The Gang's All Here (1943)

While on leave in New York, a solider (James Ellison) falls in love with a nightclub showgirl (Alice Faye). He doesn't tell her he's engaged to be married to his childhood sweetheart (Sheila Ryan). Directed by Busby Berkeley, this piece of outrageous Technicolor fluff became a favorite of "camp" enthusiasts during the 1970s. Notably because of the Freudian production number The Lady In The Tutti Fruitti Hat with chorus girls carrying enormous bananas (the censors said the girls had to hold the bananas above the waist) and the psychedelic Polka Dot Polka which proved as much a "trip" for 70s audiences as the Jupiter and beyond sequence in 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY. In the 1940s, MGM was the premier studio when it came to musicals. It had Garland, Kelly, Astaire and the Arthur Freed unit. 20th Century Fox had to make do with Betty Grable and Alice Faye and while their films could be quite enjoyable, they lacked true artistry. Outside of the two said numbers, the fun in the movie comes from the supporting cast. Specifically, Carmen Miranda, Edward Everett Horton and Charlotte Greenwood. The scene with Miranda attempting to seduce Horton in his home office is hilarious. With Benny Goodman, Phil Baker, Eugene Pallette, Frank Faylen and in her film debut, Jeanne Crain.