Given free rein in choreographing Anchors Aweigh, Gene Kelly was eager to do the unexpected. But what? How about doing a dance with a cartoon? collaborator and friend Stanley Donen asked. How about it indeed. Kelly's live-action fancy footwork with analyzed Jerry (of Tom and Jerry) remains a milestone of movie fantasy. Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson also headline this wartime tale of two sailors on leaving in Hollywood. Sinatra's I Fall in Love Too Easily, the exuberant Kelly/Sinatra We hate to Leave and other highlights helped Anchors Aweigh weigh in with an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, plus four more Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Actor (Kelly).
