The Condos Brothers Movies

Despite the film's title, Pin-Up Girl offers surprisingly few glimpses of the famed Betty Grable "gams." This lively Technicolor musical casts Gable as Lorrie Jones, secretary at a USO canteen frequented by handsome servicemen. Falling in love with war hero Tommy Dooley (John Harvey), Lorrie contrives to be near him wherever he goes by posing as a world-famous Broadway star. As a result, she is hired as a USO entertainer -- and becomes a star for real. Despite considerable competition from such veteran funsters as Joe E. Brown and Martha Raye, the film's comic honors are stolen by Dorothea Kent, cast as Lorrie's bespectacled, man-hungry best pal. Choreographed by Hermes Pan, the dance numbers in Pin-Up Girl are among Betty Grable's best, especially "I'll be Marching to a Love Song" -- portions of which later showed up in the patriotic two-reeler The All-Star Bond Rally. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's starring films, In the Navy was released second; Universal had just made a bundle off Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates, and the studio wanted another "service" comedy put into circulation in a hurry. Abbott and Costello share over-the-title billing with Dick Powell, who plays a popular radio singer. Eager to avoid his screaming fans, Powell enlists in the Navy under an assumed name, hoping to serve his country incognito. Girl reporter Claire Dodd chases after Powell, hoping to secure a photo of the fugitive "idol of millions." So much for the "straight" plot; what are Abbott and Costello up to? Well, Costello plays a ship's cook who wants to impress Patty Andrews of The Andrews Sisters. With his pal Abbott's help, Costello poses as an admiral -- and in so doing nearly destroys the entire American fleet. This climactic sequence ran into trouble when the U.S. Navy decided that it didn't want to be held up to ridicule by showing the bumbling Costello ordering its ships around. To save the climax -- the most expensive portion of the film -- the scriptwriters wrote a new coda, passing off Costello's "admiralty" as a dream sequence. The best Abbott and Costello routines have little if anything to do with the plot: our favorite (indeed, everyone's favorite) is Costello proving to Abbott that 7 X 13 = 28. Those viewers who prefer music to comedy will be thoroughly satisfied by the vocal contributions of Dick Powell and The Andrews Sisters, as well as a lively dance number offered by the Condos Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Happy Landing was another Sonja Henie moneyspinner from the 20th Century-Fox film factory. The story gets under way when skirt-chasing bandleader Duke Sargent (Cesar Romero) pitches woo to Trudy Ericksen (Sonja Henie) while on a tour of Norway. To Duke, it's just another harmless flirtation, but Trudy takes him seriously and trails him back to the USA, where she finds enormous success as an ice-skating star. When Duke's manager Jimmy Hall (Don Ameche) falls in love with Trudy himself, he cooks up a scheme to marry off Duke to vocalist Flo Kelly (Ethel Merman). As always, the plot takes a back seat to the skating, with Sonja Henie at her professional peak. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When economy expert Kerr works to cut the costs of the fleet in Malta, his lovely daughter, Matthews, is courted by the crew members on board. ~ Rovi