This Is the Army
Encyclopedia
This Is the Army is a 1943
American
wartime motion picture produced by Hal B. Wallis
and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz
, and a wartime musical designed to boost morale in the U.S. during World War II
, directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone
. The screenplay
by Casey Robinson
and Claude Binyon
was based on the 1942 Broadway
musical
by Irving Berlin
, who also composed the film's 19 songs and broke screen protocol by singing one of them. The movie features a large ensemble cast, including George Murphy
, Joan Leslie
, Alan Hale, Sr.
, Rosemary DeCamp
, and Lt. Ronald Reagan
, while both the stage play and film included soldiers of the U.S. Army
that were actors and performers in civilian life.
was on tour at Camp Upton
, his old Army base in Yaphank, New York
during World War I
. There he spoke with the commanding officers, including Capt. A.H. Rankin
of Special Services, about restaging his original 1917 Army play, Yip! Yip! Yaphank
. Gen. George Marshall
approved a Broadway production of a wartime musical for the army, allowing Berlin to conduct the arrangements and rehearsals at Camp Upton much like he had done during World War I. Sgt. Ezra Stone was selected as director for the new contemporary play, and the two set up on base during the weekdays to put together the story and crew. Insisting on integration
, Berlin was granted the chance to add African American
s into this play, which he was not allowed to do in Yip, Yip Yaphank. This would not be unconventional for Berlin, but it would be for the United States Army—no whites and African Americans would appear on stage simultaneously. Though progressive in that regard, Berlin was still planning on opening with a minstrel skit
. Ezra Stone told his civilian boss that it would be impossible to get 110 men out of blackface
in time for the next number. It would be a saving grace for an admired songwriter who was stuck on old ideas. Casting aside his minstrel show, Berlin instead wrote a "new" "Puttin' on the Ritz
", calling it "That's What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear".
The retooled play ran on Broadway, at the Broadway Theatre from July 4, 1942 to September 26, 1942. The show was directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone, choreographed by Cpl. Nelson Barclift and Sgt. Robert Sidney.
The show was such a success that it went on the road. The national tour of the revue ended in San Francisco, CA
on February 13, 1943. By that time, it had earned $2 million ($23 million in 2006 dollars) for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. The company of men that staged the play were the only Army outfit to be fully integrated, but only so off-stage.
The title of the movie is from the well-known Berlin song that is featured in the movie, which is also the title of the musical-within-a-movie staged by the younger Jones. The movie features star appearances by Irving Berlin, Kate Smith
, Frances Langford
and Joe Louis
as themselves. Smith's full-length rendition of Berlin's "God Bless America
" is arguably the most famous cinematic rendition of the piece. Louis appears in a revue piece called "What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear", with James Cross (lead singer and dancer), William Wycoff (dancer in drag), Marion Brown (heavyset dancer), and a chorus of perhaps a dozen, the only scene that includes African-Americans.
One of the film's highlights is Irving Berlin himself singing his song "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning
." Berlin's natural singing voice was so soft that the recording volume had to be increased significantly in order to record acceptably.
The celebrity impersonation "hamburger" sequence includes accurate spoofs of Broadway stars Lynn Fontanne
, Alfred Lunt
and Ethel Barrymore
, and film stars Charles Boyer
and Herbert Marshall
.
The revue pieces also include acrobat
routines, several comedy
pieces, including one with Hale in drag, a minstrel show
sketch (oftentimes removed from consumer videos and television broadcasts), and tributes to the Navy
and the Air Corps
.
The movie can be viewed in many ways as a forerunner of the 1954 movie White Christmas
, which also used Berlin's music and featured many similar sketches and scenes, including songs praising Army life and the dramatic marching of soldiers through a theater.
Although the core of the movie consists of the musical numbers, the movie also contains a veneer of a plot involving the wartime love interests of both the father and the son.
, and thus the end number is changed so that the soldiers march through the theater with their rifles and gear and out into the waiting convoy of trucks. Jones kisses his new bride on the way down the aisle.
In the war, several of the soldiers in the production are killed. Jerry Jones is wounded in France, by shrapnel during a German artillery barrage. He loses the full use of one of his legs, ending his career as a dancer and must walk with a cane.
Nevertheless he is resolved to find something useful to do. Sgt. McKee and the bugler also survive.
Twenty-five years later, with World War II raging in Europe, Jones' son Johnny enlists in the Army shortly after Pearl Harbor is attacked. He tells his sweetheart that they cannot marry until he returns, since he doesn't want to make her a widow. He grudgingly accepts the order to stage another musical, just as his father did. The show goes on tour around the United States and eventually plays in front of President Roosevelt (Jack Young) in Washington, D.C.
. During the show, it is announced that the Washington, D.C. performance will be the last night, and that afterwards the soldiers in the production will be ordered back to their combat units.
Johnny's erstwhile fiancée, who has since joined the Red Cross auxiliary, appears at the show. During a break in the show, she brings a minister and convinces them that they should marry - which they do, in the alley behind the theater, with their fathers as witnesses.
It grossed $9,555,586.44, which was donated to Army Emergency Relief
.
The ending of the war saw the ending of the road show, the last performance being on Maui, Hawaii October 22, 1945 with Irving Berlin once again singing his "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." The Army Emergency Relief Fund collected millions of dollars, but the total amount was never accounted, nor released to the public. By the mid-'70s, the movie itself fell into the public domain, occasionally airing on television to a new generation of viewers. Renewed interest in some of the actors helped those players that might have been considered down-and-out, most notably Stump and Stumpy
's Jimmy Cross and Harold Cromer.
George Murphy and Ronald Reagan would run for public office in California. George Murphy served one term, (1965–1971) in the U.S. Senate. Ronald Reagan served two terms as Governor of California (1967–1975) and then President of the United States (1981–1989), with both contributing to each other's Republican campaigns. Reagan would warmly and jokingly refer to Murphy, who preceded him into politics by a couple of years, as "my John the Baptist."
Many of the soldiers who had participated in the show held reunions every five years after the end of World War II. Their 50th and final reunion (1992) was held in New York's Theater District.
1943 in film
The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
wartime motion picture produced by Hal B. Wallis
Hal B. Wallis
Hal B. Wallis was an American film producer.-Career:Harold Brent Wallis was born in Chicago in 1898. His family moved in 1922 to Los Angeles, California, where he found work as part of the publicity department at Warner Bros...
and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
, and a wartime musical designed to boost morale in the U.S. during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone
Ezra Stone
Ezra Stone was an American actor and director who had a long career on the stage, in films, radio, and television, mostly as a director...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Casey Robinson
Casey Robinson
Casey Robinson was an American producer and director of mostly B movies and a screenwriter responsible for some of Bette Davis' most revered films...
and Claude Binyon
Claude Binyon
Claude Binyon was a screenwriter and director. His genres were comedy, musicals, and romances.As a Chicago-based journalist, he became city editor of the show business trade magazine Variety in the late 1920s...
was based on the 1942 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
, who also composed the film's 19 songs and broke screen protocol by singing one of them. The movie features a large ensemble cast, including George Murphy
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy was an American dancer, actor, and politician.-Life and career:He was born in New Haven, Connecticut of Irish Catholic extraction, the son of Michael Charles "Mike" Murphy, athletic trainer and coach, and Nora Long. He was educated at Peddie School, Trinity-Pawling School, and...
, Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie is a retired American film and television actress.-Early life:Leslie was born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel in Detroit, Michigan, and raised Roman Catholic. She began performing as a singer at the age of nine as part of a vaudeville act with her two sisters; Betty and Mae Brodel...
, Alan Hale, Sr.
Alan Hale, Sr.
Alan Hale, Sr. was an American movie actor and director, most widely remembered for his many supporting character roles, in particular as frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn. His wife of over thirty years was Gretchen Hartman , a child actress and silent film player and mother of their three children...
, Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp
Rosemary DeCamp was an American radio, film and television actress.DeCamp first came to fame in November 1937, when she took the role of Judy Price, the secretary of Dr. Christian in the long-running radio series of the same name. She made her film debut in Cheers for Miss Bishop and appeared in...
, and Lt. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, while both the stage play and film included soldiers of the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
that were actors and performers in civilian life.
Basis
In May 1941, ex-Sergeant Irving BerlinIrving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
was on tour at Camp Upton
Camp Upton
Camp Upton was an installation of the United States Army located in Yaphank on Long Island in Suffolk County, New York. It was located near Camp Mills.-History:...
, his old Army base in Yaphank, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. There he spoke with the commanding officers, including Capt. A.H. Rankin
Doc Rankin
Ainsworth H. "Doc" Rankin was an American army officer and freelance cartoonist. He served for many years as an editorial page cartoonist for the Brooklyn Eagle and is best known for producing the touring show This is the Army with Irving Berlin, which toured military camps during World War II...
of Special Services, about restaging his original 1917 Army play, Yip! Yip! Yaphank
Yip Yip Yaphank
Yip Yip Yaphank is the name of musical revue composed and produced by Irving Berlin in 1918 while he was a recruit during World War I in the United States Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York.-From idea to the stage:...
. Gen. George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...
approved a Broadway production of a wartime musical for the army, allowing Berlin to conduct the arrangements and rehearsals at Camp Upton much like he had done during World War I. Sgt. Ezra Stone was selected as director for the new contemporary play, and the two set up on base during the weekdays to put together the story and crew. Insisting on integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
, Berlin was granted the chance to add African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s into this play, which he was not allowed to do in Yip, Yip Yaphank. This would not be unconventional for Berlin, but it would be for the United States Army—no whites and African Americans would appear on stage simultaneously. Though progressive in that regard, Berlin was still planning on opening with a minstrel skit
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
. Ezra Stone told his civilian boss that it would be impossible to get 110 men out of blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
in time for the next number. It would be a saving grace for an admired songwriter who was stuck on old ideas. Casting aside his minstrel show, Berlin instead wrote a "new" "Puttin' on the Ritz
Puttin' on the Ritz
"Puttin' on the Ritz" is a popular song written and published in 1929 by Irving Berlin and introduced by Harry Richman in the musical film Puttin' on the Ritz . The title derives from the slang expression "putting on the Ritz," meaning to dress very fashionably. The expression was inspired by the...
", calling it "That's What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear".
The retooled play ran on Broadway, at the Broadway Theatre from July 4, 1942 to September 26, 1942. The show was directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone, choreographed by Cpl. Nelson Barclift and Sgt. Robert Sidney.
The show was such a success that it went on the road. The national tour of the revue ended in San Francisco, CA
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on February 13, 1943. By that time, it had earned $2 million ($23 million in 2006 dollars) for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. The company of men that staged the play were the only Army outfit to be fully integrated, but only so off-stage.
Story
The movie follows the life of Jerry Jones (Murphy) and his son Johnny (Reagan) over the course of two world wars. Jones is a professional dancer drafted into the United States Army during World War I. At the request of his commanding officer, and against the grudging opposition of his cantankerous drill instructor Sgt. McGee (Hale), Jones produces a patriotic musical revue called Yip! Yip! Yaphank!. The second part of the movie follows his son (Reagan) who is charged with undertaking a similar but grander production to inspire troops involved in World War II. The explicitly stated message of the movie is that the purpose of United States involvement in the war is to fulfill the unfinished result of the previous war.The title of the movie is from the well-known Berlin song that is featured in the movie, which is also the title of the musical-within-a-movie staged by the younger Jones. The movie features star appearances by Irving Berlin, Kate Smith
Kate Smith
Kathryn Elizabeth "Kate" Smith was an American Popular singer, best known for her rendition of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America". Smith had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s.Smith was born in Greenville, Virginia...
, Frances Langford
Frances Langford
Julia Frances Langford was an American singer and entertainer who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and also made film appearances over two decades.-Birth:...
and Joe Louis
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow , better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time...
as themselves. Smith's full-length rendition of Berlin's "God Bless America
God Bless America
"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....
" is arguably the most famous cinematic rendition of the piece. Louis appears in a revue piece called "What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear", with James Cross (lead singer and dancer), William Wycoff (dancer in drag), Marion Brown (heavyset dancer), and a chorus of perhaps a dozen, the only scene that includes African-Americans.
One of the film's highlights is Irving Berlin himself singing his song "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning
Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning
"Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 that gives a comic perspective on military life. Berlin composed the song as an expression of protest against the indignities of Army routine shortly after being drafted into the United States Army in 1918...
." Berlin's natural singing voice was so soft that the recording volume had to be increased significantly in order to record acceptably.
The celebrity impersonation "hamburger" sequence includes accurate spoofs of Broadway stars Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne was a British actress and major stage star in the United States for over 40 years. She teamed with her husband Alfred Lunt.She lived in the United States for more than 60 years but never relinquished her British citizenship. Lunt and Fontanne shared a special Tony Award in 1970...
, Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt
Alfred Lunt was an American stage director and actor, often identified for a long-time professional partnership with his wife, actress Lynn Fontanne...
and Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
, and film stars Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
and Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
.
The revue pieces also include acrobat
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
routines, several comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
pieces, including one with Hale in drag, a minstrel show
Minstrel show
The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
sketch (oftentimes removed from consumer videos and television broadcasts), and tributes to the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and the Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
.
The movie can be viewed in many ways as a forerunner of the 1954 movie White Christmas
White Christmas (film)
White Christmas is a 1954 Technicolor musical film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that features the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular "White Christmas"...
, which also used Berlin's music and featured many similar sketches and scenes, including songs praising Army life and the dramatic marching of soldiers through a theater.
Although the core of the movie consists of the musical numbers, the movie also contains a veneer of a plot involving the wartime love interests of both the father and the son.
Plot summary
In World War I, the musical Yip Yip Yaphank is a rousing success. During the show, it is learned that the troop has received its orders to ship off to FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and thus the end number is changed so that the soldiers march through the theater with their rifles and gear and out into the waiting convoy of trucks. Jones kisses his new bride on the way down the aisle.
In the war, several of the soldiers in the production are killed. Jerry Jones is wounded in France, by shrapnel during a German artillery barrage. He loses the full use of one of his legs, ending his career as a dancer and must walk with a cane.
Nevertheless he is resolved to find something useful to do. Sgt. McKee and the bugler also survive.
Twenty-five years later, with World War II raging in Europe, Jones' son Johnny enlists in the Army shortly after Pearl Harbor is attacked. He tells his sweetheart that they cannot marry until he returns, since he doesn't want to make her a widow. He grudgingly accepts the order to stage another musical, just as his father did. The show goes on tour around the United States and eventually plays in front of President Roosevelt (Jack Young) in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. During the show, it is announced that the Washington, D.C. performance will be the last night, and that afterwards the soldiers in the production will be ordered back to their combat units.
Johnny's erstwhile fiancée, who has since joined the Red Cross auxiliary, appears at the show. During a break in the show, she brings a minister and convinces them that they should marry - which they do, in the alley behind the theater, with their fathers as witnesses.
After the curtain
The movie premiered at the Warner's Earle Theater on August 12, 1943.It grossed $9,555,586.44, which was donated to Army Emergency Relief
Army Emergency Relief
Army Emergency Relief , often referred to by the longer title Army Emergency Relief Fund, is a non-profit, charitable organization independent of, but closely associated with the United States Army, founded in 1942...
.
The ending of the war saw the ending of the road show, the last performance being on Maui, Hawaii October 22, 1945 with Irving Berlin once again singing his "Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning." The Army Emergency Relief Fund collected millions of dollars, but the total amount was never accounted, nor released to the public. By the mid-'70s, the movie itself fell into the public domain, occasionally airing on television to a new generation of viewers. Renewed interest in some of the actors helped those players that might have been considered down-and-out, most notably Stump and Stumpy
Stump and Stumpy
Stump and Stumpy were a dance/comedy/acting duo popular from the mid 1930s to the 1950s, consisting of James "Stump" Cross, and either Eddie Hartman or Harold Cromer as "Stumpy"...
's Jimmy Cross and Harold Cromer.
George Murphy and Ronald Reagan would run for public office in California. George Murphy served one term, (1965–1971) in the U.S. Senate. Ronald Reagan served two terms as Governor of California (1967–1975) and then President of the United States (1981–1989), with both contributing to each other's Republican campaigns. Reagan would warmly and jokingly refer to Murphy, who preceded him into politics by a couple of years, as "my John the Baptist."
Many of the soldiers who had participated in the show held reunions every five years after the end of World War II. Their 50th and final reunion (1992) was held in New York's Theater District.