Oh dear, I am not sure about the ad line from the 40s which exclaimed "The gayest musical with the gayest new stars".... and I am sure teen star Dickie Moore would have been mortified in later years at that re surfacing.... (he married Jane Powell in the 80s!!) ... however this well made PRC mini musical from 1943 attempts to entertain us with the idea of a high school band opening their own rural milkbar for US soldiers as their war entertainment effort... only to see the girlfriends swoon and dance with the servicemen instead. As a hep musical with lively teens, JIVE JUNCTION ultimately promises more than it delivers (unlike MISTER BIG made at Universal the same year) but it does have one absolutely magnetic interest... and that is the astonishing talent of teen star Dickie Moore. You just can't believe how handsome this kid was.... and he certainly could act. As a truly beautiful baby star in the early 30s in Our Gang and other high profile films he went on to appear in major RKO and FOX films like HEAVEN CAN WAIT. Later in MEMBER OF THE WEDDING in the 50s. JIVE JUNCTION lacks the energy and choreography that it needs and too often is static and under-presented... which is a shame because PRC keenly spent some cash on the production values but slacked on the energy required to sock the pic across. Directed by Edgar Ulmer (of DETOUR fame) it should be better than it is. There is a huge orchestra scene late in the film but by then my interest seriously waned. However for Dickie Moore fans he is a knockout.
Review of Jive Junction
