Here’s a word cloud of the terms we most frequently used in 2012. What would you like to see in 2013?
Accentuate the Positive
Here Come the WAVES debuted Christmas week, 1944. “Accentuate the Positive” was the musical number that was the biggest hit from the film. It was nominated for an Academy Award as best original song in 1945.
Betty Hutton, part II
Betty Hutton as WAVE Rosemary Allison (she also played Rosemary’s twin sister Susie) in the film Here Come the WAVES. The film debuted during Christmas week 1944 and was shot on location at the Naval Air Station in San Diego. Rosemary was an air traffic controller in the film.
Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton as WAVE trainee Susie Allison (she also played Susie’s twin sister Rosemary) in the film Here Come the WAVES. The film debuted during Christmas week 1944 and was shot on location at the WAVES Boot Camp at Hunter College in the Bronx.
Disappointment
WAVE Dot Forbes remembers being disappointed when she finally saw her film debut in the movie Here Come the WAVES.
When we got to see the movie, there were a couple of little clips before the movie ever started and that was it! (laughs). I thought, “All of that and in that heat,” it was like 90 degree heat and you’re in wool serge, blue serge, it was just (laughs). Scottie and I shake our heads when we think back. But we did it, because you do what you were told and all.
The still of WAVES marching at Hunter College is from the Paramount picture Here Comes the WAVES. It premiered during Christmas Week, 1944.
Marching, marching, marching
WAVE Dot Forbes was in this sea of women during the filming of Here Come the WAVES at Hunter College in the Bronx.
This was June in New York City. We had to wear our Navy blue uniforms. Serge, wool serge. Marching. And I don’t — I hated the song that Johnny Mercer wrote. I thought I’ll never hear or listen to another one of his songs. We had to sing it over and over and over and over and over. Of course, I realize today what’s involved in editing and they had to do.
The still is from the Paramount picture Here Comes the WAVES. It premiered during Christmas Week, 1944.
On Location
Here Come the WAVES previewed at the WAVES boot camp training facility at Hunter College and at the Naval Air Station in San Diego before the film’s premiere in New York City. The reason? The film was shot on location at the two facilities (as seen in the film still above) with WAVES acting as extras.
Merry Christmas!
May all of your holidays be safe and and happy.
This 1940s-era Christmas card comes from the collection of Liana Galvin.
Our Holiday Greeting
This year, we decided to have our annual holiday greeting tied to the “Hollywood Holidays” theme we’ve been working on the last couple of weeks. The reason? This is the 70th anniversary of the release of Bing Crosby’s hit White Christmas. The song topped the charts in the weeks leading up to Christmas in 1942, and would go on (according to the Guinness Book of World Records) to be the biggest selling song of all time.
The song was first performed in a radio show in 1941, and was a part of the movie Holiday Inn, which was released in July of 1942.
WAVE Helen Gilbert remembered being in training camp as the holidays approached in 1942:
The first Christmas in Wisconsin, it was very sad. We were all homesick. We were just a bunch of young girls who wanted to go home. I remember Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. Every time it went on we were just sobbing. It was crazy, but we lived through it and finally graduated.
May your days be merry and bright and all your Christmases be white.
The Poster
Publicity poster for the Hollywood feature film Here Comes the WAVES, which premiered Christmas week, 1944.
Hinges of History 