Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Four Jerks in a Jeep

Four Jills in a Jeep is pretty much your standard WWII entertain-the-troops film. The title is probably a play on the song the Andrews Sisters sang in a similar movie, Private Buckaroo, "Six Jerks in a Jeep".

Kay Francis hosts a radio show especially for the troops. It features the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra, Carole Landis (Brass Monkey), Mitzi Mayfair, and Martha Raye, all playing themselves. A general overhears Martha wishing she could be in Europe with the boys, and grants her wish.

The basic idea seems to be: stick four babes in a war zone, and watch them perform.
  • Kay Francis, tall, dark, patrician, spends her time meeting with generals and aristocrats. She is genteel.
  • Carole Landis, nearly as tall, sets her sights a little lower. She bumps into a pilot in the mud and finds she can't get him off of her mind, especially when he is flying a mission.
  • Mitzi Mayfair, a cute little blond, is a talented tap dancer who wasn't in many movies. Here, she runs into her old vaudeville partner Dick Haymes, now serving in the army. They fight and fall in love again.
  • Martha Raye, the manic comedienne with the wide mouth, gets most of the gags. She also gets politely chased by Phil Silvers, the soldier detailed to chaperon the girls.
Some laughs, some songs, some dancing, a little danger and romance, but not really a lot of any of these. Mostly, the movie is content to let the girls look beautiful, each in her own way. Whether that's good enough is up to you.

2 comments:

mr. schprock said...

I'm just trying to picture Martha Raye young. That's reason enough to see it.

Beveridge D. Spenser said...

Then I recommend The Big Broadcast of 1938, where she plays W.C. Fields daughter. This is the movie where Bob Hope first sings his theme song, "Thanks for the Memories".