HERE COME THE WAVES

Here Come the WAVES
Paramount, 1944, B/W, 99 minutes, ***
Released December, 1944

It's TWO - TWO Betty Huttons for the price of one! Very cute movie! Betty Hutton plays a dual role in this film about twin sisters who join the WAVES and get caught up in a love tangle with singer Johnny Cabot (Bing Crosby). Bing spoofs Frank Sinatra with Frank's big hit, "That Old Black Magic," complete with screaming and fainting bobby-soxers. The film features the Academy Award nominated "Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive."

For those who may not know... the WAVES were the womens' branch of the Navy. The acronym stands for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. The WAVES were established as a branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942 and became part of the regular Navy in 1948. During WWII, the WAVES were instrumental in the war, replacing many men in non-combat positions, thereby allowing more men to go to the battle front.

Produced and Directed by: Mark Sandrich
Original Screen Play by: Allan Scott, Ken Englund and Zion Myers
Musical Score: Robert Emmett Dolan
Songs: Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Music by Harold Arlen
Music Direction: Robert Emmett Dolan
Vocal Arrangements: Joseph J. Lilley
Music Associate: Troy Sanders
Ensembles Staged by: Danny Dare
Art Direction: Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson
Set Decoration: Ray Moyer
Non-Military Costumes: Edith Head
Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore
Sound Recording: Hugo Grenzbach, John Cope
Director of Photography: Charles Lang. Jr.
Special Photographic Effects: Gordon Jennings, Paul Lerpae
Process Photography: Farciot Edouart
Edited by: Ellsworth Hoagland

Awards: Nominated for Best Song Academy Award ("Accentuate the Positive")

Cast: Bing Crosby [Johnny Cabot], Betty Hutton [dual role as Susan and twin Rosemary Allison], Sonny Tufts [Windy], Ann Doran [Ruth], Gwen Crawford [Tex], Noel Neill [Dorothy], Catherine Craig [Lieutenant Townsend], Marjorie Henshaw [Isabel], Additional Cast: Harry Barris [Bandleader], Mae Clarke [Ensign Kirk], Minor Watson [Officer], Oscar O'Shea [Commodore], Mona Freeman [First Fainting Girl], Carlotta Jelm [Second Fainting Girl], Jack Norton [Waiter], William Haade, Jimmie Dundee [Chief Petty Officers], Lillian Bronson [Cabot Fan], Jean Willes [Girl], Yvonne De Carlo [Girl], J. Alex Havier [Waiter], James Flavin [Shore Patrol], Weldon Heyburn [Civilian], Kit Guard [Yellow Cab Driver], Kay Linaker [First Pretty Girl], Terry Adams [Second Pretty Girl], Babe London [Girl Window Washer], Greta Granstedt [WAVE Control Tower Operator], George Turner [Recruit], Cyril Ring [Lieutenant Colonel], Charles D. Brown [Captain Johnson], William Forrest [Lieutenant Commander], Don Kramer, Eddie Kover, Ruth Miles [Miles and Kover Trio], Dorothy Jarnac, Joel Friend, Roberta Jonay, Guy Zanette [Specialty Dancers]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:01] Join the Navy (sung by Girls Chorus); [0:03] Join the Navy (sung by "The Allison Twins" [Betty Hutton]); [0:07] Anchors Aweigh (several excerpts played by Orchestra, marched by WAVES); [0:09] Moonlight Becomes You (sung by Bing Crosby in background); [0:12] That Old Black Magic (production number sung by Bing Crosby, danced by Chorus Girls); [0:19] unidentified instrumental number (danced by Chorus in nightclub); [0:22] That Old Black Magic (played by Orchestra, hummed by Bing Crosby while dancing with Betty Hutton); [0:37] Let's Take the Long Way Home (sung by Bing Crosby); [0:52] Ac-cent-tchua-te the Positive (sung and danced by Bing Crosby, Sonny Tufts and Chorus); [1:17] Sketch: "If WAVES Acted Like Sailors" performed by Betty Hutton with Bing Crosby, Sonny Tufts and Noel Neill; includes There's a Fellow Waiting in Poughkeepsie (sung by Betty Hutton, joined later by Bing Crosby and Sonny Tufts); [1:27] I Promise You (sung by Bing Crosby and Betty Hutton); [1:32] Here Come the WAVES (sung and marched by WAVES)