Why so much hype?

ridiculous rating

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I watched this film because my idols, Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan were in it. They had very small parts. But I watched it, anyhow. It was when I watched this did I realize that The Andrews Sisters are very good singers. Great singers, at that! I liked the story pretty well, and it was funny enough for me. It was a very nice way to spend an evening alone, watching it on my computer.Even though Donald and Peggy weren't in it much, they were still very entertaining. Their kiss at the end is hilarious. The Jivin' Jacks and Jills were amazing, too. I love their dancing! They were in quite a few Universal films in those days. Almost all of their films star Donald and Peggy. I think the one to see their most impressive dancing is in 1943, "Mister Big". The dancing form this same group is jaw-dropping! Well, anyways, it's an entertaining, comical, musical movie that is well worth sitting in your little computer chair for 1 hour and seven minutes!

Private Buckaroo is one of those wartime musicals set in the army where the plot is barely noticeable among the musical numbers. In fact I'm not sure of what the plot was. In fact this one was another of those films to incorporate a top big band into the Hollywood studio system. In this it was Harry James and his Orchestra.Harry's gets one of those letters from FDR that a lot of men between 18 and 45 were getting back in 1942. But his orchestra apparently thinking they'd have to go out hustle other jobs decides the one that Harry's getting is good enough for them so the whole band enlists. Including Helen Forrest and Dick Foran who are his vocalists.Unlike the patriotic Foran who was a CPO in In The Navy, this Foran has an attitude similar to that of Lee Bowman in Buck Privates. Of course when you're drill sergeant is Shemp Howard it's kind of hard to take the army seriously. Foran's also pursuing Jennifer Holt who is Tim's sister.Also in the film are the Andrews Sisters and Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan and that about covers the musical portion of the film. For a 69 minute film they had at least a dozen numbers so you can see the plot barely got in the way. Not to mention there was a triangle involving Shemp with Mary Wickes and Joe E. Lewis.The film that Frank Sinatra made about Joe E. Lewis, The Joker Is Wild is infinitely better than Private Buckaroo. But this certainly is an opportunity to see the real Lewis perform.So if you're a fan of any or all of these folks you might spend some time watching Private Buckaroo. All this Universal classic needed was Abbott&Costello.

This really doesn't try to amount to much but a World War II entertainment vehicle. The Andrews Sisters, Dick Foran, Huntz Hall, and Shemp from the Three Stooges (Yes!) all are here, the main story is about a singer wanting to get into combat service but can't because of flat feet, and there's some other minor needer-natters going on too, but there's nothing earth-shattering divulged here. No, you'll be getting a dozen or so songs, most of them heavily patriotic, most of them hardly known today (I actually recognized Rinky-Dinky-Parlez-Vous only because I've heard it recently). This movie IS fun, actually. The Andrews Sisters know how to entertain (watch them!) and are supported nicely by a wide range of entertainers. Foran is a great trumpeter, and Shemp does his whole Three Stooges routine without a Curly or Moe around. A little gem.

This is essentially an armed forces recruitment film made by Universal shortly after the U.S. formal entry into World War II, utilizing some comics and swing musicians to raise the patriotic tenor. The wispy plot relates how the entire band of Harry James decides to enlist in the Army to follow its drafted leader, with a subsequent U.S.O. follies being organized directly before the entire group marches avidly into combat. With the exception of the reliable Mary Wickes, the comedians, in particular Joe E. Lewis and Shemp Howard, are dreadful and serve only to make the various musical interludes, notably those featuring the sprightly Andrews Sisters, a welcome relief --- from comedy. Former big band singer Dick Foran, who warbles the title tune, is the featured non-musical performer tasked to deal with the hapless propagandistic script, but 16 year old Donald O'Connor nearly steals the show along with some of his jitterbugging cronies.