Hit the Deck is a 1955 musical comedy film directed by Roy Rowland. The film features a star-studded cast including Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Ann Miller, and Russ Tamblyn. Hit the Deck is loosely based on the 1927 stage musical of the same name, which was in turn adapted from Hubert Osborne’s play Shore Leave (1922).
Director: Roy Rowland
Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Cast: Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Walter Pidgeon, Vic Damone, Gene Raymond, Ann Miller, Russ Tamblyn, Kay Armen, J. Carrol Naish, Richard Anderson, Jane Darwell
US Box Office: $4,972,500 ($99,100,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Eastmancolor (shot in CinemaScope)
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Release Date: March 3, 1955
Plot Summary: Three US Navy men: Chief Boatswain’s Mate William F. Clark (Tony Martin), Rico Ferrari (Vic Damone), and Danny Smith (Russ Tamblyn) spend shore leave in their home city San Francisco and all run into problems. Bill’s fiancée Ginger (Ann Miller) is tired of waiting for him and wants him to either marry her or leave. Although Danny meets and becomes interested in a young singer named Carol Pace (Debbie Reynolds), he also learns that his sister Susan (Jane Powell) is falling in love with immoral middle-aged playboy Wendell Craig (Gene Raymond), and tries to stop the relationship from going any further. Rico has to deal with his mother’s (Kay Armen) relationship problems, and also finds himself falling in love with Susan.
Production: In 1947, MGM purchased the film rights to the stage musical Hit the Deck (1927) from RKO Radio Pictures. RKO had previously adapted the musical into a film in 1930, which MGM also purchased the rights to. In early 1953, Joe Pasternak, one of MGM’s lead musical producers, began working on an MGM adaptation of the play, the film kept the play’s title: Hit the Deck. Although MGM’s Hit the Deck used the songs from the stage musical (which were created by Broadway composer Vincent Youmans), it featured an original plot and characters. Pasternak chose Roy Rowland, a regular contract director for MGM, to direct Hit the Deck. Rowland directed films from a variety of genres, his most recent musical film was Two Weeks with Love (1950).
Jane Powell, one of MGM’s most popular musical stars of the early 1950s, was cast as Susan Smith, and she received top billing. Powell had recently starred in the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), a massive box office hit for the studio. In July of 1953, MGM producers considered firing Powell and replacing her with Ann Crowley because of a scandal involving Powell (she and actor Gene Nelson had an affair and both divorced their spouses). The studio ultimately decided to keep Jane Powell in the film. Roy Rowland had previously directed Powell in Two Weeks with Love. Actor and singer Tony Martin was cast as Bill Clark, the main sailor. He had recently starred in the musicals Two Tickets to Broadway (1951) with Janet Leigh and Easy to Love (1953) with Esther Williams. The film’s other lead cast members were: Vic Damone as sailor Rico Ferrari, Russ Tamblyn as sailor Danny Smith, Debbie Reynolds as Carol (Danny’s girlfriend), and Ann Miller as Ginger (Bill’s girlfriend). Powell, Reynolds, and Damone had recently starred together in the musical Athena (1954).
Roy Rowland began shooting Hit the Deck in August of 1954 and filming wrapped up in November. Hit the Deck was primarily shot on set at MGM Studios in Culver City, California. Some background footage was shot on location at the Golden Gate Bridge and at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The musical numbers for Hit the Deck were staged by Hermes Pan. Pan was best known for being Fred Astaire’s frequent dance choreographer, and he served in that role for Astaire’s ten dance-musicals with Ginger Rogers. Hit the Deck was shot in the wide CinemaScope format.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Although he doesn’t have any musical numbers in Hit the Deck, Gene Raymond was a popular musical star in the 1930s. Some of Raymond’s notable musical films included Flying Down to Rio (1933), Hooray for Love (1935), That Girl from Paris (1936), and The Life of the Party (1937). Hit the Deck was Kay Armen’s (Ottavio Ferrari) film debut as an actress. She had been a popular radio and television singer. Russ Tamblyn’s singing in most of his songs was dubbed by Rex Dennis. Ann Miller primarily sang her own songs, but for a few lines (such as the deep notes in her “The Lady From the Bayou” number) her voice was dubbed when she couldn’t hit the required high or low notes.
A reprised version of “Hallelujah” is sung during Hit the Deck‘s finale. This version of the song features all of the film’s lead cast members and is prominently led by Tony Martin and Kay Armen. Despite its prominence in Hit the Deck, the finale version of “Hallelujah” was not included in the film’s soundtrack and didn’t receive a commercial release for almost twenty years. Footage of the finale version of “Hallelujah” was featured in That’s Entertainment! (1974), a compilation documentary film about MGM’s classic musicals, and the song was finally commercially released as part of that film’s soundtrack.
Reception: Hit the Deck was released in the United States on March 3, 1955. The film was a financial success and earned a profit for MGM, however the studio was still disappointed by Hit the Deck‘s box office returns. Despite featuring more big-name stars, Hit the Deck earned less money than Jane Powell’s earlier Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Hit the Deck was also not as successful as Guys and Dolls, an MGM musical released later that year starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.
Although Hit the Deck wasn’t nominated for any Oscars, Russ Tamblyn did win a Golden Globe award for most promising male newcomer. Hit the Deck was Jane Powell’s last film for MGM as the studio chose to not renew their contract with her. Tony Martin, Ann Miller, and Vic Damone were also near the end of their careers as musical stars for MGM.
Hit the Deck received mildly positive reviews from critics when it was first released. Tom Vallance of Radio Times noted that “sailors-on-shore-leave” premise was overdone, but still praised Hit the Deck for its entertainment value. The critics at Variety magazine praised Hit the Deck for its songs and high production values. Conversely, the critics at TIME magazine gave Hit the Deck a negative review. They criticized the film’s dialogue and were not impressed by the songs. Hit the Deck has received a similar response from modern critics. TV Guide praised Hit the Deck for its musical numbers, visual design, and “outstanding” cast. Dennis Schwartz also gave the film a mildly positive review. Conversely, a modern review from The New York Times was negative.
Why You Should See: Hit the Deck is an average, but fun and likeable musical comedy film. The film is very goofy and features plenty of funny moments. I really liked the cake-making scene and subsequent birthday scene at the start of the film. The film’s musical numbers are also good. The film’s finale featuring the song “Hallelujah” was memorable. I liked Jane Powell’s “Sometimes I’m Happy” song and the “I Know That You Know” song that she sings with Vic Damone.
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