User Reviews

This is one of the all-time corny movies ever made, especially since it features Jimmy Stewart singing. How often have you seen/heard that? Actually, the "corn" is the fun of this film, and I enjoyed watching this more the second time knowing it was going to be so corny. Some of the lines in here are legitimately funny, particularly by cute Una Merkel, who could zing 'em with the best. She was fun, as was her husband in here, "Gunny Sacks," played by Sid Silvers. Those two, plus Buddy Ebsen and Eleanor Powell make for a likable cast. Both Powell and Ebsen were great dancers, too, with Powell, of course, being the more famous. This is just a nice, old- fashioned film, probably more for older folks, but who knows?

Sailor James Stewart meets aspiring dancer Eleanor Powell and they fall in love. But a misunderstanding involving Broadway star Virginia Bruce comes between them. Eleanor then gets a job as understudy to Virginia. Hopefully everything will work out in time to put on the big show! What do you kids think?

Jimmy Stewart in a musical. Where's Clarence when he really needs him?!? Seriously though, Jimmy does a good job. He's not the best singer but he can carry a tune. If you like pretty movie stars, this one's the picture for you -- Eleanor Powell, Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Frances Langford are all beauties. Powell is the star of the show with her awesome tap dancing numbers. Keep your eyes peeled for Dennis O'Keefe in Powell's first number. He's the guy she taps on the shoulder. Una Merkel is perfection as always. Buddy Ebsen singing and dancing is a hoot. Sid Silvers and Raymond Walburn are funny comic relief. Adorable Juanita Quigley plays Una & Sid's daughter.

It's a slight but fun story with a killer cast. Outstanding Cole Porter songs include classics "Easy to Love" and "I've Got You Under My Skin." But my personal favorites are " Hey, Babe, Hey" and "Swingin' the Jinx Away." As always, Eleanor Powell's dancing is spectacular. Add some nice humor and the immense likability of Powell and Stewart and you have a real gem. Get this on DVD or catch it on TCM next time they show it.

The plot, such as it is, of this movie is best forgotten.

What is impossible to forget are the musical numbers, many of which have become American classics, like "You'd be so easy to love." Add to that Eleanor Powell's spectacular dancing, especially in the finale, which is downright breathtaking, and you have one very entertaining movie.

Sure, you could find fault here and there. The movie is too long - too much plot - and the story is too complicated.

But all of the musical and dance performances - and I do say all, including James Stewart's - are a joy to hear and behold.

I doubt they could get away with making a movie like this today. There's really not much to it. Except great music, great dancing, and - except for Frances Langford, who was very good - passable singing.

Also not to be forgotten: Reginald Gardiner's great parody of Leopold Stokowski conducting in Central Park.

Trust me, this movie will put a smile on your face.

This is a film that has a minimum plot. Sailors chase girls and along the way, everybody sing and dance. Eleanor Powell shows her talent, tapping in a spetacular specialty number called `Swinging the Jinx Away'. A young James Stewart warbles `Easy to Love' in a charming way. But the real curiosity is to watch Buddy Ebsen. I bet that many people that watched him in TV series such as Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones didn´t had a clue that in his youth he was a very acomplished dancer. The songs by Cole Porter are top notch and `I've got you under my Skin' and `Easy to Love' became standarts. If you like 30's musical, is well worth to take a look in Born To Dance.

Where can I start telling you about 'Born to Dance'? Well, I first heard of it in the 'American Film Institute Salutes James Stewart'. But that's not how my long search for this movie began. It began when I bought the Jimmy Stewart collection on video from another film freak I now. On that time, I had never seen a movie with him. Off course I liked 'It's a Wonderful Life' and many others, but one movie with him in it was missing from the collection I bought. That movie was 'Born to Dance'. Since then (several years ago) I've searched everywhere for this movie.

The thing I knew about this picture was just a song mentioned in 'AFI salutes James Stewart': 'Easy to Love', sung by James Stewart. Well, now I'm a bit disappointed, because mister Stewart is not only not the main character in the film (that is Powell), he doesn't dance also, so I don't see any reason why I will see this film again.

I like Buddy Ebsen, in the 30's he acted in a lot of funny musicals like this one. And ow yeah, I mustn't forget the appearance of the famous song 'I've got You under My Skin'. Sinatra rules off course, nobody messes with Blue Eyes, but the actress who sung it in this picture, sung it very well too.

No, Stewart's performance isn't his best in 'Born to Dance', but the great ans powerful songs in this musical make it a very pleasant experience to watch it.

And thank you very much, mister Porter.

A 1936 musical starring Eleanor Powell & some guy named James Stewart. When the Navy comes to New York & the inevitable question of shore leave comes up, 3 sailors, Stewart along w/Sid Silvers & Buddy Ebsen are given said leave & are also tasked to deliver a cable to Brooklyn on the commander's orders. Silvers, who married right before he went into service, decides it's the right time to visit his missus, played by Una Merkel (little does he know he has a daughter), but the moment he arrives at the nightclub she works at, her face is dripping w/regret however that doesn't slow down Stewart's or Ebsen's roll w/them meeting girls of their own (especially the main thrust of this story w/Stewart hitting it off w/Powell who is vying for a role in a musical). The romance takes a hit when the star of said musical, a vapid diva played by Virginia Bruce, drops her pet dog in the water which Stewart saves which puts Bruce's producer of the mind to milk some publicity out of the situation by fabricating a romance between them but being this a musical whose ending is assured, all the players end up w/their favored counterparts as credits end. More of a curiosity to see Stewart sing & dance (a little...) but the MVP here is Powell who struts her stuff & out dances just about everyone who she shares the screen with. Ebsen should get honorable mention w/his lanky, tall physique able to soft shoe w/the best of them.

This musical flirts with the pretext of having a script, but the story is so thin, it feels like it is only the setup for the music and the big finale. Still, this film has a few things to recommend it.

At one point, there is a sophisticated dance routine performed by a duo called Georges & Jalna. This is the only film they appear in, and that's a shame, because their dramatic and suave turn on the dance floor is the highlight of the film. Their performance rivals Astaire & Rogers.

The second best thing is the music, written by Cole Porter. Though a few numbers are throwaway comic tunes, the soundtrack includes "Easy to Love" and one of the great songs of the 20th century: "I've Got You Under My Skin."

The story is about three sailors who return home to New York City after duty on a sub. All three find women to lavish their attentions on, but the road to romance is rocky, so they struggle to capture the hearts of the three women. But as mentioned, this film is all about the music. It ends with a Busby Berkeley-like extravaganza that feels overly long.

Jimmy Stewart, who is not yet a star, is affable in what might be considered the central role. Eleanor Powell delivers her athletic brand of dance with a winning smile. Virginia Bruce gets to sing a silly song about her Pekinese, and play the spoiled star who disregards the feelings of everyone else.

Silly musical with some serious flaws, but Instead of focusing on the flaws, the reasons to watch are worth talking about: A very young Jimmy Stewart sings and dances, Eleanor Powell is amazing to watch (dance, not act), and the comedy with a young Buddy Ebsen singing and dancing as well. The rest of the supporting cast is also great, with Una Merkel and Sid Silvers getting a majority of the laughs. I'd recommend for Stewart and/or Powell fans only.

BORN TO DANCE (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936), directed by Roy Del Ruth, is, according to its title, one starring Eleanor Powell as the one born to dance. Being the third in the series of Navy musicals produced within the year, following SHIPMATES FOREVER (Warners, 1935) with Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler; and FOLLOW THE FLEET (RKO, 1936) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the title "Born to Dance" translates itself as a musical, whether a song and dance or backstage story, being a combination of both, it gives no indication as one with a U.S. Navy background. Regardless, BORN TO DANCE ranks the best of the trio, thanks to a fine score by Cole Porter, witty dialogue, particularly from the secondary characters (Sid Silvers and Una Merkel), as well as the very young James Stewart surprisingly effective singing through his soft-spoken Fred Astaire-ish style of vocalizing.

The second of its annual Eleanor Powell musicals, BORN TO DANCE brings back her co- stars from her initial MGM musical, Broadway MELODY OF 1936, including Sid Silvers, Una Merkel, Frances Langford and Buddy Ebsen, with Virginia Bruce substituting for June Knight as the temperamental actress. As an added plus Frances Langford, who, in Broadway MELODY of 1936, only participated in the song numbers, this time gets to belt out her songs and take part of the plot.

Following the opening titles with a background of musical notes (yes, this is a musical) and still silhouette dancing images of Eleanor Powell, the story opens with singing sailors submerging from a submarine and going on shore leave in New York City. Ted Parker (James Stewart) meets Nora Paige (Eleanor Powell) at a Lonely Hearts Club, managed by Jenny Saks (Una Merkel), who is married to a Ted's fellow Navy partner, "Gunny" (Sid Silvers), whom she hasn't seen in four years, and through him, is the mother of a three-year-old daughter (Juanita Quigley). While Jenny finds Gunny to be a big disappointment to her, and unwilling to tell him that he is a father, Ted finds himself becoming very much interested in Nora, whose ambition is to become a dancer (hense the title). Their romance is soon broken up when Lucy James (Virginia Bruce), a famous musical-comedy star, along with her press agent, James McKay (Alan Dinehart), visits Ted's ship for publicity pictures, and after her Pekinese dog falls over board with Ted jumping in to save it, McKay then makes a romance story out of it. Ted finds his time being occupied being with Lucy, and away from Nora. However, Ted arranges for Nora to get into Lucy's upcoming show as her understudy without either girl being aware as to whom was responsible for this arrangement. As Ted is going through his complications such as believing Nora to be a mother to Jenny's little girl, there is "Mush" Tracy (Buddy Ebsen) who finds time in becoming the romantic interest of another Lonely Hearts Club employee, "Peppy" Turner (Frances Langford).

Song numbers include: "Rolling Home" (sung by the Foursome Quartet, Sid Silvers, Buddy Ebsen and James Stewart); "Rap-Tap on Wood" (sung and danced by Eleanor Powell); "Hey Babe, Hey Babe" (sung by James Stewart, Eleanor Powell, Sid Silvers, Una Merkel, Buddy Ebsen and Frances Langford); "Here Comes Lucy James" (sung by sailors); "The Captain Had a Very Bad Night Last Night" (recited by Raymond Walburn); "Love Me, Love My Pekinese" (sung by Virginia Bruce/ chorus); "Easy to Love" (sung by James Stewart & Eleanor Powell); "I've Got You Under My Skin" (danced by George & Jalna/ sung by Virginia Bruce); "Easy to Love" (sung by Frances Langford/ danced by Buddy Ebsen); "Love Me, Love My Pekinese" (audition dance by Eleanor Powell); "Swinging the Jinx Away" (sung by Frances Langford/ with Buddy Ebsen/ danced by Eleanor Powell); and "Easy to Love" (sung by cast).

The other members of the cast consists of Raymond Walburn, Barnett Parker, Jonathan Hale and Reginald Gardiner, making his movie debut, in an awkward but amusing cameo as a policeman in Central Park who fantasizes himself as conducting to the score to "Easy to Love" with an unseen orchestra (only in New York!).

As with Powell's other "Broadway Melody" series, BORN TO DANCE includes moments of singing and dancing on cue, with a full orchestra playing in the background, whether it be at the Lonely Hearts Club, on the Navy vessel or in the middle of Central Park. Comedy also takes its toll in BORN TO DANCE, including Walburn as the confusing captain who can't distinguish the difference between the very tall Mush (Ebsen) and the ultra short Gunny (Silvers), asking them if they are twins, and in giving an assignment for Mush deliver an important message to a Rear Admiral Stubbins at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Mush, however, keeps forgetting, and when he does remember, can't find Brooklyn and ends up in Yonkers; as well as Helen Troy's classic bit as sharp-tongue Brooklyn-ese switchboard operator. Troy must have been an inspiration for Lily Tomlin's comedic character in later years when appearing as a telephone operator in the late 1960s variety comedy show of LAUGH-IN.

BORN TO DANCE is light on plot, memorable on songs and well constructed with dance numbers as choreographed by Dave Gould, highlighted by the lavish but classic 13 minute finale of "Swingin' the Jinx Away" (portions would be reused again for the finale in Eleanor Powell's latter 1943 musical titled I DOOD IT, newly re-scored to appeal more to the big band era for the time of its release).

Other than having its presentations on commercial television some decades ago, the original soundtrack recording to BORN TO DANCE was displayed in record stores in the late 1970s. If there is any Eleanor Powell worth seeing, it's BORN TO DANCE, by all means, that's what she was, and does it well. Available viewing on Turner Classic Movies. (***1/2)

My best friend was a huge fan of Eleanor Powell when she was a kid and she introduced me to her...and I am glad she did. In the musical Born to Dance, she plays Nora Paige, a want-to-be dancer who arrives to the lonely hearts club in New York where she befriends Jenny Saks (Una Merkel). Nora's arrival coincides with a U. S. Navy submarine's arrival. The submarine is carrying Jenny's husband and father to her daughter who she hasn't seen since that fateful night which came at the end of a dance marathon. Sid Silvers plays the comedic 'Gunny' Saks whose best friend, Ted Barker (James Stewart) meets and falls head over heels for Nora.

There are some great song and dance numbers in this musical...whose music and lyrics were written by Cole Porter. I particularly found "Love Me, Love My Pekinese" amusing...and really enjoyed "Easy to Love". I know Eleanor is know for her dancing and her tap dancing in particular, but I found it interesting that while Jimmy Stewart does his own singing, they dubbed Eleanor with singer Marjorie Lane.

I loved the costumes and the sets (like the lonely hearts club) and I enjoyed seeing all of the submarine bits. There is a great supporting cast including Buddy Ebsen as 'Mush' Tracy. The numbers are toe tapping, James Stewart is always fun to watch and Eleanor Powell can really hoof it, this is a recommendation from me to fans of romantic musicals and anyone who might get a kick out of seeing a navy oriented musical.

BORN TO DANCE lives up to its title whenever ELEANOR POWELL gets a chance to put her tap shoes to work. Otherwise, it's a mildly entertaining MGM musical, given big production values and some glossy photography but missing on several counts.

Aside from the musical genius of Powell, JAMES STEWART is a strange choice for her romantic leading man when he has to warble the classic "Easy to Love", a Cole Porter classic. Fortunately, he's not asked to dance but, needless to say, it's a lackluster rendition of a great song.

The other numbers are handled competently but again there are distractions. BUDDY EBSEN is a great dancer but his singing voice is minimal for vocalizing. VIRGINIA BRUCE gets through a couple of songs with her modest talent but again, neither performer is capable of putting over Cole Porter standards.

The story is that of a girl aspiring to be a Broadway singer/dancer, and it's tailor-made for the bubbly, energetic Powell who rescues the plot from being completely banal by her mere presence. SID SILVERS is amusing enough in a minor role, as is REGINALD GARDINER, but clearly the film belongs to Powell whenever she goes into her dance.

Directed by the reliable Roy Del Ruth, it's pleasant enough but clearly a product of its time.

Even though they look like brother and sister, Jimmy Stewart and Eleanor Powell ease into one of the most endearing and uplifting love affairs in musical film. If you've ever tap danced, even a little bit, you'll want to put on those old taps and chew up the kitchen linoleum when Eleanor effortlessly goes at it. And who cares if long after a song keeps humming in your head, as long as it's "Easy To Love" or "I've Got You Under My Skin". Wouldn't this film have been so much less in color?

Standard wartime musical with sailor Ted Barker (Jimmy Stewart) falling in love with beautiful tap dancer Nora Page (Eleanor Powell). Predictable complications ensure. Buddy Ebsen is in this too.

The songs are good, the tap dancing by Powell is incredible and there's a HUGE all out production number at the end--but I didn't really like this. The script is, to be charitable, lousy and there's some truly painful "humorous" dialogue with some horrid overacting. Also there's some really strange sequences...even for a musical. (Witness the one between Stewart, Powell and a cop in Central Park). The thing that ruins this is the profound miscasting of Stewart and Ebsen. Stewart just can't sing and his dancing isn't much better. Ebsen can't sing either and his "dancing" (which makes him look like he's having an epileptic fit) is unintentionally hysterical. This gets a 5 for the songs, dancing and Powell. However the terrible script, bad dialogue, annoying overacting and truly bizarre sights and sounds of Stewart and Ebsen singing and dancing make this almost unwatchable. ONLY for fans of old corny musicals.

I saw "Born to Dance" again. This is my second viewing and I'm happy to say I liked it even more than my first viewing. In my previous comment, I mentioned that it is a passable boy-meet-girl yarn and how Eleanor Powell's tap dancing is as exciting as her other musicals at MGM. But now I realize that most of the credit goes to director Roy Del Ruth who is becoming one of my favorite directors of the classic era. There is something about his movies that I find appealingly graceful and exhilarating, especially movies like "On the Avenue", "My Lucky Star", "Folies Bergere de Paris" and "Lady Killer". "Born to Dance" is one of Del Ruth's brightest efforts, though it is slightly below those aforementioned movies. The best numbers are "Easy to Love" and "I Got you Under My Skin".

Big musicals were quite the thing in the (Tosthirties. Universal had Deanna Durbin, Warner Brothers had Busby Berkeley, RKO had Fred Astarie and Ginger Rogers, and MGM had MacDonald/Eddy, Garland/Rooney and the Broadway Melody series which featured Eleanor Powell. "Born to Dance" is basically a sequel to "Broadway Melody of 1936" which had made a star of Powell. Not only was she in this film, but other carry-overs included Una Merkel, Sid (not Phil) Silvers, Frances Langford and Buddy Ebsen. Jimmy Stewart was a young (27) newcomer, who was in eight films in 1936 including one MacDonald/Eddy and one Thin Man film. This, however, was his only singing role.

As musicals go, this is in the revue tradition, with the lightest of plots tying together a collection of song and dance numbers, comic bits and of course, a big, show-stopping finale. The plot here, mixing sailors and Broadway shows only occasionally flirts with reality. The score, written for the film, is entirely by Cole Porter and includes two of his best-known standards, "Easy To Love", and "I've Got You Under My Skin". Though fun, most of the other numbers are in service of the film and were not written to become popular without it. Composers rarely threw a whole group of top songs into a musical, though Porter himself did late in his career with "Kiss Me Kate".

The songs do all serve their purpose. The opening number, "Rolling Along", introduces all the sailors with a male chorus singing something similar to a college fight song (Porter had famously written Yale's). Powell is introduced quickly after this with an orchestra playing "Easy to Love" as she walks down the street, establishing it as the film's love theme. It will be repeated in a big number in Central Park sung by Stewart and Powell. Powell is dubbed by Marjorie Lane, but Stewart is not. His voice is a bit like Fred Astaire's: a light tenor with an almost wispy feeling at times, singing in a way that is somewhere between talking and really belting out a song.

"Rap, Tap on Wood" is a show-biz style number that gives Eleanor a chance to dance in a lobby where four sailors pop up and not only sing, but also play a flute and three ocarinas. "Hey Babe Hey" with a carousel-like melody, gives all three couples a chance to sing in the same number. This film has not just the usual second couple (Merkel and Silvers), which traditionally is comedic but even a third couple. People here fall in love immediately and for no apparent reason, hence Frances Langford and Buddy Ebsen are a couple. Ebsen was an accomplished tap dancer, but here does some swaying moves like he's made of rubber, creating an odd visual effect..

"I've Got You Under My Skin" goes to Virginia Bruce, who plays a Broadway diva whose penthouse is done up in an all-white mix of Deco and Rococo with a gigantic mirror and a terrace with its own fountain. It's on the terrace that she sings it to Stewart, hoping to win him away from Powell. It's a great setting for a great song. The gigantic finale takes place on a stage version of a battleship with everyone done up in white tails and sequins and the music of "Swingin' the Jinx Away" a razzmatazz, Irving Berlin-style number with jivey sections that mention Cab Calloway as their inspiration. This gives everyone a chance to do their specialty and ends things fittingly with only the shortest of scenes afterward to tie up the ends of the plot.

Within all this director Roy Del Ruth places three extended bits by character actors, all of which are memorable. Barnett Parker was a stuffy butler with few lines in many films, but here he does a funny turn as a model home salesman-interior designer in a pompous British manner. Another Brit, Reginald Gardiner, comes on as a cop in what would usually be a ten second walk-on to interrupt the main characters (think "Singing In the Rain") but instead ends up doing a hilarious impersonation of Leopold Stokowski ("Fantasia") conducting. This bit, his first in films, made him a regular character actor in Hollywood. He's now probably best known for "Christmas In Connecticut". Ruth Troy, popular radio comedian, does a shorter but funny bit as a secretary on the phone with a friend.

Overall the film is pleasant if awfully light. The lightness actually helps as there's no need to develop any plot complexities and doesn't overdo it with too many gargantuan numbers. Some of the lines of banter in the script are genuinely funny. Mostly it's Eleanor Powell just bursting into stardom as one of the screen's best dancers ever. She also has a winning way with her character. She's warm and friendly and much like a girl next door, but also can project sophistication and social grace. Una Merkel is her usual loveable, down to earth character as the lead's friend. Stewart was himself just breaking out and had even been given some villainous roles up to this point, but here amid all the foolishness seems genuinely in love with Powell. A good, if not great musical with two great Cole Porter classics.

I saw Born to Dance for a number of reasons. One was that it was a musical, for as long as I can remember I have loved musicals and some of my favourite films are musicals. There is also Eleanor Powell, who is an incredible performer. And there is James Stewart, who is one of my all-time favourite actors.

Born to Dance was interesting to say the least. But it was disappointing as well in a way. What didn't work for me was some of the dialogue, some of it is genuinely humorous and witty, but there are other times where it is painful and just bizarre. Buddy Ebsen is a good enough dancer, but his singing is very minimal and does little justice to the wonderful musical numbers.

I hate to say this, but Stewart was a rare disappointment in this one. Stewart was a great actor, and had been in many wonderful movies, but in all honesty his role as Ted is one of my least favourites of his. His acting is good enough, he is still the charismatic and endearing James Stewart I know and love, but his singing and dancing are a different story. His singing is flat and quite limited in range mostly, Easy to Love is listenable but there are other times where he sounds as though he knows the songs are too big for him, while his dancing is heavy and flat-footed.

Problems aside, Born to Dance does have a number of good things. The story is a simple one with some predictable scenes, but it is also very charming with enough heart to satisfy. The dancing is wonderful to watch, especially Eleanor Powell's tap dancing, and the in-general brisk pacing ensures that Born to Dance has few dull spots.

The production values are top drawer, the sets and locations are striking, the costumes are beautifully tailored and the cinematography is quite exemplary and doesn't look dated. While there are two disappointments in the cast, there are several good ones. Virginia Bruce seems to be having a whale of a time, and Frances Langford demonstrates a stunning vocal technique. Reginald Gardiner's cameo is very awkward but also quite amusing at the same time.

In my mind, Eleanor Powell gives the best performance, her acting is great, her charisma is infectious, her singing is well-above average and energetic and her dancing fares best of all as it is incredible. Other than Powell's performance, Cole Porter's music is the other high point. The background scoring is beautiful and very memorable, while the songs especially Rap-Tap on Wood, Love, Love my Peckinese and the big production number at the end are outstanding with catchy melodies and witty lyrics as one would expect from Porter.

In conclusion, interesting film musical but I would be lying if the pang of disappointment wasn't in the air. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This movie, which combines a sailors-on-leave plot (the 1930s couldn't get enough of these) with a backstage musical plot (ditto), is reasonably entertaining and diverting. Francis Langford is a charmer, and Una Merkel and Raymond Walburn were always under-appreciated comics. It's fun to see Buddy Ebsen dance and even funnier to hear Jimmy Stewart sing. Stewart and Powell don't have much chemistry but they do have a natural rapport; they were both frank, sporty, outdoorsy types.

But today there is really only one reason to hunt down this movie: the big finale by the 24-year-old Eleanor Powell. Though both the battleship set and the naval costumes are "a monument to bad taste", Powell's dancing is an amazing display of strength, speed, rhythm, endurance, precision, and control, and has to be seen four or five times in order to take it all in. It is shot mainly in long takes and combines tap, ballet, and athletics in the way only Powell could quite manage. The Cole Porter song ("Swingin' the Jinx Away") used as backing is also very clever, although "Easy to Love" is better and is the song that is usually remembered from this movie.

(1936) Born To Dance MUSICAL/ COMEDY

Extremely odd film if anyone who want to check out actor James Stewart as a navy officer who also sings and dances for the navy. He plays private Ted Barker who falls in love with Nora Paige (Eleanor Powell) having aspirations to enter into Broadway. Their is some catchy musical numbers which used to be quite effective at the time, but can be labelled as part of big band music. And the plot is a love triangle, which only serves as a backdrop for all the singing and dance numbers performed by Eleanor Powell. Comedy is very outdated but it is still strangely entertaining.

With Born to Dance MGM succeeded in combining two musical types, the sailor story with the Broadway opening night story. Although the plot is down right silly, that hardly makes Born to Dance unique back in its day. What you take from it is the wonderful singing and dancing and the glossy production values of an MGM musical.

And of course Cole Porter's score. It contains two of his most beloved standards, Easy to Love and I've Got You Under My Skin. The rest of the score is serviceable for the plot. I particularly like Hey Babe Hey in which all the principals of the plot participate. How they got James Stewart to dance must have been a challenge.

Of course Born to Dance is famous for Easy to Love being introduced by James Stewart. Stewart had always maintained that the proof of Easy to Love being a great song is that it survived his singing of it to become a great popular standard. His singing is adequate, but for the life of me, I'll never understand why Allan Jones who was up for the part wasn't picked. Especially since I've heard Allan Jones's contemporary recording of Easy to Love. Stewart is all right, but the part isn't exactly a stretch for his thespian talents and for cryin' out loud, Jones was one of the best movie singers ever.

The other standard is introduced by Virginia Bruce, spoiled mantrap of a Broadway musical star who takes a shine to Stewart after he saves her Pekingese from drowning while Bruce is visiting his ship at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Bruce sings I've Got You Under My Skin directly to Stewart with a come hither glance to lure him from Eleanor Powell who is her show's understudy.

Borrowing from Hit the Deck with a plot of three sailors and three civilian women, Born to Dance pairs off Stewart with Powell, Buddy Ebsen with Frances Langford, and Sid Silvers with Una Merkel. Raymond Walburn is at his avuncular best as the ship's captain who keeps entrusting Silvers and Ebsen to deliver a message to the Admiral and they keep getting sidetracked by their women.

With Powell as the understudy to Bruce and them both vying for Stewart, you can readily guess how this story will resolve itself. Eleanor dances divinely, especially in the finale number Swinging the Jinx Away which Frances Langford sings and Buddy Ebsen also dances.

With all the talent involved and a plot which is a walking cliché, but easy to take, it's easy to love Born to Dance as I do.

Much of the creative team that had produced the Oscar-winning "Broadway Melody of 1936" collaborated again the following year on "Born to Dance." Though the former film somehow managed to cop an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, the latter film is better in every conceivable way.

The plot is shoestring thin, but then weren't all of the plots of these 1930s musicals. What this film has going for it is the cast, lead by Eleanor Powell and a young James Stewart, who outshines every other cast member, Powell included, with the screen presence and charm that would make him one of the most enduring actors in Hollywood history. It also has great songs by Cole Porter, which sound much more like the Broadway musicals of a decade later than other musicals from the 30s. And the songs for the most part are integrated into the plot, rather than existing as stand-alone "show-within-a-show" numbers that were in vogue at the time. Una Merkel and Sid Silvers deliver in supporting roles, while Buddy Ebsen, who also appeared in "Broadway Melody of 1936," appears in this one as well and is just as weird as in the previous film performing dance routines in his inexplicably gangly, floppy style. The "Swingin' the Jinx" number that serves as the movie's finale was nominated for the short-lived Oscar category of Best Dance Direction, but it's a number early in the film performed by all four principal cast members that proves to be most memorable. Cole Porter's song, "I've Got You Under My Skin," was also nominated for an Oscar, though personally it's my least favorite song in the score.

A bit front loaded, "Born to Dance" slows down as it goes and nothing in its last half is as good as in the first, but it's still a really fun movie.

Grade: B+

Was Jimmy Stewart Born to Dance? I don't think so, even if he was taught to do a couple of time steps while Eleanor Powell does fouettes that send her ankles above her head. He does introduce Cole Porter's "Easy to Love" , though it's Virginia Bruce who gets to sing "Love Me, Love My Pekinese".

One of the complaints about musicals and comedies, uttered by people who don't understand them, is that the flow has to be interrupted for a song or gag. "Not in good ones!" we, who love them reply, but it is a legitimate complaint about this one. MGM spent a lot of money on sets, actors, scores and borrowing Lloyd Bacon from Warners. However, the script, as it currently exists, pits the subplots against each other, and then everything stops dead to have Miss Powell or Buddy Ebsen dance. There is no flow, no story, just a bunch of subplots and dances fighting each other for screen time.

From the rollicking opening of the camaraderie of a returning U.S. submarine crew to the booming "Great Guns" of the movie's finale, it's easy to understand why this movie was an antidote to the Depression Era. I personally discovered Eleanor Powell for the first time in this movie. She sure knows how to dance! Jimmy Stewart, who plays a clean cut sailor in this film, shows his talent, not just as an actor but as a singer and dancer as well. A little known Sid Silvers, who plays "Gunny Saks"in this movie is a short, stocky energetic dynamo who probably deserves more recognition, also is credited for the screenplay of the movie. Another actress I discovered for the first time when I saw this movie was Virginia Bruce and she is captivating in the musical number aboard the submarine with her Pekingese companion, "Cheeky". I had recognized the name but another actress who I had little knowledge of was Frances Langford and she is natural to dance with the young boot scooting Buddy Ebson. All of the other character actors in this film are a joy to see. The no-expense-spared musical number at the end of this movie is inspiring. Out of all the movies, I own, I watch this one over and over again, especially when I'm in a good mood.

As one of the prior reviewers said, this is worthwhile because Eleanor Powell is in it. She can't really act -- though she is a sweet presence -- and her singing voice is modest at best, but she can dance like no one else. The gem, for me, was not the long finale, but her dance in "Central Park" to "Easy to Love." Beautiful! But that gets interrupted by Reginald Gardner's turn as a conductor doing a Charlie Chaplin imitation. I yearned to watch Eleanor dancing, instead of the stupidity being inflicted upon us. And, it is too bad that Francis Langford did not get "I've Got You Under My Skin." Virginia Bruce does nothing with it. Powell seems to have so much fun while she is dancing -- it's infectious. And, of course, b/w is best for musicals. You get a field of depth that color cannot accommodate. And they knew how to exploit that depth in the 30s!

At those moments when Eleanor Powell starts tapping, her feet moving in intricate patterns, her attitude cheeky and fun, when you can almost forget what a truly terrible movie this is. But you can never quite forget it entirely.

The film's story is little more than a series of unconvincing events tossed randomly at the audience. Everything happens in a rush - two strangers become roommates are a 30-second conversation, a couple goes from quibbling to love in two minutes. Often movies use their musical numbers to gloss over these senseless interactions, but this movie puts a surprising amount of the nonsense in into its terrible dialogue.

The songs by Cole Porter vary from good to great. The performances vary far more. Jimmy Stewart, who can't sing, sings, and it's awful. I read that Cole Porter chose Stewart for the role and said he sounded great, which makes me wonder if Porter had a crush on Stewart. Oddly enough, while they didn't dub Stewart, they did dub Powell. Powell, by the way, can't really act, but she's pleasant enough.

Virginia Bruce also sings a couple of songs in her annoying, pseudo- operatic style. Frances Langford gets less singing time than Bruce or Stewart but does much better.

Every once in a while, the movie is fun. Powell's intricate tap numbers are incredible. Her less-tappy numbers are also pretty good, although the choreography is a bit repetitive; often Powell is just asked to show off her flexibility and balance by doing the same moves repeatedly. And there are a couple of cute comedy bits tossed in - a parody of musical conducting and an amusing bit with a phone operator. And Buddy Ebsen's eccentric dancing is amusing.

But overall, this is a wretched movie.