Up in Arms

US (1944): Musical/Comedy/War

Nightclub performer Danny Kaye became a star with this, his first feature film. Based on the Eddie Cantor vehicle Whoopee! (1930), the story follows hypochondriac elevator operator Kaye as he's drafted into the Army during WW II. When Kaye tells girlfriend Constance Dowling that he and pal Dana Andrews are shipping out, she and pal Dinah Shore, who really loves Kaye, tag along all the way to an Army base in the Pacific. Kaye lets loose with his multiple skills of mimicry, double-talk, and light song and dance -- especially in a Max Sennett-esque finale with invading Japanese soldiers. Songs by both Harold Arlen and Kaye's future wife, Sylvia Fine, include "Conga," "Cherry Blossom Time," "All Out for Freedom," "Tess's Torch Song," "Melody in 4F," "The Skaddle," "The Jive Number" and the Oscar^®-nominated "Now I Know." Based on the Owen Davis play, The Nervous Wreck. Cast includes Louis Calhern, Elisha Cook, Jr., Lyle Talbot, Walter Catlett and Margaret Dumont. Elliott Nugent directs for RKO. (amctv.com)

 View a clip from this film (including Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore performing the jive version of "Tess's Torch Song") on YouTube.com.

2 nominations