As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

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.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

While at first though, a musical version of "Room Service" seems unnecessary, once the songs are added, it all comes together. Not all the songs are good, and a few of the production numbers (particularly one with an Arabian setting) have a sense of awkwardness even with special effects impossible on a Broadway stage. What is surprising here is the pacing of the film, a bit faster moving than its original 1938 film version with the Marx Brothers and more appropriately cast.George Murphy is a broke Broadway producer who has been keeping his cast of 22 and production team in his brother-in-law Walter Slezak's hotel, that is until the hotel's auditor (Adolph Menjou) arrives to examine the books. A potential investor send his representative (Eugene Palette) and gal-pal (Anne Jeffreys) to check out the potential success, and a playwright (Frank Sinatra) also shows up, believing that Murphy is producing his play. To keep these squatters from being evicted, Murphy gets Sinatra plastered, since hotels apparently are not allowed to throw out a sick guest whether they've paid their bill or not. But hangovers don't last forever, investors can change their mind, and playwrights, no matter how good they sing, don't always want to perform in a show that they know they didn't write.There's a lot to admire in this lavishly filmed musical, but their best songs are actually the ballads, not the big numbers. "As Long as There's Music" and "Some Other Time" will stick in your ear more than "Ask the Madame", "Why Must There Be an Opening Song?" and the annoying Arab production number which leads into a reprise of "Where Does Love Begin?". Grant Mitchell is very funny in a cameo as the hotel doctor whom Murphy locks out on a balcony in order to prevent him from reporting that Sinatra isn't sick. The lovely Gloria De Haven's beautiful soprano and Sinatra's smooth big band trained voice mix well together, but sadly Anne Jeffreys isn't given much good material and her character seems unnecessary other than to give the two leads a love interest for the finale fade-out.

"Step Lively" from 1944 is a fun, energetic musical, based on the play Room Service. It's the story of a broke producer, Gordon Miller (George Murphy) housing his actors in a hotel. The actors sign for everything to the consternation of the manager (Walter Slezak), who has to answer to the owner (Adolphe Menjou). Miller has an investor on the line but with no money yet, he has to keep making promises he can't keep.Along comes Glenn Russell (Frank Sinatra), a serious playwright who sent Miller his script and $1500 so it could be produced. Miller hasn't produced the play, and he doesn't have the $1500. He is charmed by Miller's girlfriend and star of Miller's show, Christine (Gloria de Haven). And at dinner that evening, after watching Christine's show at the hotel, guess what, Glenn Russell sings like Sinatra! The next day, Miller stages a fake rehearsal of what is an awful play, and the man representing the potential backer (Eugene Palette) sees that rehearsal with the benefactor's girlfriend, a Miss Abbott (Anne Jeffries) and is not impressed. As a diversion, Christine has Glenn sing through a song. Abbott falls in love, and it at last looks like Miller will get his investor.This is a charming musical with a great young cast. It's easy to see why girls were mad over Sinatra - skinny, his suits just a little too big, those huge eyes, gentle manner and romantic singing voice - he is captivating. He sings "Where Does Love Begin," "As Long as There's Music," "Some Other Time," and "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You are," some with the pretty De Haven, who does a lovely job. Walter Slezak is a scream as the put-upon Gribble, and Menjou is appropriately grumpy as the owner of the hotel.Anne Jeffries is stunning, as she remains today, but I'm curious if her age could possibly be correct. She was supposedly born in 1923 to De Haven's 1925; that makes De Haven 19 in this film and Jeffries 21. I doubt it. The woman defies gravity, age, and everything else and if she's even older than 87 - wow! Lots of fun and nice to see the immature, sweet version of "Frankie."

As a lifelong Sinatra fan who has seen all the movies and owns all the CDs I have no hesitation in rating this the best film he made in the 40s, his best in fact until Meet Danny Wilson right at the start of the 50s. In fact it's right up there with the two great musicals he made in the 50s, Young At Heart and High Society and it's no coincidence that all three had rock-solid scripts, had in fact begun life in each case as non-musical dramas/comedies. Young At Heart was a successful novel by Fanny Hurst which became a fine drama, Four Daughters; High Society was a play, The Philadelphia Story, tailored especially for Katherine Hepburn who played it both on Broadway and the subsequent film version and Step Lively began as a farce on Broadway and became a film vehicle for the Marx Brothers. This means that Sinatra isn't asked to carry the film and we can enjoy George Murphy as a sort of pre-Bilko complete with two sidekicks, Wally Brown and Alan Carny, in a running battle with Walter Slezak, Adolph Menjou and Eugene Palette. The six great songs provided by Jule Syne and Sammy Cahn are a bonus even those in which Sinatra does not feature (Ask The Madam). Sinatra is allowed to develop his personality into something - albeit only a little - more than the gauche 'himself' he played in Higher And Higher and once he got to MGM he was back to gauche. I suspect that Anchors Aweigh would seem very dated today despite a fine score, The Kissing Bandit was always a joke with Take Me Out To The Ballgame only a notch better and I've always found On The Town vastly overrated which leaves It Happened In Brooklyn as the best of a mediocre lot. Step Lively - seen today, May, 2008, retains its freshness and failed completely to disappoint.

This film is at times an exact copy of the Marx Brothers film, ROOM SERVICE. Instead of the Marxes, Frank Sinatra and his pals reprise the exact same roles. The first versions of most movies are usually the best, and this could certainly be said of this film. Think about what a tough road this movie had--no Marx Brothers and yet it was to somehow say something unique and worth watching. Well, it didn't. While it is certainly a time-passer and worth watching from a historical point of view, I see no reason for the average viewer to do so. The songs that were added to the flick weren't particularly wonderful and the movie is nothing new. Just see the original film and be done with it!