Synopsis

Frank Sinatra teams with Gene Kelly to charm viewers as a pair of wartime sailors who sing, dance and romance their way through shore leave in Hollywood. Playing pals Clarence and Joe, respectively, Sinatra and Kelly vie for the affections of Kathryn Grayson’s character Susan, an aspiring singer who hopes her newfound nautical suitors will help her score an audition with a big-time producer at MGM. Chiming in on memorable songs including “I Fall in Love too Easily” and “If You Knew Susie,” Sinatra and Kelly are eminently see-worthy.

Cast & Crew

ANCHORS AWEIGH:
Directed by George Sidney
Produced by Joe Pasternak
Written by Natalie Marcin (story), Isobel Lennart
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson, Dean Stockwell, Pamela Britton
Cinematography: Charles P, Boyle, Robert H. Planck
Editing: Adrienne Fazan
Music: Calvin Jackson, George E. Stoll
Released by MGM

Description

Color
140 minutes

In this 1945 Academy Award®-winning musical comedy masterpiece, Frank Sinatra teams with Gene Kelly to charm viewers as a pair of wartime sailors who sing, dance and romance their way through shore leave in Hollywood. Playing pals Clarence and Joe, respectively, Sinatra and Kelly vie for the affections of Kathryn Grayson’s character Susan, an aspiring singer who hopes her newfound nautical suitors will help her score an audition with a big-time producer at MGM. Chiming in on memorable songs including “I Fall in Love too Easily” and “If You Knew Susie,” Sinatra and Kelly are eminently see-worthy in the first of the three film classics in which they co-starred – Take Me Out To The Ball Game and On The Town followed, both in 1949.

Warner Home Video’s DVD release of ANCHORS AWEIGH as part of the signature Frank Sinatra Collection presents special features including: an archival interview with legendary animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera; an excerpt from the MGM: When The Lion Roars documentary series; three theatrical trailers; and language and subtitles in English and French.

One of Frank Sinatra’s most memorable moments in the film is set in an empty Hollywood Bowl where he delivers a solitary and soulful rendition of the Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne gem “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” providing his own piano accompaniment. ANCHORS AWEIGH also remains a seminal milestone of film animation for Gene Kelly’s live-action hoofing with cartoon mouse Jerry (of Tom and Jerry Fame), an idea suggested by the great Stanley Donen, who collaborated with Kelly on choreographing the scene.

ANCHORS AWEIGH took home an Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture for composer George E. Stoll’s score. The film was directed by George Sidney, who also directed Sinatra in 1957’s Pal Joey, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor, Musical/Comedy.