Alex da Silva Soldier James Ellison (Andy) meets singer Alice Faye (Edie) and they fall in love on the eve that he goes off to war. He returns a hero and has a party thrown in his honour where he has 2 women waiting for him - his childhood sweetheart Sheila Ryan (Vivian) and Faye. Who does he end up with? The story is irrelevant as the film is an excuse to churn out musical numbers and the songs are pretty good. Benny Goodman sings a couple of decent songs despite looking like he's a retard. We also get a treat in singer Carmen Miranda (Dorita) who is completely bonkers and steals every scene that she is in. Set against this, I found the leading man annoying and Alice Faye's songs are a bit dreary.There are a couple of Busby Berkeley set pieces that stand out. The first is set on a tropical island where girls dance with 6 foot bananas while Carmen Miranda sings "The Girl in the Tutti-Frutti Hat". The other spectacle occurs at the end.....if you think psychedelia started in the 1960's.....well, you're wrong......Overall, the musical numbers and crazy Carmen Miranda make this film worth keeping on to for another viewing.

froberts73 My favorite musicals? The Busby Berkeley Warner Bros. flicks which had the advantage of better songs than this 20th Century item. That aside, I was happy to see the Berkeley direction and dance numbers which, as always are thrilling, exciting, and so very imaginative. Those numbers, alone, put this flick in the top bracket.One question I have concerns James Ellison with that all-American look. I thought he was delightful and enjoyable so how come he never became a good-sized star?Alice Faye, preggers during the shooting was, as always, lovely with her perpetual sweet smile. She and 'Philsie' seemed like an odd couple, but it was evidently a good marriage. They had a good show.Carmen Miranda, slaughterer of the English language, was unique and fun. Ever see the Confidential picture book of her? Gad, in any language.Charlotte Greenwood, like the other characters in the movie, portrayed themselves. I especially enjoy Eugene Palette and the voice he borrowed from Andy Devine (whose voice came from someone shoving a stick down his throat). Horton and the others were top-notch.All in all, you can be glad the gang was all there, even if the plot wasn't. Dig that hurry-up-let's-end-it-quick finale. Suddenly, it's we were just friends, etc.Minor, minor complaint. This is one of Fox's best and, while today's Fox is a pain in the rear end, yesterdays's Zanuck studio was a blessing.

Terrell-4 The only problem with The Gangs All Here is the plot. It keeps getting in the way of the production numbers. Busby Berkeley manages to shoehorn four major numbers in the just the first 30 minutes, and he doesn't let up much after that. These numbers include everything Busby Berkeley could think of, from Benny Goodman swinging "Minnie's in the Money" to Alice Faye singing "No Love, No Nothing'" to some bizarre extravaganzas featuring lots of thighs, bananas and Carmen Miranda. You'll want to hit the fast forward button at regular intervals to get past the dull parts between them. The story is corny, the romantic misunderstanding is...yawn... and the acting is often weak (James Ellison as the male lead) or prissily unfunny (Edward Everett Horton). Still, the Technicolor is as garish as you could want and the songs by Harry Warren and Leo Robin work well. There's little time to think of anything except the numbers and what Berkeley does with them. Says a commentator in one of the DVD's extras, "He was a dance director who couldn't dance. In a Berkeley production it was the camera that danced." I'm not sure anyone could watch "The Lady with the Tutti Frutti Hat" and not be in awe of how Berkeley not only made use of all those chorines with the giant fruit, but how he kept the action going using his camera in intricately plotted movement. If you watch the Tutti Frutti number a second time, see how many of the chorus dancers you can spot with grim determination, not smiles, on their faces as they lug those giant bananas around and struggle to hit their marks while the camera swoops and turns. The story? Alice Faye is a showgirl. James Ellison is a soldier, the son of a wealthy family soon off to the Pacific. They fall for each other, but he has a sort of girl friend. His parents and the girl's parents think they should get hitched. Will Alice and Jim work things out? They do after approximately 100 minutes. Among the relatives and friends are Carmen Miranda, Eugene Palette, Charlotte Greenwood and Horton, There are a number of reasons to watch this movie, especially if you're interested in Busby Berkeley. It turned out to be his swan song as a major force in the movies. For me, the production numbers are a lot of fun, but the best reason is that classic song by Warren and Robin that Alice Faye introduced... No love, no nothing' / Until my baby comes home. No fun with no one, / As long as baby must roam. I promised him I'd wait for him /Till even Hades froze. I'm lonesome, heaven knows, / But what I said still goes. This became one of America's great songs of longing during WWII. If you want to hear more of them, you can't do better than Jo Stafford and her CD, G.I. Jo - Songs of World War II.

Tom Barrister In 1943, the United States was in the middle of World War 2, and the entire country was involved one way or another in the war effort. Many who didn't serve in the military did their share at home working in war-related production. Entertainers did their part to keep the moral of the country (particularly the soldiers) high by performing overseas and at home, and Hollywood pitched in by producing several entertainment-based war pictures. "The Gang's All Here" is one of these movies.The movie, like most Busby Berkeley musicals, is short on plot and long on entertainment, and like most Berkeley movies, it moves right along without dragging its heels. The story is a familiar one of that era: A soldier falls in love with a singer, with the usual developments and complications. While the story is a bit thin and well-traveled, it isn't absurdly so. The dialog is well-written, albeit a bit dated to the era (as were many movies made in that era), and the acting is fine, with veterans such as Eugene Palette, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, and James Ellison supporting (and often covering for) the many entertainers in the movie (and if you look hard, you can even find Jeanne Crain, a young Johnny Duncan, and Frank Faylen (who was better known as Herbert T. Gillis in the TV series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis").The entertainment is top notch and includes: the fabulous Alice Faye, Benny Goodman and his orchestra, the zany Carmen Miranda and her orchestra (Banda La Lua), accordionist/comedian Phil Baker, dancer Tony De Marco, and singer Aloysio De Oliveira. Songs include "A Journey to a Star", "No Love, No Nothing", "P'ra que discutir" and "Diga o Ella", "Minnie's in the Money", "Soft Winds", "The Jitters", "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" and "Paducah".All in all, this is a top notch movie that breezes along for the entire hour and 43 minutes and is well worth watching.