Ann Miller did get to MGM but unfortunately at a time when musicals were on their way out. She started out at RKO, where her tap specialities were usually the standout scenes from the so-so films she was given. When "Too Many Girls" was filmed, Ann did her famous "Mexiconga" dance. The producers wanted to take her back to Broadway but Ann was set on Hollywood stardom - she then signed with Columbia. "Reveille With Beverly" was an extremely popular musical featuring some of the biggest swing bands of the era and was typical of the type of film that Ann was making at the time.The film starts with the wonderful Mills Brothers singing "Cielito Lindo" (Mexican Hat Dance) - beautiful Beverly dreams of having her own radio show - she would fill it with plenty of boogie woogie. Vernon Lewis (Franklyn Pangborn) is the early morning broadcaster who has the "Classics at Dawn" show. After convincing Vernon that he needs a vacation Beverly takes his place and the first record is Count Basie's "One O'Clock Jump" - "hotter than your morning coffee"!!!Eddie Ross (Larry Parks) gets a lift to the barracks and hears his sister on the radio - a debate breaks out about her looks or lack of them. Eddie neglects to tell them she is his sister but does invite them to his house for the weekend. Of course they find out that she is young and pretty but just to confuse matters, the boys swap names. Barry Lang is sick of being only liked for his money, but as plain old Andy Adams, Beverly takes a shine to him. The inevitable mix-up occurs throughout the film.She christens her show "Reveille With Beverly" and starts it off with "Big Noise" by Bob Crosby (singers include Lyn and Lee Wilde). Before she gets going Beverly is sacked and gets her old job back at the record store!!! That's before her boss realises what a gold mine he has. Suddenly she is back on air - with Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train". All good things must come to an end and Vernon returns - like a bad penny!!! Beverly can now only dream of presenting Frank Sinatra singing "Night and Day" to her "boys". All things end well and with a "Cow Cow Boogie" sung by Ella Mae Morse, she is back on deck.The end of the film features a great concert with the Mills Brothers singing "Sweet Lucy Brown", and The Radio Rogues, who do spot on imitations of Morton Downey, Amos and Andy, Kate Smith, among others. The story is only an excuse for presenting some of the finest swing musicians of the day but Ann Miller is beautiful, bubbly and talented and her tap solo to "Thumbs Up and V for Victory" must be the fastest on film!!! Although I can't find her credited, I think that must be Irene Ryan (Granny from "The Beverly Hillbillies") playing a sassy secretaries who fills the film with cornball humour.Recommended.

Rather subdued war-time musical, not as sparkling as other Miller vehicles, but still entertaining with some of the top musical acts of the time-- Duke Ellington's Take the A-Train, Bob Crosby's Big Noise from Winnetka, Frank Sinatra's Night and Day, along with The Mills Brothers, Count Basie, and my favorite, Ella Mae Morse's styling of Cow-Cow Boogie. The music is there, but somehow there's not the flair nor the energy that would normally be expected of these headliners. Miller gets a final production number and a belated chance to tap dance her way into our proverbial hearts, but the staging comes across on the skimpy side. I suspect the flaming "V" (rather too close to the stage curtain) at number's end was an attempt to compensate.Naturally, in a musical not much is expected from the story. Miller's yo-yoing between the radio station and the music store is somewhat amusing, as is her competition with the incomparably fussy Franklin Pangborn whose cartoonish eyebrows appear ready to jump off the screen. Irene Ryan (later, Granny, on the Beverly Hillbillies) has the best bits as the scatterbrained secretary. The romantic subplot is lame, to say the least, at the same time, leading man William Wright seems oddly to disappear from the movie's last half. In fact, the screenplay as a whole appears uncertain what to do with Wright and buddy Purcell once they're introduced into the plot.A couple of noteworthy sidelights. Good to see the presence of a backyard Victory garden, that staple of civilian support for the war effort. Then too, if food prices keep going up in 2008, we may see them returned and renamed Survival gardens. Note also how class differences between Wright and his chauffeur are symbolically eliminated in support of the common war effort. Finally, note the rather surprising downbeat ending with the boys marching off to war, leaving Miller looking unkissed and forlorn. Perhaps the rather subdued mood of the musical as a whole has to do with it being 1943 and a lot of boys and their girls having to face a very uncertain future. Though not the best Miller musical, there are compensations.

This is a cheery movie with actual performances by famous bands and singers of the 1940's. It is a time capsule depicting aspects of the home front during World War II. It is very upbeat throughout the entire movie. There is one interesting goof. In the scene where Duke Ellington and his band plays "Take the A Train" there are scenes of a Chicago and Northwestern RR diesel powered streamlined train of the 1940's. The set on which the Ellington Band is playing recreates the interior of a streamlined train of the early 1940s. The "A Train" in the title refers to a New York City subway route that ran from Brooklyn to Harlem to Northern Manhattan. This mistake adds some fun to the movie. I watch for it each time I see it.

The plot lines are thin, but what carries this movie is the music. It is a wartime movie, from a time when people felt more patriotic, so if that isn't your cup of tea then skip this one. If you have no problem with wartime movies and swing/big band music, then you're in for a treat. I caught myself sitting back and tapping my feet to this gem. Even a glimpse of some of the greats like, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, the oh so young Frank Sinatra and the Mills Brothers is a good thing! Also, watch for Irene Ryan, better known for her role as Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies.