This Is the Army

This Is the Army is a 1943 American motion picture produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz. The story and original music were written by Irving Berlin. A wartime musical designed to boost morale in the U.S. during World War II, it features a large ensemble cast, including George Murphy, Joan Leslie, Alan Hale, and Ronald Reagan.

Description

The story follows the life of Jerry Jones (Murphy) and his son Johnny (Reagan) over the course of two wars. In the beginning of the movie, Jones is a professional dancer drafted into the 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 with music by Irving Berlin. The second part of the movie follows his son (Reagan) who is charged with undertaking a similar but grander production to inspire troops in World War II. The explicitly stated message of the movie is that the purpose of United States involvement in World War II 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.

Related Topics:
Army - World War I - Yip Yip Yaphank - World War II

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The movie features appearances by Irving Berlin, Kate Smith, 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 "The Well-Dressed Man in Harlem" with other black entertainers, the only revue piece that includes African-Americans (the U.S. armed forces were segregated during World War II).

Related Topics:
Kate Smith - Joe Louis - God Bless America - African-American

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The revue pieces also include acrobat routines, several comedy pieces, including one with Hale in drag, and tributes to the Navy and the Air Corps.

Related Topics:
Acrobat - Comedy - Navy - Air Corps

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The movie can be viewed in many ways as 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.

Related Topics:
1954 - White Christmas

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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.

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