Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Having read the other reviews and just seen the movie on TCM I can really recommend this movie as excellent entertainment. First and foremost the movie retains the terrific plots from the original "The Male Animal" where a university professor must fight for freedom in his class and fight the football hero for his wife.I totally disagree that this musical is in any way less than the original. The climatic speech by Ronald Reagan makes the point that if he expels the showgirl then "they" can expel others based on their religion, race, or where they were born. This freedom was what Henry Fonda's character was also protecting. Both also had excellent "fights" with the football hero and I actually prefer Reagan's because it was more intellectual and sincere.Virginia Mayo is a favorite actress of mine and even if she always had her songs dubbed in all her movies it did not deter from her dancing and acting. She was excellent in "Best Years of Our Lives", "Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N." and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"...all different types of roles but giving each character life and reality with no singing required.Gene Nelson is excellent as the senior football quarterback who dances and sings for the heart of Virginia Mayo…just like he did in "Oklahoma". He shows some good acting ability, too, in the serious scene of finding Reagan drunk when he brought Virginia Mayo home and Reagan thought they were his wife and the football hero.All together this movie is something to enjoy and feel good about when its over…something many critical acclaimed movies don't do.

Whilst Miss Mayo's singing voice is obviously dubbed, her first appearance as Hot Garters Gertie signals an exuberance and promise the movie doesn't quite fulfill. This opening production number emerges as the film's best, despite a very bland, mechanical orchestra which manages to become even more limpid as the action progresses, undermining what would otherwise have emerged as reasonably lively and diverting musical interludes. Nonetheless, the emphasis is definitely on the songs—both old and new—rather than the action and dialogue of the original stage play. The movie certainly packs in plenty of "color" and lots of legs.Ronald Reagan gives a credible account of the Henry Fonda role and even comes over convincingly in his "Male Animal" speech, even if it is allowed to run a little too long. The other players are way outclassed. Don DeFore, upgraded to the Jack Carson character, in particular proves no match at all.Credits are slick but squeaky clean. Although Gene Nelson dances up a storm, the musical orchestrations, as noted above, lack pizazz. In fact, the new songs are totally unmemorable. A pity the producer failed to use more of the old standards like "As Time Goes By" which is given a very appealing rendition here by the gifted vocalist, Bonnie Lou Williams.

Then again, I was only 10, and home sick from school.Burlesque Star, read, Exotic Dancer wants for some obscure reason, a college education. She's obviously making more dough now than she will with a BA, but never mind, she's got a heart of gold, and a yen for knowledge.Knowing what we know about the then future, and now late President, it's really ironic that he was so good about defending the rights of "shady lady." My favorite scene, in fact, was when he told the board of tight butts who wanted to kick her out of school, how she worked her way through high school too, getting up early to prepare food in the cafeteria. Corny, but it worked on me.Anyway, I don't usually like made-for-film musicals either, but I thought that this was sweet and fun, well acted and a fine way to pass a couple of hours.

This film may be seen as a rather slight offering in the musical genre of the early 50's; however, it's been a favorite film of mine since I first saw it years ago. Virginia Mayo sparkles as Angela, a sincere girl who wants to attend college, but has to work in burlesque as "Hot Garters Gertie" to earn the money. Ronald Reagan is her professor, and thankfully, the film is less concerned with his career woes (being passed over for promotions at the college, a rivalry with the football coach, etc.) than it is with the college kids and the musical numbers. Gene Nelson is handsome and an excellent dancer, and Patrice Wymore has the right degree of archness as "Poison Ivy". The musical numbers are a lot of fun, especially "With Plenty of Money and You" (Virginia, clad in gold fringe, pulls out the stops for her burlesque number), "I'll Still Be Loving You" (Virginia and Gene sing the cute romantic number in class), and the title song. It's a film I can enjoy watching again and again.