Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
(Richard Thorpe, US 1944, 124 min., 16mm)
Somewhere between a loose remake of The Broadway Melody and a wartime musical, Two Girls and a Sailor provided starring roles to June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven for the first time. They star as a sister song-and-dance team who open up a servicemen’s canteen filled with big-name musical acts. Along the way, they get involved with sailor Van Johnson and soldier Tom Drake, and romantic complications ensue before each girl gets the right boy. Those big-name musical acts include Jimmy Durante, Harry James, Xavier Cugat, José Iturbi, Lena Horne, and a hilarious piano concerto performed by Gracie Allen. Prolific screenwriter Gladys Lehman received her only Academy Award nomination for the screenplay.