Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Directed by George Sidney, this slightly above average wartime Musical comedy, written by Natalie Marcin and adapted by Isobel Lennart (The Sundowners (1960)), earned George Stoll his only Oscar (out of eight nominations) for its Score; the song "I Fall in Love Too Easily" was also nominated. It stars Gene Kelly (who received his only Best Actor nomination) and Frank Sinatra as two Navy buddies on leave in Los Angeles who get hooked up with Kathryn Grayson and Pamela Britton, respectively. Additionally, the picture and its Color Cinematography were nominated for Oscars. The film is also famous for an animated dance sequence (to "The King Who Couldn't Dance") that features Kelly with Jerry Mouse.
Grayson is the aunt/guardian of nine year old Dean Stockwell, who'd run away from home to join the Navy. A police officer (Rags Ragland) who catches up with him pawns him off on the two sailors who take him home and babysit him until, much to their surprise, his aunt turns out to be a beautiful young lass. Ladies man Kelly, who was supposed to hook up with his regular number and had agreed to help shy Sinatra, whose life he had saved, find a girl of his own reluctantly plays cupid for he and Grayson, only to have his own feelings for her interfere. In the meantime, Sinatra meets a fellow New Yorker from Brooklyn (Britton) who's a waitress in the club where Grayson sings. Kelly & Sinatra were to help Grayson start her dream singing career by landing her an audition with José Iturbi, who had just played (the title song) for their ship before they'd received shore leave. Of course, Iturbi doesn't know the two and is a very busy man between playing concerts, practicing, and doing work for MGM Studios, but the sailors feel guilty for wrecking Grayson's date with another (Grady Sutton) who could have helped her. Henry O'Neill plays an Admiral, Leon Ames a Commander, and Edgar Kennedy a Police Captain.
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