While "Her Highness & the Bellboy" (June Allyson and Robert Walker's other MGM pairing in 1945) was formula, it had the benefit of a better script and Hedy Lamarr. This war comedy took the male star of "The Clock" (Walker) and paired him with the break-out star of "Two Girls & a Sailor" (Allyson) from the previous year, giving June another sailor (for at least the film's opening), and they are a nice young, romantic team, if not the equivalent of Powell and Loy from the previous decade. MGM's formula seems tiresome and less sophisticated in a wartime setting, especially since Walker's character (newly married to Allyson on a whim) is discharged days into their marriage. Toss in Allyson's insufferable boss (Hume Cronyn) and a vampish neighbor (Audrey Totter), and you've got pretty much more of the same that MGM had been doing since sound came in.
i cringed at the wedding night scene of Walker and Allyson getting lovey dove and preparing for bed, and Allyson showing up in pigtails and her "jammy's", causing Walker to laugh at her, telling June that she looks like a little baby bunny. It was supposed to be cute but just showed off the character's immaturity, making them annoying rather than endearing. Cronyn and Totter both seem far too old to be making plays for Allyson and Walker, and I half expected Totter to utter, "Kiss Me My Fool!" with her inconsistent accent. They are cliched baddies with ridiculous situations and even more absurd dialog.
The only ones who escape ridicule here are Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, getting too few scenes as the delightfully funny superintendent of the apartment building and Reginald Owen as Totter's "benefactor". Even with only a handful of scenes, Anderson adds more character and wit, and Owen tones down his usual pompous behavior. Had this been reworked as a sequel to "The Clock" with Garland and Walker facing similar situations in the mature manner that their characters had been written and directed with, it would have been a better movie, especially if set after the war had ended.
i cringed at the wedding night scene of Walker and Allyson getting lovey dove and preparing for bed, and Allyson showing up in pigtails and her "jammy's", causing Walker to laugh at her, telling June that she looks like a little baby bunny. It was supposed to be cute but just showed off the character's immaturity, making them annoying rather than endearing. Cronyn and Totter both seem far too old to be making plays for Allyson and Walker, and I half expected Totter to utter, "Kiss Me My Fool!" with her inconsistent accent. They are cliched baddies with ridiculous situations and even more absurd dialog.
The only ones who escape ridicule here are Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, getting too few scenes as the delightfully funny superintendent of the apartment building and Reginald Owen as Totter's "benefactor". Even with only a handful of scenes, Anderson adds more character and wit, and Owen tones down his usual pompous behavior. Had this been reworked as a sequel to "The Clock" with Garland and Walker facing similar situations in the mature manner that their characters had been written and directed with, it would have been a better movie, especially if set after the war had ended.