It is one of the iconic images of the World War II era: Betty Grable wearing a bathing suit, satin heels and an ankle bracelet, with her blonde hair in a curly pompadour, shot from behind and coyly smiling over her shoulder at the camera. Her home studio 20th Century Fox gave away millions of copies of that photo, and it is estimated that one of every five servicemen fighting overseas carried one, a symbol of all the girls they left behind. It was the ultimate "pin-up," so named because the fighting men pinned them over their bunks or on the cockpits of their planes. The picture was taken by studio photographer Frank Powolny, probably in early 1943 (some sources claim it was shot earlier), a peak year for Grable, who was then at the pinnacle of her box-office popularity. That same year Fox insured Grable's legs with Lloyd's of London for one million dollars. Her footprints and leg-print were preserved in cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Grable's personal life was peaking too, as she married trumpeter and band leader Harry James, and Grable found out she was expecting a baby shortly after production began on Pin Up Girl. Comedienne and co-star Martha Raye promptly dubbed the film "Pregnant Girl." By the time production wrapped, Grable was seven months into her pregnancy.

Pin Up Girl, which was made to capitalize on Grable's wave of popularity, was shot in glorious Technicolor in 1943 and released in May of 1944. Grable plays flirty Lorry Jones, who does her bit for the boys in uniform at a Missouri U.S.O., singing, autographing photos of herself, and promising to marry any soldier who asks her. Lorry and her friend Kay are moving to Washington D.C. to work for the government, but she tells her hometown fans that she's off on a U.S.O. tour. Before they report for work, the girls spend a night in New York City, where they meet war hero Tommy and his pal Dud, and Lorry spins another tall tale, pretending to be a glamorous Broadway star. Of course, Lorry's elaborate fantasies provide one complication after another, but the convoluted plot is just an excuse for elaborate production numbers with songs by Mack Gordon and James Monaco. Among the standouts are a sultry, jazzy "Apache" number danced by Grable with choreographer Hermes Pan, and the title song, crooned by Grable and danced by the Condos brothers. Raye and bigmouth clown Joe E. Brown provide the comic relief.

Pin Up Girl should have been another highlight, part of the excitement surrounding Grable in 1943 and 1944. Instead, it was something of a disappointment. With all of Fox's top male stars in the military, the best the studio could come up with for a love interest was John Harvey, a stage actor appearing in his second film, who had no charisma and little chemistry with Grable. (Harvey made one more film, then returned to the stage. He later became an agent.) Some of the musical numbers, such as an interminable roller skating routine, fell flat. Critics were not kind. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times called Pin Up Girl "a spiritless blob of a musical, a desecration of a most inviting theme." Grable herself called it one of her least favorite films. But bad reviews did not keep the fans away. Pin Up Girl was one of the top box office hits of 1944, and Fox's biggest moneymaker of the year. As far as her fans were concerned, Betty Grable could do no wrong.

Director: Bruce Humberstone
Producer: William LeBaron
Screenplay: Robert Ellis, Helen Logan, Earl Baldwin, based on the story Imagine Us by Libbie Block
Cinematography: Ernest Palmer
Editor: Robert Simpson
Costume Design: Rene Hubert
Art Direction: James Basevi, Joseph C. Wright
Music: songs by James Monaco and Mack Gordon
Principal Cast: Betty Grable (Lorry Jones), John Harvey (Tommy Dooley), Martha Raye (Molly McKay), Joe E. Brown (Eddie Hall), Eugene Pallette (Chief Barney Briggs), Dorothea Kent (Kay Pritchett), Dave Willock (Dud Miller), Marcel Dalio (Headwaiter), Condos Brothers, Charlie Spivak and his Orchestra
85 minutes

by Margarita Landazuri