"Three Sailors and a Girl" is a lighthearted comedy musical, the only film that Jane Powell and Gordon MacRae made together. It includes Gene Nelson who was teamed with MacRae in a number of films. The boys are in the Navy and just docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yards for a month's ship repairs. They've been at sea eight months, and their pay is burning a hole in their pockets. They all have a 30-day furlough.
Most of the guys talk about living it up. That usually means a few nights of booze and girls, and then their money is all gone. But Choirboy Jones (Gordon MacRae) says he plans to invest his money to make it grow and amount to something. He said he's going to double - maybe triple his money, and he's heading for Wall Street. Well, it convinces a whole crew to chip in a chunk of their money for the same purpose. So, Choirboy is tabbed with two buddies, Twitch (Gene Nelson) and Porky (Jack E. Leonard) to invest a duffel bag full of dough -- $50,000.
But when they go to the top Wall Street investment firm of Morrow and Peabodu, they get sidetracked and conned into investing in a Broadway show. It happens to star a new singer, Penny Weston (Jane Powell), and a known actor, Emilio Rossi (played by George Givot). The original investor is Melvin Webster (played by Archer MacDonald) who wanted his play to be produced. His terrible plot is constantly being rewritten. After the promoter, Joe Woods (Sam Levene), gets into too many troubles, he sells the rights to the show to the guys. These musically talented gobs get more backing from the Army, the Air Force and the Marines, and put on a dazzling show. It all works out for the best in the end, and in a stroke of justice, Joe gets the show back and the boys double the money for the Navy guys.
There's lots of comedy, very good music and dancing and a nice romance in this film that people should still enjoy well into the 21st century. Watch for the Burt Lancaster cameo at the end. Here are some favorite lines.
Faye Foss, "Where would sailors get that kind of money?" Joe Woods, "How do I know? Maybe they're pirates."
Joe Woods, "We'll get married as soon as I get a hit. I wouldn't want a swell doll like you to marry a failure." Faye, "Oh, thanks."
Penny Weston, "But I wanna be an actress. I don't wanna make people like me just to get their money." Joe Woods, "Well, that's what every good actress does to every audience."
Melvin Webster, "Mr. Woods, I wrote a play about my childhood - a tragedy. You turned it into a musical comedy. Then you started changing scenes to get in stars. Now it's a ruin - no story, just scenes. We even have a scene of Shanghai to pay off the man who does your laundry."
Joe Woods, "Fail? Who said we failed?" Porky, "Just the audience and the critics."
