Ship Ahoy

"Ship Ahoy" is the title of a 1942 musical-comedy motion picture produced by MGM.

The film stars Eleanor Powell as Tallulah Winters, a dancing star who is hired to perform on an ocean liner. Before she leaves, she is recruited by what she believes is a branch of the American government and asked to smuggle a prototype explosive mine out of the country. In fact, she is unknowingly working for Nazi agents who have stolen the mine. Meanwhile, Merton Kibble (Red Skelton), a writer of pulp fiction adventure stories but suffering from severe writer's block, is on the same ship and soon he finds himself embroiled in Tallulah's real-life adventure. Also appearing in the film were Bert Lahr, Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, and Virginia O'Brien

This was the first of two films in which Powell and Skelton co-starred. It is considered a lesser effort on both actors' behalf, however the film is chiefly remembered today for including the film debut of Frank Sinatra, who appears in an uncredited performance as a singer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The movie also is credited with one of the most unusual displays of dance on screen for a sequence in which Powell's character, needing to communicate a message to a (real) US agent in the audience of one of her shows, manages to tap out the message in morse code. (Reportedly, Powell taps genuine code during the performance.)

Skelton and Powell next paired up in 1943's "I Dood It". In that film, they appeared with Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy's brother.

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Other uses

The Internet Movie Database lists at least five additional films with the title "Ship Ahoy" released between 1919 and 1930.