Pat Boone's first two movies were straight up star vehicles - this is more of an ensemble piece in the vein of On the Town, with Pat sharing the load with an interesting bunch: Tommy Sands, Christine Carere, Sheree North, Dick Sergeant, Barrie Chase, Gary Crosby and others. Pat does carry the main plot but the others get their own little story - and also the songs are distributed among the support cast: North and Sands in particular get their own numbers.
Boone, Crosby and Sands are military cadets who visit New Orleans in Mardi Gras and get up to hijinks. The main plot also borrows from Roman Holiday and The Fleet's In: Boone wins a date with Hollywood star Carare, but she absconds to enjoy life as a normal person. She meets up with Boone, who doesn't recognise her, she pretends to be normal, and they fall in love.
That's an irritatingly implausible story. Boone's best friends Sands and Crosby are obsessed with Carare - yet Boone doesn't recognise her? And she is able to walk around incognito? Also Carare isn't believable for one second as a star who is big in Hollywood - she has this stunned bug-eyed look as if she's frightened of the camera and struggles to get out her lines. She also can't convey a character - she seems like this girl toying with old Pat, like a robot constructed like a china doll. On the plus side, she does have a nice figure. The logic of her romance with Pat Boone and her performance are the biggest problems with this movie.
The subplots are easier to swallow - Crosby romances Sheree North (Carare's assistant), Sands falls for a studious glasses wearing Barrie Chase who turns out to be a stripper, Sergeant goes off with Jennifer West. There are some bright songs and the film has a fun sense of camraderie amongst young people mucking around and having a good time. Director Edmund Goulding stages one song number with Sands, Crosby and Boone taking off their clothes and singing together naked in a shower - make of that what you will.
Crosby - who, like most of the lead cast was under long term contract to Fox at the time - imitates his dad a lot, who he does looks like - admittedly a blonder chunkier version. Sands isn't bad in a support role - he's a bit sleazy, but it suits his character and bounces off well against squeaky clean Boone. Boone remains stiff, struggles with Carare, and works well with his male co stars.
There is a hilariously shameless plug from Jerry Wald where a producer character announces he's brought the film rights to The Best of Everything, which Wald had done. There are also some cameos from Fox stars Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner.
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