Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Too much of everything

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

You never know what to expect from Monogram films. Some of their low budget movies are now considered sleeper classics, films at the time made simply to make a quick buck that somehow got noticed as a surprising work of art. Others are entertaining but forgettable, and in the case of this musical, it's instantly forgettable and often annoying. The plotline concerns a radio singer (Gale Storm) who wants to go from her latest gig to college so she can have a real life, but signed against her will to a new contract by uncle Douglas Leavitt. Taking the name of the radio station's secretary Marie Blake, she heads to college where she tries to blend in with the other co-eds, but creates a stir by performing in a local talent show where her voice is instantly recognized over the station. Thanks to a rival co-ed (Claudia Drake), Storm's identity is exposed because of Drake's boyfriend's (Robert Lowery) attraction to her, although Storm seems to be more enamored of the college newspaper editor (Johnny Downs) who is more serious about a future outside of college than the others around him.This has the subplot of the annoying Johnny Duncan often breaking into song with several various voices: one a Gracie Allen squeak, the other a Lionel Stander rasp. His novelty number is hideously wretched, although there's a funny moment when his girlfriend GeGe Pearson tries to rehearse her song for the college talent show and ends up with laryngitis, ultimately forcing the reluctant Storm to go on for her. I will give this film credit for one aspect however concerning the lives of the young students jazzing it up in the war years. In spite of what was going on around the world, their zest for life was unlimited and their music and dancing inspired the development of rock and roll a decade later and continues to inspire musicians today. So those of younger generations can look back and see how their grandparents (or great grandparents) lived when they were in their teens and realize that nothing much has changed but the date and the advancement of technology.

Johnny Downs (Scoop), Gale Storm (Joan), Robert Lowery (Buzz), Candy Candido (Harold), Ge-Ge Pearson (Babs), Doug Leavitt (Uncle Willie), Herbert Heyes (Hartman), Marie Blake (Susie), Johnny Duncan (freshman), Claudia Drake (Cynthia), and Tom Kennedy.Director: ARTHUR DREIFUSS. Screenplay: Charles R. Marion. Additional dialogue: Albert Beich, Frank Tarloff. Original story: Ewart Adamson, Jack White. Photography: Mack Stengler. Film editor: Richard Currier. Art director: David Milton. Music director: Edward J. Kay. Songs: "Walking the Chalk Line" by Jules Lohman, Louis Herscher; "Swing Your Way Through College" by Andy Iona Long, Louis Herscher; "It's Great To Be a College Girl" and "College Sweetheart", both by Louis Herscher. Additional music: Edward Cherkose. Production manager: Dick L'Estrange. Sound recording: Tom Lambert. Producer: Lindsley Parsons.Copyright 8 October 1943 by Monogram Pictures Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 19 November 1943. Australian release through British Empire Films: 20 April 1944. 5,624 feet. 62 minutes.SYNOPSIS: She's Singing Her Way Through College.COMMENT: This Monogram musical has Gale Storm, but little else to recommend it. That else includes a few jokes, buried in a tot of talk ("Since 1 was knee-high to a grasshopper"; "Say, you sing a swell song!"); plus a female voice impersonator; plus of course some mildly melodic songs. Typically dull direction from Arthur Dreifuss is not calculated to improve the picture's overall appeal. As I say, that appeal rests almost entirely on Gale Storm. You either like her or you regard her with indifference. Fortunately for me (and this review), I really like her!Nonetheless, you would think FIVE writers could come up with something more amusing, exciting and colorful than this ho-hum pastiche!

Shown on Turner Classic Movies. So half the cast is thirty, playing college students, and the rest of the cast wasn't much younger. There are more musical numbers here than there is plot.... the typical college campus antics. A whole lot of singing in this shortie. Gale Storm is Joan Abbott, who is sick of her job, and for SOME reason, has to change her name and go back to college. Not quite sure why she needed to change her name... were people not allowed to quit their job in the 1940's ? They send "uncle willie" to track her down and bring her back, and we watch HIM while he watches HER exercise in the gymnasium... a little creepy. Then there's the voice gag, where Candy Candido's voice (that's a guy, not a chick) keeps going high and low, even multiple times in the same sentence. Might have been fun the first time, but the repetition gets annoying, especially when he signs "Me, Myself, and I".Directed by Arthur Dreifuss, who also directed Riot on the Sunset Strip, which is SO much more interesting, and is based on actual events in Los Angeles. Watch that one instead.

Some folks are fussing about the plot. Sure, it's thin, but it is fun and the picture is a delight thanks to a fine cast headed by the effervescent, Miss Storm. One critic referred to her as a faux Shirley Temple. Nonsense. She was an adorable,talented, easy on the eyes individual and, in this picture, she is a lot of fun. Johnny Downs, a busy and talented man and, my favorite non-star star, Robert Lowery, is always enjoyable to watch. One thing on which we all agree is that Candy Candido is a helluva lot of fun. All in all, "Campus Rhythm" is totally enjoyable. Small budget, small studio, big enjoyment. P.S. They kept talking about a Rawley College. As a North Carolinian I was proud and happy thinking it was Raleigh. Oh,well!