It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 500. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
“Sing Your Way Home” (1944)– Musical #551

Studio:
RKO Radio Pictures

Director:
Anthony Mann

Starring:
Jack Haley, Marcy McGuire, Glen Vernon, Anne Jeffreys, Donna Lee Smith, Lawrence Tierney (uncredited)

Plot:
Big headed World War II correspondent Steve Kimball (Haley) is eager to leave Europe and get back to the United States. To do so, he agrees to chaperone a group of teenagers. While Steve is very strict with the teenagers, he uses teen Bridget Foster (McGuire) to smuggle his stories through the radio in code.

Trivia:
-Anne Jeffrey’s introduced the song “I’ll Buy That Dream” in this film and it became a hit on the Hit Parade when it was performed by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes, according to Music of the Postwar Era by Don Tyler

Awards:
-Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for the song “I’ll Buy That Dream” written by Allie Wrubel and Herb Magidson.

Notable Songs:
-“Heaven is a Place Called Home” performed by Glenn Vernon, David Forrest, James Jordan Jr., Patti Brill, Donna Lee, Nancy Marlow
-“Seven O’Clock in the Morning” performed by Marcy McGuire
-“Who Did It?” performed by Marcy McGuire
-“I’ll Buy That Dream” performed by Anne Jeffreys

My review:
“Winchester ’73,” “El Cid” and “The Naked Spur” – these are just a few titles we know from director Anthony Mann. So you may be a little surprised to see “Sing Your Way Home” (1944) starring Jack Haley and Anne Jeffreys on his resume.

This is a cute little B-musical with Haley in an Ernie Pyle-like role, but is the braggart version of Pyle. While “Sing your Way Home” isn’t good, it’s one of those fun 1940s musicals with young talent who sing big bang toe tappers that make you want to dance along.

And apparently the songs made an impression on the audience- one song called “I’ll Buy That Dream” went on to be featured on the hit parade.

Not every film you watch is going to be a 10 star, big budget films. You need the smaller, low-budget B-films to help you appreciate what is truly good. It helps if those B films are fun and endearing like this one.

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