Anchors Aweigh

Two sailors (Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly) on leave help an actress (Kathryn Grayson) get her big break.

Anchors Aweigh is an uneven, overlong, musical highlighted by great production, and flashes of inspired genius.

The film starts well, with a nice song and dance number featuring Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly as they leave their ship, and quickly settles into a nice buddy picture. Then the plot takes over in the form of a very whiny kid (played by a young Dean Stockwell) who grates on you every second he’s on the screen. Seriously, you can almost hear the film grind to a halt once Stockwell makes his entrance.

From here on out it’s an exercise in patience while you suffer through a predictable plot broken up by a few imaginative song and dance numbers, the highlight of which is Kelly’s fairy-tale like bit involving MGM’s animated mouse Jerry.

Despite taking third billing behind Sinatra and Grayson, this is Kelly’s film and it works best when he’s on screen. His dance numbers are precise and inventive and his ample charisma shines between routines.

As for top-billed Sinatra, he’s fine, but the squeaky-clean naive personality MGM crafted for him in these early musicals doesn’t play to his strengths as an actor. As a result, his innate cool and charm really doesn’t show through.

Finally, at nearly two and half hours, Anchors Aweigh is far too long. There are some great moments here, to be sure, but there’s also a lot of filler. Sinatra and Kelly make a great pair, but the trite script and really annoying kid make the fast-forward button a must for repeat viewings.