Tons of stars here. Tom Drake 1944 same year also in Meet Me in St. Louis; aka The Boy Next Door (to Judy Garland). June Allyson always a delight. Blonde freckle faced Van Johnson always a winner. Gloria DeHaven excellent. Henry O'Neill I actually thought was George Raft. I looked again in opening credits, but alas he was not to be found. O'Neill was a dead ringer. Henry Stephenson always lovely. Jimmy Durante; what can I say? Always a delight; perfect comedic timing. Playing his son (whom I was waiting for near the end) was charming. I kept waiting for the son to show up, because we kept seeing Jimmy's goofy baby picture throughout the entire film. I was hoping one of the other military personnel would be Jimmy's son, but that did not happen.Dancing: I loved the dancing of the dark haired young man whom June dragged out on the dance floor, who was first shy and awkward then later a dancing pro and even leaped over June's head. I kept thinking he was Jimmy's missing son, but even he wasn't that ugly or goofy looking as the baby in the picture.More star turns. Great bandleaders: Xavier Cugat, Jose Iturbi, Harry James. Wonderful to see the late, great Ms. Lena Horne, and I did catch short glimpses of Ava Gardner. Gracie Allen was wonderful, as always. It was good to see her without her sidekick, George Burns.I really loved the Jimmy-doll, complete with his black top hat and black tuxedo. I loved the little girl actresses in the beginning, including the baby, portraying the two Deyo sisters.

Considering the talent involved, the movie should be better than it is. What's needed is a lot more bounce and about twenty minutes less of the romantic guessing game, which drags along too much of the time. Too bad we don't get more of the sparkle and zip of the Young Man with a Horn number. Allyson really comes alive during those moments. Durante is of course Durante lending his inimitable style of pizazz, while the baby-faced De Haven shines, along with Johnson who really deserves more screen time. The love-struck soldier is a novel touch for a movie of this type, though somewhat creepy at times. And what in the heck does the subplot of the two elderly gentlemen do other than meander a story-line that's already too drawn-out. Note how high-brow musicians Albert Coates and Jose Iturbi do musical spots. Having the classically trained making guest appearances was not unusual for popular musicals of the time. I suppose producers thought this would broaden audience appeal. Anyway it's a good chance to scope out Harry James at his peak and vintage Lena Horne. Fortunately, the kids themselves would go on to bigger and better things.

Perky June Allyson and lovely Gloria DeHaven are two vaudevillians given a chance to open their own canteen for military personnel by a mysterious benefactor. The very thin plot revolves around this simple premise and at over two hours running time it becomes very stretched indeed. However, as this is an MGM movie, there is much to enjoy thanks to the plethora of studio talent involved. The highlights for me were gorgeous Virginia O'Brien doing her usual 'deadpan' number, June Allyson's terrific 'Young Man With A Horn', beautiful Lena Horne singing 'Paper Doll' and who could resist Jimmy Durante performing 'Inka Dinka Doo'? The production is lavish with huge sets, hundreds of extras and fabulous costumes. The bizarre dream sequence is quite eye-popping and even includes a fashion parade with some truly beautiful models. Quite an extravaganza!

The "two girls" in the title are June Allyson (26) as Patsy and Gloria DeHaven (18) as Jean, the singing and dancing Deyo sisters. The "sailor" is Van Johnson (27) who plays John Dyckman Brown III, a new recruit in the Navy. What the girls don't find out until the very end is that the sailor is very wealthy, son of Brown II and grandson of Brown I. It is a nice and simple story of two girls falling for the same guy, and the three of them having to sort it out.Harry James (27) and orchestra are major players, as themselves. This was especially enjoyable for me, a trumpet player since I was 11. Harry James was one of my idols, and I consider him to have had the sweetest swing trumpet sound ever. He did 4 or 5 trumpet solos during the movie, and was a pleasant character playing himself.The movie is filled with other stars. One of them is Jimmy Durante doing his stage comedy song & dance routine, and continuing as a character sharing issues with the sisters. Other 'names' include Xavier Cugat and band, Lena Horne, Gracie Allen (who plays her composition for index finger with orchestra), and a few others I am not familiar with.This was war time and the movie includes lots of entertainment for the Army, Navy, and Marine servicemen honored here. The sisters have the servicemen come home with them one evening to serve sandwiches and refreshments. They comment that it would be nice to have a larger place, like the old Wigson's Warehouse, which turns out to be filled with theatrical props and supplies. They 'wish' for more cleaning staff and they appear. Durante 'wishes' for a baby grand and in it comes. The warehouse is turned into a canteen for soldiers, food, drink, entertainment.SPOILERS FOLLOW. Much of the rest of the story is sisters trying to figure out who the benefactor was. They eventually find that it was the sailor himself, Brown III. Patsy knows her sister Jean is smitten with the sailor and assumes she will marry him. However Jean finds another love, and Patsy ends up with the rich sailor.