The Gang's All Here (1943)

The Gang’s All Here: Directed by Busby Berkeley. With Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Phil Baker, Benny Goodman. A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.

“Something between a fever-dream and a screwball comedy, THE GANGu0026#39;S ALL HERE is the Fox Musical at its most extravagant. With everthing from Charlotte Greenwood doing her trademarked high-kick routine to Carmen Miranda in a ten-story banana headdress, thereu0026#39;s never a dull moment (that might let you concentrate too closely on the plot, which can most charitably be described as serviceable). The picture is a carnival of character bits, ridiculous shtick, and mind-boggling transitions. Edward Everett Horton gets covered with Carmenu0026#39;s lipstick and claims itu0026#39;s ketchup — u0026quot;Yes, and from a Brazilian tomato!u0026quot; ripostes his wife (Greenwood, who really is terrific here). Eugene Pallette growls u0026quot;Donu0026#39;t be a square from Delaware!u0026quot; when he wants his pal Horton to get hep and join in the latest dance sensation. A New York nightclub has a stage large enough for what looks like all of a tropical island (for Carmenu0026#39;s immortal u0026quot;Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hatu0026quot; number, truly a Freudian nightmare), and a number set in a Westchester backyard features more trick fountains than two Esther Williams epics.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the end, it all just stops, with a 30-second plot resolution (u0026quot;oh, yes, didnu0026#39;t I tell you? Heu0026#39;s loved you all along!u0026quot; or some such) in order to make room for the finale, the most dizzying number yet: a paean to the polka-dot (featuring Alice Fayeu0026#39;s most effortful emoting ever on the line u0026quot;…But the Polka Dot…Lives…On!u0026quot;) that segues into a ballet featuring neon hoops, vast rolling dots, kaleidoscopic trick photography, and, finally, an endearingly primitive blue-curtain effect that shows the heads of all the principals (and hundreds of chorus girls) bouncing along to a reprise of the hit ballad u0026quot;A Journey to a Star.u0026quot; Well, THE GANGu0026#39;S ALL HERE may not be quite that, but itu0026#39;s certainly a journey into a different era in filmmaking.”