This above average farce is Republic studio's comment on the housing shortage of the war years, a battle of the sexes comedy where each gender gives as good as they get. No namby pamby ladies the two female leads here: tough beauty Jane Frazee and tall, lanky Vera Vague, another member of the Mary Wickes school of wisecrack, with a tongue so sharp she could slice a roast beef with it. The two men trying to beat them to getting a room in vinegary Maude Eburne's already crowded home are Frank Albertsin and Frank Jenks who aren't beyond a bit of roughhousing to get the one available room before they claim it.Set in a war factory community where the women work the day shift and the men on the swing, this mixes music, comedy and a patriotic atmosphere all together where you might find yourself stewed from laughing. Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer is pretty grown up here, no more squeaky voice and actually quite good looking minus his freckles and standing strand of hair. Louise Erickson is a typical teenage girl, battling brother Switzer every chance she gets. Ellen Lowe plays their aunt, a discontented much married woman who is on the outs with her latest husband, making her room a target for Frazee and Vague, and a recurring gag throughout the film. Lloyd Corrigan is her sap of a husband who keeps letting her slip through his fingers.This is one of those wacky, improbable comedies that works strictly on the performances, pacing and pizazz, a snap, crackle and pop formula that is crowd pleasing and never dull. The story of Rosie the Riviter could have gone too serious and ridiculous by being obvious with spies and saboteurs but this is surprisingly effective even in its absurdity. The women score performance wise and comically, showing just like the famous World War II poster, "We can do it!"

During World War II, the U.S. Government wanted Hollywood to produce movies that would help win the war. It is doubtful that "The Coconuts" director Joseph Santley's "Rosie the Riveter" could have made much of a contribution to morale. This lightweight, 75-minute, black & white, musical comedy about the widespread housing shortage in California deals with two guys and two girls who encounter complications sharing a bedroom with two beds on a rotating basis. When Rosalind "Rosie" Warren (Jane Frazee of "Buck Privates") and Vera Watson (Barbara Jo Allen as Vera Vague of "Melody Ranch")compete for the last room in town with Charlie Doran (Frank Albertson) and Kelly Kennedy (Frank Jenks), landlady Granma Quill(Maude Eburne of "The Vampire Bat" lets them rent the same room on the condition that they occupy it when the others are at work in an aircraft construction factory. The housing shortage constituted a genuine problem during hostilities as other World War II films such as "The More The Merrier" and "Pillow to Post" depicted. Actually, Granma's grand children, Buzz Prouty (Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer of "The War Against Mrs. Hadley") and Mabel Prouty (Louise Erickson of "Meet Miss Bobby Socks")rented the room to both the guys and the gals without informing either their grandmother or their Aunt Stella (Ellen Lowe of "Pilot # 5")about their arrangements. Granma decides that the four can rent the room because they work on different shifts. The guys work the graveyard shift while the gals work the daylight shift. Eventually, Charlie and Rosier become romantically involved through a series of misadventures. Rosier runs into trouble when her boyfriend, Wayne Calhoun (Frank Fenton of "Minesweeper"), inquires into her living arrangements. He brings over a framed painting to hang in her bedroom and the girls scramble to clear Charlie and Kelly out of the room before the jealous Wayne learns about their secret.Interestingly, since the government prohibited Hollywood from showing anything that would furnish the enemy with information, "Rosie the Riveter" doesn't show anything that would be considered confidential. There are some brief scenes of Rosie and Vera wielding a rivet gun on the tail section of a bomber. Virtually everything in "Rosie the Riveter" is forgettable despite its attractive and sympathetic cast. Most of the action transpires either in the bedroom or at a police station. The high point of the hilarity occurs when the two girls come home in the rain from a dance and realize that they cannot get out in the downpour with their fur coats on without ruining them. Instead, they strip down to the slips and try to get in, only to discover that they have been not only locked up but also have locked their house keys in the car. Predictably, one of the guys slips into a uniform for the concluding scene. As a celebration of the patriot spirit of women in the workforce during World War II, "Rosie the Riveter" qualifies as trivial.

Defense plant workers Rosalind "Rosie" Warren (Jane Frazee) and her friend Vera Watson (Barbara Jo Allen as Vera Vague) must share, on a rotating schedule, the town's last available rental-room with Charlie Doran (Frank Albertson) and Kelly Kennedy (Frank Jenks), who work the other shift at the plant. The landlady, Grandma Quill (Maude Eburne), also has her grandchildren, Buzz Prouty (Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer) and Mabel Prouty (Louise Erickson), and her daughter Stella Prouty (Ellen Lowe)---who is on the outs with her husband Clem (Lloyd Corrigan)---living with her. Rosie doesn't tell her fiancé, Wayne Calhoun (Frank Fenton),about the living arrangements, and is also plotting with Vera to re-unite the Proutys. Rosie pawns the engagement ring Wayne gave her for money for Clem and Stella. Rosie and Charlie fall in love and get their picture in the paper. Wayne huffingly breaks the engagement and wants his ring returned. Jane Frazee sings three songs and Charlie joins the Marines...and it is a lot better than it reads here.

This is a breezy musical about the housing shortage in wartime America, circa 1944. As usual Jane Frazee is a delight to watch and listen to and here she is paired with the female Jerry Colonna, Vera Vague as the work/roommate. Rosie and her pal squabble with two guys over the only remaining boardinghouse room in town and Rosie, after "working overtime on a B-19" down at the plane factory, eventually warms up to Frank Albertson (not your typical young juvenile lead, this was wartime after all) and everything works out for the big finale sung at the work site. Three or four nice tunes and some light comedy (a couple of very funny moments - all the teenagers seem to be a lot more mature about their romantic relationships than the adults and they stay up all night doing the conga!)make this an easy hour to pass.