Sueños de gloria

It seems to take forever to get through a plodding build-up, including a stiff performance by George Raft as a dancer, with Norwegian ballerina Vera Zorina as his partner, but there is no better example of how Hollywood rallied to entertain the troops during World War II than this impressive parade of celebrities, showcasing some of the most popular acts of the time: Sophie Tucker talk- singing "The Better the Loving Will Be," the Andrews Sisters doing a string of their hits, Jeanette MacDonald singing "Beyond the Blue Horizon," Dinah Shore with "I'll Walk Alone," and virtually the entire roster of contract actors at Universal Pictures. The footage of actual soldier audiences is nearly as interesting as the studio performances with which it is interspersed.

During the World War II year every major studio contributed at least one all star extravaganza for the movie going public. Many times that portion of the movie going public that was in the Armed Services and over there got to see some of this stuff first. Universal Studio's entry into this field was Follow the Boys.

The first twenty five minutes of the film consists of how screen team and married in real cinema life team George Raft and Vera Zorina got together. Raft plays one of the members of an old vaudeville show business family who after vaudeville dies, goes to Hollywood to continue his career. He meets up with Vera Zorina and they meet and fall in love and get married. Their joint careers are going good until Pearl Harbor.

Here's the part of the plot I cannot understand. Raft tries to enlist and gets turned down because of a bad knee. He wants it kept quiet for reasons I absolutely can't figure out. A few Hollywood stars like Gary Cooper (a broken hip that never mended properly) and Ward Bond (another broken hip and epilepsy) were quite legitimate 4-Fs. Why this was so embarrassing for Raft didn't make sense to me.

But what he does is start organizing shows under the USO auspices and at that point all the stars playing themselves came in. Another thing about Follow the Boys I don't understand is that several of Universal's biggest musical and comedy stars that were there at the time never appeared. I'm talking about folks like Abbott&Costello, Deanna Durbin, Allan Jones and Nelson Eddy. And they even got Jeanette MacDonald over from MGM as one of the guest stars.

But it's still a good group that's here. Sophie Tucker, Dinah Shore, Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan and the incomparable W.C. Fields. This was Fields's farewell appearance and he does his famous pool room bit that he perfected in vaudeville long before he became the screen's number one misanthrope.

Dinah Shore sang I'll Walk Alone, one of the World War II era's biggest song hits and Follow the Boys only nomination for an Academy Award. It lost that year to Swinging on a Star from Going My Way. Dinah's rendition will moisten the eyes I guarantee. She sold a few 78 platters back in the day off this.

Orson Welles is in this one and in it he gets to show off in his number two avocation, prestidigitation. Mr. Welles performs a few feats of magic, something he did when he was not acting, writing, directing, etc. And he had the loveliest of assistants in Marlene Dietrich.

Although George Raft was known for his gangster portrayals, back in the day before Hollywood he was a dancer. He showed that talent off in such films as Rumba and Bolero for Paramount in the Thirties and he was pretty good. He and Vera Zorina made a fine dance team and Raft himself does a nice soft shoe routine to Sweet Georgia Brown.

Jeanette MacDonald got to reprise one of her early screen hits Beyond the Blue Horrizon and that was a treat indeed. Too bad no one thought to team her with Nelson Eddy or Allan Jones, but I see the fine hand of Louis B. Mayer here who probably didn't want them singing together for anyone else but Leo the Lion.

I have a weakness for these all star extravaganzas so there's no way I ever give one a bad review. Despite a story line that defies belief, Follow the Boys should not be missed.

1944's "Follow the Boys" was hardly the first entry in the studios' rush to provide wartime entertainment in the form of a musical revue featuring contract players going all out for victory. Universal didn't have the kind of stars that the majors had, so they resorted to borrowing George Raft and Vera Zorina to kick off the initial storyline, vaudeville hoofers lamenting its demise only to find new life in serving the armed forces by performing on a worldwide scale. W.C. Fields drops by to play out his ancient (circa 1903) pool routine, done earlier in 1915's "Pool Sharks" (his screen debut) and 1934's "Six of a Kind." Jeannette MacDonald reprises her greatest triumph, "Beyond the Blue Horizon," as do The Andrews Sisters (they sing a medley of their hits), while bandleaders Charlie Pivak, Freddie Slack, Ted Lewis ("is everybody happy?"), and Louis Jordan round out the musical portion. There is an amusing dog act that ends in breathless fashion, and Orson Welles indulging in one of his favorite pastimes, prestidigitation, with gorgeous Marlene Dietrich an assistant that any magician would literally die for (being sawed in half just about does it!). Around the half hour mark Raft addresses an assembly of actors making up most of Universal's stable, mostly silent and observing, some granted a line or two - Andy Devine, Lon Chaney, Randolph Scott, Evelyn Ankers, Alan Curtis, Turhan Bey, Nigel Bruce, Lois Collier, Peter Coe, Susanna Foster, Gloria Jean, Thomas Gomez, Elyse Knox, Maria Montez, Robert Paige, and Gale Sondergaard. For Lon Chaney fans, it's enough to see him sitting right behind Sophie Tucker, wearing the same mustache from his just completed "Calling Dr. Death," since a few months earlier he was definitely absent from Olsen and Johnson's "Crazy House" (this was the last time he was unbilled on screen).

Vaudeville is dying, so George Raft, his dad, Charley Grapewin, and his sister Grace McDonald, move to Hollywood to try and continue to work. A closeup of George in a top hat and tails follows him as he takes his place on a grand stage. "Places," the director calls, and when signaled, George starts dancing. Just as the audience thinks he's made it in Hollywood, the camera pans out and shows him in a row of a dozen other chorus men dancing behind Vera Zorina. It's very clever, and a step up from the usual "variety show" movies produced to support our troops during WWII.

Once George falls in love with and marries Vera, WWII breaks out, and they organize a series of USO all-star entertainment, with dozens of movie, stage, and radio stars pitching in. While Marlene Dietrich jokes that she'll go anywhere with sailors, soldiers, and marines, Donald O'Connor tells audiences he'll be joining the overseas servicemen soon. Join Sophie Tucker, the Andrews Sisters, W.C. Fields, Jeanette McDonald, Delta Rhythm Boys, Orson Welles, Peggy Ryan, Dinah Shore, Louis Jordan, Ted Lewis, Walter Abel, Lon Chaney Jr. Louise Beavers, Susanna Foster, Andy Devine, Gloria Jean, Frank Jenks, Gale Sondergaard, Regis Toomey, and Randolph Scott as they perform for soldiers all over the world. One very touching part to this movie is also extremely sad: the screen shows a list of entertainers who were currently travelling and performing for the troops, separated by region. There is an Honor Roll with names of people who died in the war effort, including Leslie Howard and Carole Lombard.

The heart and soul of this movie is George Raft. He has such energy and pour his passion into entertaining the troops and making sure everyone does their part for the war effort. When it starts raining during an outdoor show, he himself steps onstage. "If you boys can take it, so can I," he says before tap dancing. Gene Kelly wasn't the first one to sing in the rain.

It is difficult in the modern world of mega-entertainment to comprehend how little was available in 1944, especially for troops stationed in remote regions, at least if movies made during World War Two are any testimony. This movie is loaded with talent, singing what the "boys" wanted to hear. The plot is typical of USO movies, lots of entertaining and lots of appreciation. Dinah Shore's "I Promise You" and the Andrew Sisters' "Apple Blossom Time" must have put many minds at ease, at least for a short time. The film is worth seeing, especially when George Raft dances in the rain.