Skirts Ahoy! (1952)

Three women (Esther Williams, Vivian Blaine, Joan Evans) coming from various walks of life join the WAVEs for different reasons, all concerning men. An attempt to do a distaff version of those three sailors on the town movies, this is that rare musical that is actually hampered by the musical numbers than helped. It's like PRIVATE BENJAMIN with songs but not as funny. The nondescript songs by Harry Warren and Ralph Blane are a rather sorry lot though two numbers manage to nudge you: the rather sexist sounding What Good Is A Girl Without A Guy and Debbie Reynolds and Bobby Van perform an energetic version of Oh, By Jingo. The film would have worked better and cut the running time by almost half an hour if the songs had been jettisoned. Even Williams' swimming sequences are rather lackluster. On the film's side, the film accentuates the strength of the women of standing on their own and not depending on men. Directed by Sidney Lanfield (1939's HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES). With Barry Sullivan, Keefe Brasselle, Keenan Wynn, Margalo Gillmore, Jeff Donnell, Kathleen Freeman, Billy Eckstine and the DeMarco Sisters.