In World War I, the musical Yip Yip
Yaphank is a rousing success. During the show, it is learned
that the troop has received its orders to ship off to
France, and thus the end number is changed so that the
soldiers march through the theater with their rifles and
gear and out into the waiting convoy of trucks. Jones kisses
his new bride on the way down the aisle.
In the war, several of the soldiers in the production are
killed. Jones is injured by a bomb blast and loses the full
use of one of his legs, ending his career as a dancer.
Nevertheless he is resolved to find something useful to do.
Sgt. McKee and the bugler also survive.
Twenty-five years later, with World War II raging in Europe,
Jones' son Johnny is drafted into the war. He tells his
sweetheart that they cannot marry until he returns, since he
doesn't want to make her a widow. He grudgingly accepts the
order to stage another musical, just as his father did. The
show goes on tour around the United States and eventually
plays in front of President Roosevelt (unseen) in
Washington, D.C.. During the show, it is announced that the
Washington, D.C. performance will be the last night, and
that afterwards the soldiers in the production will be
ordered back to their combat units.
Johnny's erstwhile fiancé, who has since joined the Red
Cross auxiliary, appears at the show. During a break in the
show, she brings a minister and convinces them that they
should marry - which they do, in the alley behind the
theater, with their fathers as witnesses.
Cast: Ronald Reagan, George Murphy,
Joan Leslie, George Tobias, Alan Hale, Charles Butterworth,
Dolores Costello, Una Merkel, Stanley Ridges, Rosemary
DeCamp, Ruth Donnelly, Dorothy Peterson, Frances Langford,
Gertrude Niesen, Kate Smith.
Run Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes. |
