Call Me Mister

So goes the first line of the title song of the 1946 hit Broadway revue on which this is (very loosely) based. 20th obviously couldn't film a revue, and a lot had happened in five years, so it whipped up a story and added some new songs to the Harold Rome score, most of which it discarded. As an adaptation it's a bust, but as an original movie musical it's pretty good. And what really makes it work, of all things, is Dan Dailey. As Betty Grable's still-in-love-with-her ex, he's much more of an actor than most hoofers, and his.yearning and longing provide an emotional center.it surely wouldn't have otherwise. Grable does her usual thing, nicely, with lots of legs, and Danny Thomas is saddled with some shabby material and a not-good song as The Ethnic Humor. The most thrilling, and unexpected, moment is surely "Going Home Train," a celebration of returning GIs led by, of all people, Bobby Short. The plot, such as it is, wraps up quickly and illogically, and Lloyd Bacon's best directorial days were long gone. But as a run-of-the-mill Fox musical with more emotional engagement than most, thanks to Dailey, I like it fine.