When Johnny Comes Marching Home (1942)
By popular consensus, Allan Jones' best Universal mini-musical of the 1940s was the timely When Johnny Comes Marching Home. Jones is cast as war hero Johnny Kovacs, who wearies of the adulation heaped upon him and takes refuge under an assumed name in a theatrical boarding house. Here he befriends orchestra leader Phil Spitalny and his all-girl aggregation, including the inimitable Evelyn and Her Magic Violin. When Army officials trace Johnny to the boarding house, his new friends assume that he's a deserter and try to convince him to return to duty.
Director: Charles Lamont
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Allan Jones as Johnny Kovacs aka Johnny O'Rourke |
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Jane Frazee as Joyce Benton |
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Gloria Jean as Marilyn Benton |
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Donald O'Connor as Frankie Flanagan |
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Peggy Ryan as Dusty |
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Paul Everton as Speaker (uncredited) |
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Grace Hayes as Orchestra Violinist |
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Richard Davies as Lt. Tommy Bridges |
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Maceo Anderson as One of the Four Step Brothers tap dancing act. |
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Clyde Fillmore as Hamilton Wellman |
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Marla Shelton as Diana Wellman |
| Directing | Charles Lamont | Director |
| Writing | Oscar Brodney | Writer |
| Writing | Dorothy Bennett | Writer |
| Camera | George Robinson | Director of Photography |