Synopsis
Hats Off To The Navy's 'Flirtation Walk' !
An admiral's son with no interest in carrying on the family tradition is a successful crooner. He finally joins the Navy to prove he can, but with no real love in it.
Shipmates Forever
Cast
Dick Powell Ruby Keeler Lewis Stone Ross Alexander Eddie Acuff Dick Foran John Arledge Robert Light Joyce Oliver Joe King Frederick Burton Henry Kolker Harry Seymour Joseph Crehan Mary Treen Martha Merrill Peter Potter Carlyle Moore Jr. Vesey O'Davoren Mel Ruick Niles Welch Jerry Fletcher Billy Naylor Victor Potel Mabel Colcord George H. Reed Emmett Vogan Newton House Selmer Jackson Show All…
Director
Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Art Direction
Composers
Songs
Costume Design
Studios
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Der Jazzkadett, Viva a Marinha, Vi som går søvejen, Viva la marina, Amis pour toujours, Iroikes kardies, Mindenki a fedélzetre, L'ammiraglio, Flottans käcka pojkar, Donanma Geliyor, 烟波乐
Releases by Date
Theatrical
-
USA
08 Mar 1936
-
Finland
04 May 1936
-
Sweden
07 May 1936
-
Hungary
14 May 1936
-
France
01 Jun 1936
-
Denmark
18 Oct 1937
-
Turkey
Releases by Country
Denmark
01 Jun 1936
- Theatrical
Finland
08 Mar 1936
- Theatrical
France
14 May 1936
- Theatrical
Hungary
07 May 1936
- Theatrical
Sweden
04 May 1936
- Theatrical
Turkey
18 Oct 1937
- Theatrical
USA
12 Oct 1935
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
More-
"I was raised on radio. Weaned on radio. Gotta have a radio!"
Perhaps a little less effective than I remembered but still fairly charming overall, Frank Borzage's Shipmates Forever reteams several actors from the previous year's Army musical rom-com Flirtation Walk - Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Ross Alexander and John Arledge - for a variation on the theme with Navy recruits. While I have to admit it's been a really long time since I last saw Flirtation Walk (I think I still have my VHS copy!) and can't recall the uses of music, what's unusual about Shipmates Forever is that it's not a typical Warner Brothers musical of its time. Popular crooner-turned-enlisted man Dick Melville (Powell) only performs when he's…
-
”I’d love to take orders from you.”
Don’t give up the ship during this Frank Borzage directed Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler military musical (see also: The Singing Marine, Flirtation Walk) or else you might miss the beautiful sight of Powell, all swaddled up like a mummy, recovering from serious boiler room burns.
Crooner Dick Melville (Powell) pooh-pooh’s the Navy and June Blackburn (Keeler) would never marry a Navy man. Naturally, they both have a change of heart by the end, because this is a pro-enlistment picture, after all, existing in that space between World Wars, a time when Keeler’s character can cry a little over the death of her father in the first Great War, adorably oblivious to the…
-
Frank Borzage teams Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler & Ross Alexander for another uniform musical following their less then spectacular Academy nominated Flirtation Walk (1934). The positive is that the musical aspect feels less forced for this one. Powell gets to be the showman he is even if he once again is forced into a mans job by fatherly persuasions from Lewis Stone. Shipmates Forever is a slow film where we watch the navy kill everything Dick Powell is and make him a lesser man while we're supposed to think that's a good thing.
-
Starts off pretty good with everyone talking about how much the Navy fucking sucks and then rapidly goes downhill from there.
-
I watched this for Ross Alexander who brought his usual energy and enthusiasm. Dick Powell showed more range in this one. The film dragged in spots and the romance needed better development.
-
One of the pleasures of watching Warner Bros. musicals from the 1930s is seeing the origins of songs that have filtered into my brain thanks to classic WB cartoons. Two of the three songs from this movie - “Don’t Give Up the Ship” and “I’d Love to Take Orders From You” - will probably sound familiar if you're a Looney Tunes fanatic like I am.
Too bad the movie surrounding these songs is such a slog! What’s the point of a Dick Powell + Ruby Keeler musical with no laughs and no show-stopping dance numbers? We’re subjected to nearly two hours of preachy melodrama, plus a moral suggesting that you should sacrifice your individuality and devote your entire existence to…
-
Lots of location scenes at the Naval Academy and lots of focus on the rituals of the students there. Fortunately there’s still focus on Dick Powell singing and (some) on Ruby Keeler’s presence. The underlying storyline is actually well done and the film takes an unexpected darker turn, so it held interest quite well despite the relatively long running time for what it is.
-
-
Look I love Dick Powell but I don’t two hours of boring military propaganda love Dick Powell.
-
In Shipmates Forever, Borzage charts a new course with his compass, and with a little help from the power of friendship, is able to secure his escape from being a cinematic castaway - even at the cost of jettisoning a few of his standard tropes to remain afloat.
Borzage's work here takes many cues from the story and character dynamics from "Flirtation Walk", and one could take the easy way out to assume this is simply a naval version of the previous film. There is lots of marching, military discipline, love restricted by duty, and Dick Powell again playing the lead.
But where it differs is in Borzage's conception of Powell's character, Richard Melville III, better known by his nickname…
-
The summary on TCM was hella misleading. Aside from Ruby Keeler tap dancing, this was pretty dreadful. I did not have a fun time.
-
man I love Borzage when he's doing art films and Delmer Daves has written and/or directed so many of my fave films, but not only is this film propaganda for the Navy, it's boring af