It must have gone over well with wartime audiences, those on the home front waiting and worrying about loved ones abroad. "This Is The Army" is a big, splashy musical with lots of familiar Hollywood stars and with almost constant music by Irving Berlin. Just the thing to boost the morale - uplifting, upbeat and very patriotic. However. You might be tempted to say that the story gets in the way of the songs, but the story is not all that interesting to start with, and with some contrivance to boot. And the songs are loud but forgettable, the only one worth noting is "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning", sung by Irving Berlin himself. But that's the last scene in a movie which seems interminable at times. The best one can say is that it made the folks on the home front feel much better. My star rating is in the heading as the website no longer prints mine.

Great. Great dancing and singing. Good to see all the actors. Good to see Ronald Reagan. Great comparison of two wars. People in first war had children in second. Great to see and hear Kate Smith.

Although a dated period piece, this one is likely to win you over if you're a fan of patriotic old films. Music lovers will also find a lot to like here as well, with a whole host of tunes provided by the legendary Irving Berlin, who even manages to sing one of his creations - 'Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning'. The picture book-ends it's story around two separate stage productions, starting with 'Yip, Yip, Yaphank' set in 1918, followed up by the 1943 'This is the Army' portion anchored by future President Ronald Reagan. There's a family connection introduced as well, as Reagan's character, Johnny Jones, is the son of Jerry Jones (George Murphy), the original star of the earlier production.If you're an old time movie fan, you'll recognize a host of players in the film like Joan Leslie, Alan Hale, and George Tobias, and virtually all of the secondary characters were in the service when they made the picture. Which was actually the point, the film was intended as a morale booster and positive propaganda for the American war effort. (I dislike using the term propaganda when it supports the U.S. cause, but I don't know if there's a better word to fit the bill).Undoubtedly, some modern day viewers will find offense with portions of the picture. The black-face Swanee River routine is regrettably embarrassing in hindsight, but then you have an incredibly well choreographed and athletic performance by real black singers and dancers which stands well on it's own. Similarly, soldiers performing in drag seems like it could have been avoided by using real service women in those numbers calling for it. But second guessing from the vantage point of almost seventy years is probably a futile exercise.I'd like to think there's a worthy message in the closing song number - "This Time is the Last Time" as it references America's prospects for future conflict. One more thing that the vantage point of 2010 is unlikely to make us feel secure about. One can only hope that courageous world leaders lead the planet to a safer place than the one we have today.

I acquired this film by chance, and without cost, and I still regret that it occupies any shelf space in my home. This review contains no spoilers because there is nothing to spoil: The film spans two generations of Army men; the first put on a show about marching off to fight the "Great War" and their children put on a show about being in the Army during World War Two.The music is awful, patriotic fluff; the editing makes the film impossible to understand; there is no acting to speak of, no character development; and the appearance of soldiers dressed in black-face is sickening to the point of physical revulsion.Even a Joe Lewis cameo becomes offensive, based on the scene that follows directly.I give this movie a 1 out of 10, only because it is not possible to assign a negative score.