''Call Out the Marines'' is a 1942 military comedy released by

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

in February 1942. It stars

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made sev ...

and

Edmund Lowe Edmund Dantes Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film. Biography Lowe was born in San Jose, California. His father was a local judge. His childhood home was a ...

playing the same characters with different names that they played in '' What Price Glory?'' and several

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

s; however the original

film trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and techni ...

mentions ''What Price Glory?'' and '' The Cock-Eyed World''. The film features extensive stock footage from RKO's '' Soldiers of the Sea'' that in some cases appear on process screens that the actors stand in front of.

Plot

Ex-Marines Jimmy McGinnis (

) and Harry Curtis (

), who haven't seen each other for fifteen years, meet at a racetrack. They both immediately drop their jobs as an attendant and cleaner to rekindle their friendship and brawl over which one will have Violet (

Binnie Barnes Gertrude Maud Barnes (25 March 1903 – 27 July 1998), known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973. Early life Barnes was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Rosa Enoy ...

) for their girl. When visiting a

clip joint A clip joint or fleshpot is an establishment, usually a strip club or night club (often claiming to offer adult entertainment or bottle service) in which customers are tricked into paying far above market prices for low-grade goods or services—or ...

called the Shoreleave Cafe with Violet, they meet the owner, Jim Blake ( Paul Kelly). Blake was their former captain; he left the Corps under a cloud when he was blamed for a security breach. Blake is involved in

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

, arranging to buy the plans for a new

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, ca ...

. Jimmy and Harry are called back to active service as gunnery sergeants with the

6th Marines The 6th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "6th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The regiment falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division of th ...

where they crash the spy ring. The fast-paced comedy uses the spy plot as merely an excuse for five musical numbers by

Harry Revel Harry Revel ( Glaser; 21 December 1905 – 3 November 1958) was a British-born American composer, mostly of musical theatre, working with various lyricists, notably Mack Gordon. He is also seen as a pioneer of " space age pop". Early life and c ...

and a variety of comedy sequences, such as barroom brawls over thrown

garter A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking f ...

s, spies and policemen with

speech impediments Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are ...

, and jeep, motorcycle and car chases.

Cast

as Jimmy McGinnis *

as Harry Curtis *

as Violet 'Vi' Hall * Paul Kelly as Jim Blake * Robert Smith as PFC Billy Harrison *

Dorothy Lovett Dorothy Lovett (February 16, 1915 – April 28, 1998) was an American film actress. Biography Early and personal life Lovett was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She married director Jack Hively (1910-1995) on December 25, 1941, wh ...

as Mary *

Franklin Pangborn Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...

as Wilbur the Waiter * Corinna Mura as Zana Zaranda *

George Cleveland George Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954. Career Cleveland was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first appearance on the stage ...

as Bartender * The King's Men as Quartet *

Nora Cecil Nora Cecil (September 26, 1878 – May 1, 1951) was an English-born American actress whose 30-year career spanned both the silent and sound film eras. Career Stage Cecil's career began on the stage, when she debuted in London at age 19 ...

As Elderly Woman With Glasses *

Florence Gill Florence Gill (27 July 1877 – 19 February 1965) was a British actress. In Walt Disney's animated films, Gill made a specialty for 20 years of voicing hens, including Clara Cluck, The Wise Little Hen and other assorted fowl. Gill was a member ...

As Elderly Girl Who Wants To See Horses *

Six Hits and a Miss Six Hits and a Miss was an American swing-era singing group. The group consisted of six male singers and one female (thus the word "miss" in their name has a double meaning – the converse of the word "hit", and denotation of a young woman). T ...

as Singing Group

Production

With the introduction of conscription in the United States and World War II in the news, the majority of American minor and major film studios made comedies about military service. RKO's ''Call Out the Marines'' had a troubled production history with different stars and technicians announced in trade papers of the time for the film. The

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, which had initially cooperated with the producers, was outraged over the completed film in December 1941 and ordered the film shelved as "bad for morale". However it was released after America entered the war.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=870&category=Notes

References

External links

* * * {{TCMDb title, id=870 1942 films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films Military humor in film American spy comedy films Films about the United States Marine Corps World War II spy films 1940s spy comedy films Films directed by William Hamilton (film editor) 1940s war comedy films American war comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language war comedy films