This is the musical in which Gene Kelly dances with cartoon mouse Jerry, and Kelly and Frank Sinatra don those oh-so-cute sailor suits, prior to On the Town. At times it's schmaltzy and overlong, with cloying moments involving Kathryn Grayson's quest for an interview with conductor José Iturbi, embarrassingly playing himself. However, none of that matters when Kelly and Sinatra are on the screen. They're a joy to watch, either together or separately, and Sinatra, though not known as a dancer, acquits himself well in his pairings with Kelly. The Technicolor is ravishing, Show Boat maestro George Sidney's direction is technically clever and assured, and that key moment when Gene shows the second most famous cartoon mouse how to dance is a stroke of genius. The young at heart will be enthralled.

Two sailors on shore leave head out for four days of partying – only to become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer and her precocious nephew.