Meet the Navy

Meet the Navy is a 1946 British musical comedy film based on the Canadian musical revue Meet the Navy. Filmed in England in November 1945, it was directed by Alfred Travers and produced by British National Films. It stars Lionel Murton, Margaret Hurst and Robert John Pratt.[1] The plot concerns a musical troupe who entertain sailors from the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, and the film shows their personal history and experiences. The film concludes with a Technicolor sequence, with the cast involved in a Royal Command Performance for an audience including a young Princess Elizabeth.[2]

According to Kinematograph Weekly, the "biggest winner" at the British box office for 1946 was The Wicked Lady, but Meet the Navy was listed among the other top performers.[3]

Allmovie's description reads: "Virtually plotless, the British Meet the Navy is not so much a film as a musical revue. Which is as it should be, since the film is based on the Royal Canadian Navy stage show of the same name, originally put together by radio musical arranger Louis Silvers and choreographer Larry Ceballos. Like its Hollywood predecessor This Is the Army, Meet the Navy is so smooth and professional-looking that one doubts the publicity claims that the cast was composed entirely of talented amateurs. Few of the cast members went on to illustrious careers, though most were certainly capable of doing so."[2]

TV Guide awarded the film two out of four stars, calling it an "entertaining British musical."[4]