Anchors Aweigh (George Sidney, 1945): Anchors Aweigh is the first of Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra's two "sailors on shore leave" pictures. It's the less beloved of the two--On the Town has the ol' Comden and Green touch, and sailors on leave in New York City is just more memorable than sailors on leave in Hollywood--but it did come first, so it wins the coveted spot of Guy Movie this week.

Gene Kelly is the sophisticated ladies man, and Sinatra is the Brooklyn naif who, not wanting to spend another shore leave hanging out at the library, follows Kelly around hoping to meet some dames, some dishes, some goyls.

Kelly's got a hot date with lovely Lola, but the two get sidetracked when they run into a youngster off to join the Navy (Dean Stockwell . . . playing the youngster, not the Navy). They end up taking the kid back to his Aunt Susie, and next thing you know Sinatra's fallen for Susie and the two have dug themselves into a lie about how Sinatra knows famed musician Jose Iturbi and has scheduled aspiring singer Susie an audition with him.

The bulk of the film is Kelly and Sinatra trying to find Iturbi to actually set up the audition, with a few interludes to sing, dance, and discuss how wonderful the U.S. Navy is (this is 1945, remember).

Iturbi, who's apparently a real guy--who knew?--plays himself. In the deus ex machina that wraps up the picture, he plays the deus, arranging for the guys to get their girls and for everything to end happily. He's a sporting guy to play himself, although it seems a good 50% of the dialogue in the film is about how wonderful Jose Iturbi is, so apparently he was well compensated.

This picture isn't just a lark though--it's historically significant, too. A Gene Kelly musical isn't complete without one or two totally tangential fantasy ballets, and one of the ones in Anchors Aweigh features Kelly prancing with MGM's cartoon mouse, Jerry. If my film school lessons are still with me, this is the first time a man and a cartoon appeared together in film. Or maybe it's just the first time a man and a cartoon danced together in film. Or maybe it's the first time a man and that particular cartoon mouse danced together. I dunno--whatever it was, it was historically significant.

If the idea of watching Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra sing and dance for 2 hours appeals to you, this is a good picture to check out. (If the idea of watching Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra sing and dance for 2 hours appeals to you and you're straight, drop me a line--I'm thinking of forming a support group.)