Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American musical comedy film starring Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, and Gene Kelly, with songs by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.

The movie ends with Iturbi conducting the Navy band while its choir sings "Anchors Aweigh" and Joe and Susan, and Clarence and the "Girl from Brooklyn," kiss.

It was the first of three buddy pictures teaming the cocky dancing Kelly with the (against type) shy, singing Sinatra, followed by Take Me Out to the Ball Game and On the Town, both in 1949.

The production tried to mix some of the more successful story elements and set-pieces from earlier MGM musical hits, such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944).

The movie is remembered for the musical number in which Gene Kelly dances seamlessly with the animated Jerry Mouse (voiced by Sara Berner).

According to Bob Thomas's book on Roy Disney, the studio was in debt after World War II and they were focusing on trying to release their own films out on time.

There is also a memorable exterior scene at the Hollywood Bowl, where Sinatra sings "I Fall in Love Too Easily", after Iturbi and a group of young pianists have performed an arrangement of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No.

In the audition scene with Iturbi, Grayson sings a special arrangement by Earl Brent for coloratura soprano and orchestra of the waltz from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.

Songs by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn except where noted: The film was highly popular at the box office, and extremely profitable to MGM.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "Another humdinger of a musical has been produced by Joe Pasternak for Metro ... for a popular entertainment, 'Anchors Aweigh' is hard to beat.

Photographed in Technicolor, the production is extremely lavish, has good comedy, a romance, tuneful songs, and effective dancing.