhow this Wac- wave/recruitment drivel must have been plonked on the MGM conveyor belt excused by the Korean War as some sort of patriotic gesture. Maybe a female version of the Kelly sailor musicals was in mind but it has nothing to do with anything and has no pizzaz. Not even pizzas. Vivian Blaine does her Ms Adelaide stuff seen to better effect in Guys and Dolls, Debbie Reynolds appears for a second to zap the audience awake and Esther Williams is dulled into battleship gray. Billy Ecstein yawns his way through some sort of faux Lena Horne spot. MGM must have needed a tax write off in 1952, because there is no possible reason why this dull jigsaw puzzle of navy romantic antics could possibly exist... and MGM could make it on the back lot with existing props and costumes. Even Barry Sullivan behaves like J Carroll Naish. I really struggled though most of this... so just go to bed happy if this comes on, I have saved you the trouble of being annoyed by it.

This post-WWII film is very dated. The women recruits sing a song about how 'women are nothing without a man'. If you can put this sort of sentiment in the context that it was created, this film has a few things to recommend it. There are a few good musical numbers, and lots of camp humour. It's hilarious that none of the military personnel are ever shown doing anything remotely militant. The Navy is depicted as a social event, with shows, synchronized swimming, dating, hijinks.The DeMarco Sisters contribute a few nice moments to this brief, shallow movie. They harmonize nicely, and perform with enthusiasm.The movie is a mildly entertaining snapshot of the early Fifties, when America was still preoccupied with the war even while it was starting to focus its gaze on the changing relationship between the sexes.