In this feather-light film, the first of three Gene Kelly–Frank Sinatra pairings, Gene and Frank play two sailors on leave and in search of romance in Hollywood. It features a whopping sixteen songs (that seems like a lot), showing off Gene's dancing prowess and Frank's beautiful voice, as well as the piano playing and conducting of Jose Iturbi, who was apparently a piano player and conductor who appeared in a few 1940s musicals. Huh.

Anyway, Gene's a ladies' man, and the shy Frank tags along with him, hoping to pick up some pointers on how to pick up dames, or dolls, or broads. Through a plot trifle involving a little boy (Dean Stockwell) who wants to run away and join the Navy, they become involved in the life of Aunt Susan (Kathryn Grayson), an aspiring singer who usually works as an extra or sings in a local club. She wants a tryout with Iturbi, and in a misguided attempt to get her to like Frank, Gene tells her that Frank is an old friend of Iturbi, and has set up an audition for her. The two have to scramble to make their lie come true before Susan figures it out; meanwhile, although Frank's supposed to be wooing Susan, he hits it off with a waitress (Pamela Britton), and although Gene's just supposed to be helping Frank win Susan's heart, he finds himself falling for her.

At well over two hours, the movie is too long. I can think of one simple way to shorten it: cut all of Kathryn Grayson's songs. As a matter of fact, replace her entirely. I didn't like her as an actress—she was too stiff, like a pretty paper doll that's been painted too much. But more importantly, her singing voice was utterly wrong for a movie musical. It's clear she has operatic pretensions, which is fine; lots of singers in movie musicals were trained in opera. But those other singers know you have to tone it down for the movies, both in range and in volume. She was all over the place, demonstrating a considerable range, sure, but also shrill and overly mannered. She's got no stage presence: all she does is sway slightly and smile a somewhat vacuous smile. I'd much rather have someone with a more traditional voice who could move a little, and maybe even act a little.

This is also one of the gayest films I've ever seen without actually being about homosexuals—meaning that it has a boatload of homoerotic undertones that were probably only partly accidental. It starts right off, in the justly famous number "We Hate to Leave," which has the handsome pair clowning around, clutching each other, and dancing while their jealous shipmates look on with more than a little lust in their eyes. Someone somewhere said that when Gene Kelly danced, people of both sexes swooned, and it's nowhere as clear as in that number. (Incidentally, Sinatra didn't do a bad job dancing, but it's probably good that he was only required to dance the one number.) There are countless instances of Frank and Gene with their faces or bodies pressed together; seemingly every time Gene is on the phone, wooing his girl, Frank's there with his chin perched dreamily on his friend's shoulder. The most obvious it gets is when Gene is attempting to teach Frank how to pick up a girl, and Gene sashays down the street in a flounce.

One odd thing about the film is that almost all of the musical numbers, both song and dance, are solos (aside from "We Hate to Leave" and the Gene and Jerry number). Perhaps Gene didn't want to share the stage with someone who couldn't keep up with him, and since the object of his affection (other than Frank, of course) was as stiff as a Marine, he just decided to go it alone. And perhaps the numbers were meant to underscore the romantic trials both main characters were going through: their lonely search for love reflected in their lonely songs. (But they become more interesting if you think of them as directed toward each other.)

None of this should be construed as a criticism of the film (well, except for the stuff about Kathryn Grayson). I absolutely loved this film. It's like musical cotton candy, a feast of great songs and dance numbers and bright colors. The most memorable number is probably the one where Gene dances with Jerry the Mouse from the Tom and Jerry cartoons (I won't get into how that comes about), but there are several numbers that are just as good. My favorite was the Mexican Hat Dance that Gene does with an impossibly cute little Mexican girl, a number that actually made me applaud, sitting home alone.

The film was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor (Gene Kelly), Color Cinematography (Robert H. Planck and Charles P. Boyle), and Original Song (the Jule Stein/Sammy Cahn number "I Fall in Love Too Easily" sung by Frank Sinatra in the film). It won Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, which it certainly deserved. It lost Best Picture to Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend.