This Is the Army

This Is the Army
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Name	This Is the Army
Director	Michael Curtiz
Producer	Hal B. Wallis
Based on	the stage musical This Is the Army by Irving Berlin
Starring	George Murphy, Joan Leslie, Ronald Reagan, Kate Smith
Music	Irving Berlin
Cinematography	Bert Glennon
Editing	Ralph Dawson
Studio	Warner Bros.
Released	1943
Runtime	110 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

This Is the Army

This Is the Army is a 1943 American wartime musical film adapted from an Irving Berlin Broadway revue, directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The film stars George Murphy, Joan Leslie, Ronald Reagan, and Kate Smith and features performances by servicemen and celebrities as part of a United States Army entertainment effort during World War II. It blends patriotic revues, comedic sketches, dramatic interludes, and musical numbers to support United Service Organizations, wartime bond drives, and the wartime morale of allied forces including the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, China, and Free French units.

Background and Production

The film originated from an Irving Berlin Broadway revue produced by Lee Shubert, staged with veterans of the World War I and performers from the Ziegfeld Follies, and adapted following Berlin’s earlier success with contemporary works like Annie Get Your Gun and collaborations with producers such as Sam H. Harris. After Berlin enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the Special Services entertainment unit alongside figures like Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Mickey Rooney, he created the stage show for troop morale and bond drives in cities such as New York City, London, and Los Angeles. Warner Bros. acquired screen rights and assigned director Michael Curtiz, who had worked with stars including Humphrey Bogart and writers from the Algonquin Round Table circle. Production involved coordination with War Department officials, choreography by veterans of the Cotton Club and Radio City Music Hall, and casting that mixed Hollywood names from studios like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, and 20th Century Fox with actual servicemen drawn from units at Fort Dix, Camp Upton, and Fort Benning.

The score and orchestrations were arranged by collaborators who had worked with Berlin on projects at Tin Pan Alley and in Hollywood productions such as Top Hat and Holiday Inn. Principal photography used studio soundstages in Burbank, photography techniques previously employed in Casablanca and Yankee Doodle Dandy, and a production team that included craftsmen from RKO Radio Pictures and set designers known for work on The Wizard of Oz. Production faced wartime constraints—rationing of materials overseen by Office of Price Administration policies—and included participation from entertainers involved in Camp Shows and Bond Tour circuits.

Plot

The narrative frames Irving Berlin’s revue through a semi-autobiographical story of a character based on Berlin who recalls service during World War I and the creation of a wartime show to lift spirits. The storyline intercuts between the revival of the stage revue, backstage romances involving characters from New York City theater, and vignettes that dramatize scenes of training at Fort Dix and deployment tied to theaters of operation such as North Africa Campaign and the Pacific War. Comic sequences feature caricatures of foreign allies and foes referencing events like the Battle of Britain, the Siege of Leningrad, and the North African Campaign, while dramatic moments evoke the sacrifices of families in cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. The plot culminates in a climactic show-stopping sequence staged as a morale broadcast meant for troops stationed in Iwo Jima, Normandy, and North Africa.

Cast and Characters

Principal performers include leading man George Murphy as the show's energetic master of ceremonies, Joan Leslie as the ingénue with ties to Broadway and Vaudeville traditions, Ronald Reagan in a featured supporting role, and Kate Smith delivering a patriotic vocal centerpiece. The film showcases cameo appearances by top entertainers of the era such as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Ethel Merman, Olga San Juan, Frances Langford, Joe E. Brown, Babe Ruth (in an archival or cameo capacity), Edward G. Robinson, and singing groups connected to The Andrews Sisters. Numerous servicemen and Women from units across the United States appear, including athletes-turned-performers from Major League Baseball rosters and personnel connected to West Point and Annapolis. Supporting roles were filled with character actors familiar from Warner Bros. pictures and stage veterans who had performed in productions by George M. Cohan and Florenz Ziegfeld.

Musical Numbers and Score

Irving Berlin’s score supplies the film with new arrangements of standards alongside original wartime compositions. Numbers include rousing choruses designed for large ensembles similar to Berlin’s earlier work in White Christmas-era songcraft, big-band swing segments featuring arrangers who worked with Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey, and spiritual-inflected pieces evocative of recordings by Mahalia Jackson and The Golden Gate Quartet. Orchestration reflects influences from George Gershwin and Cole Porter showmanship, while dance sequences borrow from choreographers associated with Busby Berkeley and Jacques d'Amboise. The vocal performances bridge Broadway traditions represented by Ethel Merman and radio-era stars like Kate Smith and Bing Crosby.

Release, Reception, and Box Office

Released by Warner Bros. in 1943 during heightened wartime mobilization, the film opened in major venues across New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and at special screenings for servicemen in locales including Okinawa and Algiers. Contemporary reviews in outlets sympathetic to Hollywood’s war effort compared its spectacle to other morale pictures such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and The Fighting 69th, while trade papers analyzed returns against patriotic blockbusters like Mrs. Miniver. Box office receipts and bond-drive proceeds were tallied alongside efforts from organizations including United Service Organizations, the Red Cross, and Salvation Army wartime campaigns. Critics highlighted the film’s ensemble strength even as some reviewers noted sentimentality reminiscent of World War I-era revues and the revue-to-film adaptations exemplified by works from MGM and Paramount catalogs.

Cultural Impact and Legacy

The film functioned as both entertainment and propaganda within broader Allied cultural diplomacy coordinated with agencies such as the Office of War Information and philanthropic efforts by War Bonds committees. Its model of blending Hollywood and military resources influenced later productions and institutional collaborations seen in postwar efforts by United Service Organizations and inspired television variety formats in the 1950s and 1960s featuring veterans and celebrities on programs associated with networks like NBC and CBS. The participation of figures later prominent in politics and culture, such as Ronald Reagan and performers with ties to Civil Rights Movement artists, underscores the work’s intersection with mid-20th-century American public life. Historically, the film remains cited in scholarship on wartime popular culture, propaganda studies at institutions like Smithsonian Institution collections, and retrospectives held by archives such as the Library of Congress and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Category:1943 films Category:American musical films Category:Films directed by Michael Curtiz Category:Films scored by Irving Berlin