JohnHowardReid Attractive songs plus super-vivacious Ann Miller and well-voiced newcomer Kay Armen, just manage to surmount an impossibly old-hat, totally unbelievable screenplay, plus dull as a dry dock direction, plus listless and mostly indifferent staging (except when Miss Miller is on hand) and, worst of all, dreary acting from Tony Martin, Vic Damone, Russ Tamblyn and even, alas, Debbie Reynolds! However, In defense of Tony Martin and Debbie Reynolds, it must be said that their ridiculous and impoverished roles were simply impossible to play at all, let alone well! On the other hand, however, Vic Damone seems be irritatingly content to be just naturally dull. And as for Russ Tamblyn, as usual, he gives the impression of trying too hard. (True, you're supposed to try hard, but you've got to make it look real easy. That, Russ and Vic, is the number one essence of movie acting). Producer Pasternak has given the film some lush, but creatively empty, production values. In at least 90% of cases, it's no use spending money on costumes, sets and scenery, if your script, your director and your players are all three, well below par.

w22nuschler This is a really fun musical with all likable character. Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds & Ann Miller play the girls and Tony Martin, Vic Damone & Russ Tamblyn play the guys. The great Walter Pidgeon plays the father of Jane and Russ. Tony tries to win back his old gal Ann. Russ romances Debbie and Jane is stuck with a womanizer until she meets up with Vic. I liked all three pairings in the film, they fit perfectly. Ann & Russ show their talents as great dancers. Jane, Tony & Vic show off their wonderful voices and Debbie does both well. Ann and Debbie have some number to show off their great pair of legs. I just love the blue dress Debbie wears at the end. Her legs are gorgeous. I think they gave Debbie the best three musical numbers. I felt Jane was underused a little bit. Jane does a cute number with a penguin and does a couple of nice duets. I would have liked to see Jane's legs showcased. She also has a great body. I don't know why some people pick on this film. The cast is just wonderful and there are some nice songs and the devil's fun house dance number with Debbie and Russ is a highlight. It's not my favorite musical, but it is one of the better ones.

joseph952001 When this movie first came out, we had just been exposed to Cinamascope, Cinerama, VistaVision, SuperScope, and Todd-A-O. People where in their living rooms watching television and movies were not making any money, so they had to think of a way to get everyone from in front of the television and back into the theaters, and the WideScreens, 3-D, and Stereophonic Sound did the trick! But, here's the problem, years later, with watching films like "Hit The Deck": We were all fans of actress' like Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds because most of us watched them grow up from children to adult players in films. Tony Martin was a very popular singer. Russ Tamblyn had the look of a Mormon making movies because Russ Tamblyn was/is an Mormon. Ann Miller took over as the Queen of the Taps when Elinor Powell retired, and Kay Armand was a very popular singer at the time. So, we enjoyed these performers and loved seeing them on that immense screen with the 3 channel stereophonic sound which was the Miracle of that Century, and, once again, if you have never experienced these movies like "Hit The Deck" on the large screen with its 3 channel stereophonic sound, then I can see why others in the later generations to come would not appreciate them. Especially when you have song writers like Vincent Youmans, who wrote the score for Hit the Deck, and other composers like Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. Thank God, we can still enjoy these composers music today because it's been saved, and if you grew up in this age of the wonderful M.G.M. musicals, yes, even you, would admit that todays music, as the kids say, "Sucks"! This movie is just good old fashioned entertainment. Who needs a story line to get in the way of all this great music and dance numbers! Of course, sometimes things were predictable, such as when Tony Martin is singing "More Than You Know" to Ann Miller, and the look on her face is the same look she had when Fred Astair sang "It Only Happnens When I Dance With You" in the movie "Easter Parade", but who cared? So, we knew the formula: Give meets Boy, Girl and Boy Fight: Gir and Boy Get Back Together; Boy and Girl Find Out That All Along They Were in Love and Didn't Know It, and then the Extravagant Musical Finale with everyone in the audience feeling good that they saw the movie! The finale to this film with the whole cast singing "Halleluah" and Ann Miller tapping her feet off; the general energy you get from the last scene, made you want to dance out of the theater and on to the streets. Hell! Who needed anti-depressants in those days? Our anti-depressants were the energy that these wonderful musicals gave us! It's just a shame that they don't make musicals like this anymore! But, of course, I can see why! Who are you going to put in a song and dance movie musical? Leonardo Di Caprio?

ptb-8 HIT THE DECK is a 1955 cinema scope mop up of MGM stars and talent whose contracts would have been soon to expire. A bit like a aircraft carrier version of DEEP IN MY HEART it hangs together a roster of singing and dancing talent but this time with ultimately fairly just-OK songs and energetic dance numbers. Still, even at its most bland it is still unable to be made in Hollywood today. The women are the most interesting talent on offer and whoever said Tony Martin had an audience apart from Mummas in delicatessens was truly misled. He is the most annoying part of this B grade musical with A grade MGM production values. Like he did with the Marx Bros films in the 30s. Kelly was making ITS ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER another 'sailors on leave' 1955 cinema scope MGM musical at the same time and that film with its Comden Green script and songs is light years ahead in sophistication and quality. Still HIT THE DECK has a two of very entertaining 'big' dance numbers, in particular the "finale" and the "Bayou" sizzler with its very erotic and blatant imagery and choreography. It is so out of place in this 'suburban' film as it is sooo good. The color is also very good for Eastman since MGM saw the error of their ways and stopped using horrible Ansco color which visually marred several big films in 53 and 54. This must have been as safe a bet in which MGM could expect to play out as many stars as possible in yet one more sailor musical. Russ Tamblyn and Debbie Reynolds are always cute in this era though.