"Ridicule your biggest enemy!" must have been the motto for many screenwriters and producers back during World War II, making fun of the evil Adolf Hitler from the moment he took power nearly a decade before America got involved in the fight against fascism. Here, just by chance, country bumpkin Judy Canova shoots down a Nazi carrier pigeon and becomes a national hero, and a target for Fifth Columnists who have infiltrated every aspect of American society in order to get information on America's defense plans. She somehow ends up a nightclub singer in the swank cafe run by Nazi spy Jerome Cowan, and somehow becomes involved with Joe E. Brown who is naive about the whole Nazi set-up yet somehow used to bring Canova into contact with Cowan's band of Nazi thugs just so they can kill her. Circumstances lead to the popular Canova christening a new U.S. bomber with a champagne bottle loaded with explosives, and thus leading the film to a very funny chase sequence in the air.
Absolutely ridiculous nonsense? Of course. This farcical musical is about as realistic as most movie serials, yet it is hysterical to imagine Canova, Brown and Brown's sidekick (Eddie Foy Jr.) as war heroes, even if they become war heroes strictly by accident. The casting directors wisely cast American character actors as the Nazi's with absolutely no German accent, reminding Americans at the time that the Fifth Columnists were very wise in their ways to get information. The songs are adequate, with "The Lady From Lockheed" being the standout. This ain't a piece of artwork, that's for sure, but a reminder of how film producers helped civilians escape the realities of the war. Films like this helped influence Mel Brooks later on when he wrote his classic farce, "The Producers". Look for a very young Anne Jeffreys as a very lovely vixen, while laughing at Canova's attempts to pass herself off as a seductive Latina senorita. The final sequence, set 10 years after this takes place, is quite funny.
Absolutely ridiculous nonsense? Of course. This farcical musical is about as realistic as most movie serials, yet it is hysterical to imagine Canova, Brown and Brown's sidekick (Eddie Foy Jr.) as war heroes, even if they become war heroes strictly by accident. The casting directors wisely cast American character actors as the Nazi's with absolutely no German accent, reminding Americans at the time that the Fifth Columnists were very wise in their ways to get information. The songs are adequate, with "The Lady From Lockheed" being the standout. This ain't a piece of artwork, that's for sure, but a reminder of how film producers helped civilians escape the realities of the war. Films like this helped influence Mel Brooks later on when he wrote his classic farce, "The Producers". Look for a very young Anne Jeffreys as a very lovely vixen, while laughing at Canova's attempts to pass herself off as a seductive Latina senorita. The final sequence, set 10 years after this takes place, is quite funny.