"Rosie the Riveter" is a cute B-movie that is set during WWII. It stars Jane Frazee as the title character, a young lady who goes to work at a defense plant but has a serious problem finding a place to sleep. This actually was a serious problem during the war, as many small towns boomed--filling with thousands of workers and not enough housing for them all. It's the subject of several comedies of the day, such as "The More the Merrier" as well as this film. Well, Rosie and her friend come up with an interesting solution--share the room with a couple guys. The guys will get it one shift, they will get it the next. However, Rosie's very prim and proper boyfriend would not approve so she spends much of the film hiding it from the guy. Additionally, there is a LOT of tension between the various roommates. How it's all resolved is cute and enjoyable. Just understand...this is not nor was it intended to be anything more than a low-budget comedy with modest pretensions. It does the trick but is not exactly what I'd call a must-see film. Cute and enjoyable.

ROSIE THE RIVETER-- a musical Republic produced in 1943--features one of my favorite singing stars from the war years, Jane Frazee. Yesterday I checked the Paramount Vault page on YouTube for new uploads. Paramount controls the Republic library. And to my great pleasure, ROSIE had just been uploaded. They have done a perfect job with the restoration.The script is well written-- a hilarious romantic comedy set-up with Jane and her girlfriend Vera Vague sharing a room in a boarding house with two single men. The way the writers get around the production code is quite clever!The gals of course wind up battling and falling in love with the guys. Vera's deadpan deliveries are wonderful; there's a lot of witty dialogue from beginning to end; a marvelous supporting cast that includes Maude Eburne and Carl (Alfalfa) Switzer as a teenager. Plus, there's a great scene where the gals have no clothes on and are locked out of the boarding house in the rain and get picked up by police (you have to see it!)..and a rousing finale filmed at an aviation factory. So much to make it enjoyable.

Defense plant workers Rosalind "Rosie" Warren (Jane Frazee) and her friend Vera Watson (Barbara Jo Allen as Vera Vague) must share, on a rotating schedule, the town's last available rental-room with Charlie Doran (Frank Albertson) and Kelly Kennedy (Frank Jenks), who work the other shift at the plant. The landlady, Grandma Quill (Maude Eburne), also has her grandchildren, Buzz Prouty (Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer) and Mabel Prouty (Louise Erickson), and her daughter Stella Prouty (Ellen Lowe)---who is on the outs with her husband Clem (Lloyd Corrigan)---living with her. Rosie doesn't tell her fiancé, Wayne Calhoun (Frank Fenton),about the living arrangements, and is also plotting with Vera to re-unite the Proutys. Rosie pawns the engagement ring Wayne gave her for money for Clem and Stella. Rosie and Charlie fall in love and get their picture in the paper. Wayne huffingly breaks the engagement and wants his ring returned. Jane Frazee sings three songs and Charlie joins the Marines...and it is a lot better than it reads here.

This is a breezy musical about the housing shortage in wartime America, circa 1944. As usual Jane Frazee is a delight to watch and listen to and here she is paired with the female Jerry Colonna, Vera Vague as the work/roommate. Rosie and her pal squabble with two guys over the only remaining boardinghouse room in town and Rosie, after "working overtime on a B-19" down at the plane factory, eventually warms up to Frank Albertson (not your typical young juvenile lead, this was wartime after all) and everything works out for the big finale sung at the work site. Three or four nice tunes and some light comedy (a couple of very funny moments - all the teenagers seem to be a lot more mature about their romantic relationships than the adults and they stay up all night doing the conga!)make this an easy hour to pass.