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 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Nearly Eighteen (1943) – Musical #779

Studio:
Monogram Pictures

Director:
Arthur Dreifuss

Starring:
Gale Storm, Rick Vallin, William Henry, Luis Alberni, Ralph Hodges, Jerry Rush, George O’Hanlon, Bebe Fox, Robert Homans, Sarah Edwards, Kenneth Harlan, Donald Kerr

Plot:
Jane Stanton (Storm) can’t get a singing job at a nightclub, because she’s not yet 18 years old. When she witnesses a raid on bookie Tony Morgan (Vallin) during her job search, Tony refers her to a renowned singing and dancing school to get her out of the way. The problem is … at 17, Jane is too old for the school so dresses up as 14-year-old Janie so she can try to break into show business. The problem is, the school’s headmaster Jack Leonard (Henry) thinks Janie has a great singing future – how long can she keep up the ruse?

Trivia:
• The first time Gale Storm was billed above the title, according to her biographer.
• The film’s plot was based on Margaret Englander’s original story “This Is Mary Clayton.” Although Monogram purchased a story by Louis Apple titled “Nearly Eighteen” in May 1942, only the story’s title was used for the film.

Highlights:
• The tap dancing

Notable Songs:
• “A Little Bell Rang” performed by Gale Storm
• “Come On and Whistle” performed by Gale Storm
• “Walking on Air” performed by Gale Storm
• “Smile for Sale” performed by Gale Storm

My review:
There are benefits to 61-minute musicals: they are a brisk watch, and because of the short length, they are filled with songs start to finish. But there are some drawbacks too, such as, and jumpy storylines and choppy editing, eliminating scenes that may have helped the plot along.
This week’s Musical Monday, NEARLY EIGHTEEN (1943) fits both of those negative and positive descriptions.

In the film, 17-year-old Jane (Gale Storm) has come to New York City from Ohio, hoping to become a singer. However, since she’s not yet 18 years old, nightclubs won’t hire her. While continuing to look for work, Jane gets caught up in a raid on a bookie office. To get her out of the way and away from police and gamblers, the bookies advise her to go to an exclusive singing and dancing school. When she does, she realizes it’s for children, and she’s too old for the school. In order to find a place to stay and get her break, she dresses up like 14-year-old Janie. The school’s headmaster (William Henry) thinks Janie has a great singing future, making Jane realize she can only keep up this lie for so long.

You may read this plot and think “This sure sounds familiar to THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR (1942),” and that was my first thought as soon as she dressed up as a child. However, this film has different source material THE MAJOR AND THE MINOR.

Aside from the similarities to another film, NEARLY EIGHTEEN is a cute film and a good time. I enjoyed the tap numbers performed by the teens and children. The numbers were fun, youthful and energetic. There’s also a quite funny scene were two teen boys are jitterbugging at a soda shop with Jane, who is exhausted from all the dancing. Gale Storm also sings some great songs.

Though Storm was 21 years old when this film was released, she’s believable as a youth.

While the film is cute, it also has a bit of a convoluted plot. What is with the bookies and gambling plot? Why couldn’t she have been misguided and stumble across this school on her own? Because the film is short, the film is choppy towards the end, jumping from William Henry’s character finding out the truth to another man consoling Jane to her suddenly finding success.

I also have to say, as the headmaster of the school, William Henry’s character is a little TOO interested in Gale Page’s 14-year-old Janie, which I guess it’s a bit better since she’s almost 18. I know the audience knows she’s not a child, but he does boarder on creepy. Somehow he figures out she’s not a child, but I’m not sure how.

The film starts to fall apart a bit in the second half because of the quick resolution and choppy scenes, but I still thought it was a good time with excellent songs.

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