The Singing Marine is a 1937 comedy musical film directed by Ray Enright. The film starred Dick Powell and Doris Weston, and it was Weston’s first film.
Director: Ray Enright (Busby Berkeley directed the musical sequences)
Production Company: Warner Bros.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Cast: Dick Powell, Doris Weston, Lee Dixon, Hugh Herbert, Jane Darwell, Allen Jenkins
US Box Office: Unknown
Film Format: Black & White
Genre: Comedy, Musical
Release Date: July 3, 1937
Plot Summary: On the urging of his sergeant Mike Kelly (Allan Jenkins), marine private Bob Brent (Dick Powell) and his girlfriend Peggy Randall (Doris Weston) travel to New York to try out for an amateur radio singing contest. Producer Aeneas Phinney (Hugh Herbert) loves Bob’s voice and signs him up for a big contract as “The Singing Marine.” Bob becomes a popular singer, but the US Marine Corps isn’t so thrilled and demands that Bob (who is still an enlisted private) return so he can be deployed to Shanghai.
Production: In 1936 the producers at Warner Bros. began working on a new musical film for their star Dick Powell. The screenplay, titled The Singing Marine, was written by Delmer Daves. Producer Hal B. Wallis and studio boss Jack Warner intended The Singing Marine to be a follow up to Frank Borzage’s Flirtation Walk (1934) and Shipmates Forever (1935). Flirtation Walk and Shipmates Forever were both military themed musical comedies that costarred Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler. Frank Borzage was originally chosen to direct The Singing Marine, but he was replaced with Ray Enright after Borzage left Warner to join MGM. Enright primarily worked on musical and comedy films at the time, he had recently directed the musical Ready, Willing, and Able (1937) for Warner Bros.
The Singing Marine was always intended as a vehicle for actor Dick Powell, who was cast as the lead character Bob Brent. Powell had a contract with Warner Bros. and he primarily appeared in musicals and comedy films for the studio at the time. Ray Enright had previously directed Powell in Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934) and Dames (1934). Ruby Keeler, who had starred with Powell in several musical films, was originally cast as Peggy Randall, Bob’s love interest. Keeler was later replaced with Doris Weston, who the producers thought was a better singer than Keeler. Keeler had been a nightclub singer before she was discovered by Warner Bros. talent scouts. Weston signed a contract with the studio in November of 1936 and The Singing Marine was her first film.
The Singing Marine was shot almost entirely on set at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California in early 1937. Although the bulk of the film was directed by Ray Enright, musical choreographer Busby Berkeley directed a few of the large-scale musical numbers, including the scenes at the Shanghai nightclub. Given his experience as a choreographer, Berkeley was better equipped to handle to large-scale musical scenes than Enright. Berkeley previously played a similar role for the musical film Dames (1934). Most of Dames was directed by Enright, but the musical scenes were directed by Berkeley. During filming Dick Powell missed the connection that he shared with Ruby Keeler and didn’t think that he and Doris Weston had very good chemistry. In an interview Powell stated, “You have to react to what you hear, and as a reactor, I’m dead from the neck up. Ruby Keeler used to react to me, and she was good at it. But yesterday I had to react to Doris Weston while she sang a song in The Singing Marine, and I sank like a chain anchor.”
Fun Facts and Trivia: Joan was played by actress Jane Wyman. Wyman signed a film contract with Warner Bros. a few years prior and mainly had supporting roles and bit parts at this time. Her first leading role was in Public Wedding (1937), released a week after The Singing Marine. Wyman had become a popular leading lady by the mid-1940s and she won an Academy Award for her role in Johnny Belinda (1948). In modern times Wyman is most remembered for having been married to actor (and future President) Ronald Reagan from 1940 to 1949. Ward Bond had an uncredited bit part as a marine in The Singing Marine. Bond later became a beloved and highly in-demand character actor. He had prominent supporting roles in many great films including It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), The Quiet Man (1952), Hondo (1953), and The Searchers (1956). Professional harmonica player Larry Adler played a fictionalized version of himself in The Singing Marine.
Reception: The Singing Marine was released in the United States on July 3, 1935. The film earned less money than On the Avenue, another 1937 musical starring Dick Powell that had been released earlier that year. Despite its mediocre box office results, The Singing Marine received a generally positive response from film critics. Ann Ross of Maclean’s magazine praised the film. Ross noted that while The Singing Marine‘s plot was somewhat generic, it featured enough new talent to make it worth watching.
After The Singing Marine Dick Powell appeared in several more musical films for Warner Bros. including Varsity Show (1937), Going Places (1938), Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938), and Naughty but Nice (1939). Powell, who was bored by the repetitive nature of these sort of roles, later left WB and signed a new contract with Paramount. Jack Warner didn’t think that Doris Weston had good chemistry with Powell, so the two didn’t appear in any more films together and the studio quickly released Weston from her contract. Weston only appeared in seven feature-length films before she retired in 1939.
Why You Should See It: The Singing Marine is an average, but mostly likeable musical comedy film. The musical scenes set at the Shanghai nightclub were very well choreographed. Doris Weston gives a pretty good performance as Peggy, so its a shame that her film career didn’t last very long. Jane Darwell also gives a memorable performance as “Ma Marine.”