Jimmy L. SKIRTS AHOY! (1952) is musical-comedy fluff aimed mostly at a female audience, but it's not too bad. It's pleasant enough and some of the songs by Harry Warren and Ralph Blane are fun ("What Makes a Wave?", "What Good Is a Gal?"). MGM's swimming superstar Esther Williams, "Guys and Dolls" standout Vivian Blaine, and Joan Evans join the Navy to escape their man troubles. Esther Williams performs a couple of dry-land musical numbers, but the script still finds time for her to visit the pool. In one scene she's accompanied by a couple pint-sized swimming prodigies (brother and sister Russell and Kathy Tongay). Keenan Wynn, Debbie Reynolds, and Bobby Van make celebrity cameos.

beetiesmom If nothing else, I loved the graduation marching scenes at Great Lakes, b/c we have a movie reel of my husband, wearing the same dress whites and leggings in 1967 as are featured in the movie. It was nice seeing where he did his training before serving three tours in Vietnam. However, the overacting was a little too much, the songs a tad inane, though I did like The Navy Waltz. IMO, the most laughable line in the whole movie was when the recruits got off the bus to begin their boot camp training and one girl remarks, "Say! They didn't tell me there'd be MEN here!". WHAT??? Who wrote this drivel? If all else failed, it made me want to go swimming!

Beth-49 This movie isn't terribly accurate as to actual Boot Camp life, they had MUCH more freedom than we did, but it was filmed at Great Lakes Naval Station about 10 years before I was stationed there in 1962-3. The barracks, the furnishings, everything in the background shots look just the way they did when I was there. We also lived in those same WWII temporary barracks. I thoroughly enjoy this movie every time I watch it just for the memories and to see those wonderful uniforms that I really liked! My favorite part of the movie each time is the Drill Team scene, they do some of the very same routines that we did when I was on the Boot Camp Drill Team at Bainbridge, Maryland in 1962.

mikecom This post-WWII film is very dated. The women recruits sing a song about how 'women are nothing without a man'. If you can put this sort of sentiment in the context that it was created, this film has a few things to recommend it. There are a few good musical numbers, and lots of camp humour. It's hilarious that none of the military personnel are ever shown doing anything remotely militant. The Navy is depicted as a social event, with shows, synchronized swimming, dating, hijinks.The DeMarco Sisters contribute a few nice moments to this brief, shallow movie. They harmonize nicely, and perform with enthusiasm.The movie is a mildly entertaining snapshot of the early Fifties, when America was still preoccupied with the war even while it was starting to focus its gaze on the changing relationship between the sexes.