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Hit the Deck

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Hit the Deck (1955) starring Tony Martin, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller
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Hit the Deck (1955) starring Tony Martin, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn, Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller

In Hit the Deck, three sailors head out on the town seeking romance while on leave in San Francisco

Hit the Deck – Anchors Aweigh. On the Town, Hit the Deck. Hollywood has always known what to do with sailors on leave: Give ’em some pretty girls and some great songs and watch the fans line up to enlist! Hit the Deck hits all the right notes as three sailors (Tony Martin, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn) and three cuties (Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller) flirt, squabble, run afoul of shore patrol and of course, fall in love to a hit parade of Vincent Youmans tunes. Highlights include Miller’s polishing the floor as The Lady from the Bayou, Martin’s romantic mastery of More Than You Know and the stage-filling rouser Hallelujah. Music, romance, fun: don’t miss the boat!

Product description of Hit the Deck

Forty-eight hours shore leave isn’t much time for three sailors (Tony Martin, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn) who’ve gone from patrolling straits to prowling for curves (Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller) in San Francisco. But it’s plenty of time for great songs, exuberant dancing-and lots of goofy trouble when a brawl with a meddling playboy sets the Shore Patrol (headed by comic Alan King) on the swabbies’ trail.

Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell feeling despondent in Hit the Deck
Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell feeling despondent in Hit the Deck

Hit the Deck’s jubilant legs stretch way back. It’s based on the 1927 Broadway smash that’s the granddaddy of all sailors-on-leave musicals. Another legend, choreographer Hermes Pan, provides the musical staging that includes a gag-filled funhouse routine, plus a bouncy shipside finale set to Vincent Youman’s “Hallelujah” (shown here in letter-box format so you can enjoy all of that sequence’s razzle-dazzle). If On the Town and Anchors Aweigh hoisted your spirits, you’ll want to Hit the Deck when the Navy once again takes a city by storm and hearts by song!

Debbie Reynolds and Russ Tamblyn in the fun house scene in Hit the Deck
Debbie Reynolds and Russ Tamblyn in the fun house scene in Hit the Deck

Cast of characters

Songs

  • Join the Navy (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
  • Hallelujah (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
  • Happy Birthday (1893)
    • Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill
  • Keepin’ Myself for You (1930)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Sidney Clare
  • Lucky Bird (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
  • A Kiss or Two (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
  • Why, Oh Why? (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
  • Sometimes I’m Happy (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Irving Caesar
  • I Know That You Know (1926)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Anne Caldwell
  • The Lady from the Bayou
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin
  • Ciribiribin (1898)
    • Music by Alberto Pestalozza
    • Lyrics by Howard Johnson (1932)
  • More Than You Know (1929)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu
  • Join the Navy (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
  • Loo-Loo (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
  • Hallelujah (1927)
    • Music by Vincent Youmans
    • Lyrics by Leo Robin and Clifford Grey
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