To me, this is a classic movie for the end of war era. The first few reviewers cited the cavalcade type ones already. They need to be viewed and reviewed in the context of the time or the viewer misses the point. It is appropriate to note this, possibly, for people who do not realize there had been an all out world war for the past 4 to 6 yrs, depending on where one lived. mysterymoviegoer hit the nail on the head as far as I am concerned. I like to see the kinds of humor, the environments and attitudes that the movie portrays- not to mention the parade of stars and luminaries from the time. I did not see Maltin's review, gave up on it as a resource many yrs ago and hadn't even considered the intern angle. Nice to see another person take the time to record a most appropriate comment on this special kind of movie theme from a special time in history.

Searching round for movies that I could give to my dad as presents during the Easter holiday,I was delighted to stumble upon a very rare sounding title featuring Bing Crosby,which led to me getting ready to pay a visit to Duffy's tavern for the first time.The plot:Being left to run the tavern as the Duffy family attempt to live the high life as socialites,bar tender Archie decides to take advantage advantage of the situation by allowing 14 of his friends to secretly work and sleep in the tavern,who Archie also secretly pays with money from the Duffy family.After getting a phone call to notify him that Mrs Duffy has decided to pay a surprise visit to the tavern,Archie discovers to his horror that the tavern owes a huge amount of tax,thanks to Archie having secretly used the tax cash for his friends wages.With the axe hanging above the tavern's neck,Archie decides that the only option he has left is to quickly sort out a variety night,which will hopefully keep his dream tavern open.View on the film:Bringing lead actor/creator Ed Gardner's highly successful radio series to the big screen,the screenplay by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama is never able to fully reach the comedic opportunity offered in the plot,thanks to the writers allowing Archie's attempts to organise a show to fade into the background.Along with taking away feelings of excitement as Archie tries to sort out the event,this also leads to the title becoming a sketch movie which plods along,but never truly sparkles in the way it should.Taking on bar hosting duties,Ed Gardner gives a wonderfully dry performance as Archie,with Gardner displaying a sleek line in wit,as Archie attempts to save the tavern,whilst also keeping his eyes on the ladies in a number of great scenes perfectly played by Gardner.Joining Gardner in this pretty star-packed cameoing film,Betty Hutton gives a fantastic over the top performance as an extremely pampered version of herself,whilst Bing Crosby gives the movie dollops of charm,as Archie gets ready to discover if he is about to make the tavern's last orders.

The previous two reviewers do a very good job of detailing this film. It has greater historical value now than entertainment value because the type of humor --- radio and vaudeville--- are long gone and the stars like Ladd and Hutton and Lake and Crosby don't mean that much now. Leonard Maltin labeled it a Bomb. It's no masterpiece, but that's a gross injustice. Wonder which intern came up with that? Leonard needs to look at it himself. My guess is that it appealed to older viewers even at the time of its release 1945, the end of WWII. And it has a certain ethnic charm as well that will puzzle today's audiences. But a bomb? We are producing more bombs per season now than we were in 1945 with far less historic value. I shutter to think what Maltin's intern of 2075 will have to say about The Lone Ranger and Hangover 3. Worth a peek if you like old movies.

Ed Gardiner, creator and star of popular radio show Duffy's Tavern took the act to the silver screen at the end of World War II and Paramount provided him with an all star cast in support. Every studio had those all star cast variety shows at some point during the World War II years, some studios made more than one. I must admit I'm a sucker for them, so there's no way I could give this a bad review. Especially with theguest stars headed by America's number one star at the time, Bing Crosby.The plots of these extravaganzas were always paper thin. In this case Victor Moore owns a record factory and World War II, material and price controls have left him without shellac needed to produce those 78 rpms. Also the war has stripped him of his labor force. But the guys areback from the war, but Moore has no money to open the factory and no shellac. His recently discharged from the service employees are eating and drinking on credit at Duffy's Tavern, managed by inimitable and resourceful Archie played by Ed Gardiner.Taverns have always been a great source for comedy and drama of all kinds throughout the centuries. You could go all the way back to Shakespeare with Sir John Falstaff and Prince Hal and their boon drinking companions. Or for drama, what better than Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh. Or in a lighter vein, William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life. But Duffy's ain't that kind of a joint. Archie is part bartender, philosopher, with a touch of reprobate in him. We never see Mr. Duffy, but Archie reported in to him by phone several times during a given radio show. The bar is populated with a usual crew of characters who Archie comiserates with once a week. Archie's command of the English language is only equaled by Leo Gorcey's. I'm sure Gorcey must have studied under him.So Ed Gardiner and Victor Moore set about to get the factory running and the men back to work. They have a master recording of Bing Crosby which should do the trick. A whole bunch of stars including Crosby, are staying at a hotel in New York where Moore's daughter Marjorie Reynolds is a switchboard operator. If you can't figure the rest of this out, you ain't seen too many films from the forties.Duffy's Tavern ran for years on radio. Ed Gardiner tried to take it to television, but it didn't succeed there. Strange because so many TV shows like Archie Bunker's Place, Jackie Gleason's Joe the Bartender sketches and George Carlin's show from a few years ago owe the format to what Gardiner did on radio. A great place Duffy's Tavern, a place where Archie liked to say, "where the elite meet to eat."