Sailor's Lady (1940) Poster

(1940)

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4/10
A cult director, a great cast, but a "B" movie nonetheless
JohnHowardReid16 July 2009
For the first half of its 66-minute running time, this is a forced, labored, uninspired, supremely talky, but totally unfunny "comedy". But then director Allan Dwan suddenly lifts his game by staging a rather exciting slugging match. After this bout, the script improves as well by introducing the same plot theme that was later better served by "The Baby and the Battleship". This plot gimmick is also used to our advantage by enabling the introduction in quick succession of a whole fleet of familiar, but welcome faces. Alas, the fun doesn't last! Aside from the sequences just mentioned, the movie as a whole has very little to recommend it. The photography is pretty ordinary; Dana Andrews is wasted in a minor role; and the heroine, as written by Frank Wead and played by Nancy Kelly, must rank as one of the least attractive ever presented in a Fox movie. Admittedly, production values are quite lavish by "B" standards, but they can do little to rescue the forced script and the unappealing leads.
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2/10
Navy duty interrupted by an abandoned baby.
mark.waltz15 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
One of the most ridiculously unfunny comedies of the golden age of Hollywood is this unbelievable yarn about the navy being halted in its travks by the presence of a baby found on an active duty ship. The film starts off as your average romantic comedy where sailor Jon Hall returning to see his girl Nancy Kelly and finding that she's taken in an orphaned toddler, left behind by old friends of theirs involved in a fatal car accident. Already in trouble for pranks pulled on him as he was about to get off his ship, this threatens to prevent Kelly from getting permanent custody of the child, and by some ridiculous fluke, the child ends up left behind on the ship as it heads out to sea for war games. This attempt at cute comedy is an insult to the navy and a waste of supporting player Joan Davis's talent. Dana Andrews and Buster Crabbe are also present, but are of no consequence. Wally Vernon is there for comedy relief that never shows up.
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