The Singing Marine

The Singing Marine is a 1937 American musical film directed by Ray Enright and Busby Berkeley and starring Dick Powell. It was the last of Powell's trio of service-related Warners films: 1934's Flirtation Walk paid tribute, of sorts, to the Army, and 1935's Shipmates Forever to the Navy. This one is distinguished by its two musical sequences directed by Busby Berkeley.

The Singing Marine
Directed by	Ray Enright Busby Berkeley (musical sequences)
Written by	Delmer Daves (original screenplay)
Produced by	Jack L. Warner Hal B. Wallis
Starring	Dick Powell Doris Weston Lee Dixon
Cinematography	Arthur L. Todd Sidney Hickox (uncredited)
Edited by	Thomas Pratt
Music by	Heinz Roemheld
Production company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	July 3, 1937 (1937-07-03)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

. I missed most of the first hour… On the strength of his uniform & voice, Dick becomes a celebrity. A crackpot manager Hugh Herbert signs him to an exclusive contract. Dick’s unit gets ordered to China but he, along with his sergeant and corporal, miss their transport. The sergeant is an unusually dynamic Allen Jenkins. Dick orders a suite on a luxury liner, a stateroom for his loyal girlfriend/pal Peggy and accommodations for the marines and they all set sail. On the voyage, Dick sings a lot, there’s serious tap dancing, Dick sings some more and he is besieged by a horde of beautiful ( is a crowd of Warner Brothers showgirls a Horde ? ) passengers who literally pass him from one to the other. Peggy is not pleased by this display and she is added to the list of those upset with Mr. Powell. They get to Shang Hai. The marines wants him back and he’s restricted to base.

There’s a world wide radio broadcast that he has to finagle, but it all works out. His unit thinks he’s been high hatting them but he helps out a marine’s widow who is a favorite of all the local leathnecks. He gives her a nightclub that he ended up with. Peggy forgives him, they kiss Dick sings some more and Fade Out.

Cast

• Dick Powell as Private Robert Brent
• Doris Weston as Peggy Randall
• Lee Dixon as Corporal Slim Baxter
• Hugh Herbert as Aeneas Phinney / Clarissa
• Jane Darwell as "Ma" Marine
• Allen Jenkins as Sergeant Mike Kelly
• Larry Adler as himself
• Marcia Ralston as Helen Young
• Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams as Dopey
• Veda Ann Borg as Diane
• Jane Wyman as Joan
• Berton Churchill as J. Montgomery Madison
• Eddie Acuff as Sam
• Henry O'Neill as Captain Skinner
• Addison Richards as Felix Fowler
• unbilled players include Ward Bond, Richard Loo, and Doc Rockwell as himself

External links

• The Singing Marine at IMDb
• The Singing Marine at AllMovie
• The Singing Marine at the TCM Movie Database
• The Singing Marine at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films