Priorities on Parade (1942) Reviews

Very much a product of its times, Priorities on Parade was disliked by everyone but the public when it was first released in 1942. The story takes place in a wartime aircraft plant, where a group of entertainers secure jobs putting on shows for the workers during lunch and dinner breaks. The troupe's duties also include a bit of spot-welding and assembly-line work as well, leading to a variety of mildly comic complications. Naturally, all plot roads lead to a big, morale-boosting musical finale, highlighted by choreographer Jack Donahue's precision-dance routines, wherein the entertainers elect to turn down a Broadway show in favor of defense-plant work (this is a fantasy, isn't it?) The four protagonists are played by zany Jerry Colonna, handsome Johnnie Johnston, and gorgeous Ann Miller (in a blonde wig) and Betty Rhodes, while Vera Vague supplies her usual dizziness as a Rosie-the-Rivetter type. The Frank Loesser-Jules Styne-Herb Magidson score includes the hit tune "You're in Love With Somebody Else But I'm in Love With You". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi