Really, they could have gone to 2-1/2. Would it have killed them? When I see two stars, I expect to see a complete disaster.

"Cairo" from 1942 is a bit convoluted, but there are some fun moments. The film stars Robert Young, Jeannette MacDonald, Ethel Waters, Lionel Atwill, Eduardo Ciannelli and Reginald Owen.

Part of the problem with "Cairo" is you're not sure what you're watching - musical, comedy, drama, what? It's a comedy with music, but a bit unsure of itself. Young plays Homer Smith, a newspaper reporter who suspects the famous singer/movie star Marcia Warren of being a Nazi spy. She suspects him of being one as well. The best scene occurs when they go out for an evening, manage to get away from one another, and each go back to MacDonald's house to search the other's room. There's also a joke with her high C, which inadvertently opens a secret passage.

One of the assets of "Cairo" is Jeannette MacDonald, who was so beautiful, and here she's in good voice and very appealing in her performances. Ethel Waters is wonderful, though she certainly could have done more. Young was never a top-flight movie star, but he does okay. MacDonald is excellent, very charming and funny.

With a little work on the script, this could have been an excellent film. However, it looks like it was rushed out as a propaganda movie and done on the cheap. The film has some great in jokes. When Marcia Warren and Homer Smith question one another, they learn that they are both from California. She's from the north; he's from the south. Both denigrate where the other lives. Finally Smith says to her, "Have you ever been to San Francisco?" "Once," she answers, "with Gable and Tracy and the joint fell apart."

OK, it's not so surprising to see Ethel shuffling along while waiting for the Robert E. Lee, but how about Jeanette MacDonald? You don't expect the songstress who sang of her sweet mystery of life and always wanted to remember Maytime to be doing a shuffle, but like Irene Dunne in the 1936 classic film version of "Show Boat", she completely surprises her audience by acting against type. She's a movie star whom small town reporter Robert Young suspects of being a spy for the Germans.

"Darling Jeanette" (to parody the Julie Andrews World War I spy film of 1970) is actually meant to emulate Jeanette herself, quite the iron butterfly as she hires Young as her butler after learning that he's from California, but not the southern part. "I've been to San Francisco once", she quips, adding "With Gable and Tracy, and the place fell apart." This sets up the pace for a delightful yarn that serves its purpose for World War II propaganda, and while it is obvious that Jeanette is as much a spy for the Germans as Young is really an M.D. in real life, this is a lot of fun to watch play out.

There's also Reginald Owen (not a surprise; He seemed to be in practically every MGM film in 1942) as the Englishman who pushes Young into being an undercover spy for the allies and Mona Barrie as his hard as nails contact. But the scenery is stolen by the quite amusing Jeanette and the team of Waters & Wilson (Ethel and Dooley) who provide a classy change of pace for the usual stereotypical black servants in film. It is obvious that veteran character actor Lionel Atwill (one of the great villains in the Sherlock Holmes films) is an evil Nazi collaborator, but the revelation of who the female collaborator is might come as a surprise.

Waters, in between Broadway plays and waiting for the film version of "Cabin in the Sky" to be ready, has great screen presence, and in taking on a part usually essayed by Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers or Hattie Noel (see "Lady For a Night" to see what I mean), she adds a new dimension to a vintage screen archetype that is loyal and lovable, but not an always accurate treatment of black women on screen. The film itself is probably about ten minutes too long, but that doesn't stop this from maintaining a tense atmosphere in between comic moments and the delightful songs and dances. The finale half hour takes place on an ancient Egyptian ruin, probably not a realistic choice, but it makes for a glamorous setting.

This is also a bit ahead of its time, having seemingly looked into a crystal ball with the use of a droid that the enemy agents have created as a weapon of destruction. As much as I like Jeanette MacDonald as an actress, I sometimes find a difficulty in understanding the lyrics she is singing in her often shrill soprano. There's no denying her talent. She had it all, with comedy, serious dramatic emotion, and the ability to capture the audience's heart. But her singing is better when she has a chorus behind here, and when she lowers her range to sing along with Ethel Waters, you don't miss a lyric.

This segment should have been included in one of the "That's Entertainment!" films as it is quite unique, and shows off her versatility past Indian Love Calls. For real extravagance, check out MacDonald's bathtub when Young tries to put out a fire. It is decadent beyond words, and I can just picture it filled with bubbles and Myrna Loy laying in it in 1933's "The Barbarian".

"Cairo" is clearly a misfire and I my wife and I groaned repeatedly while watching this poor MGM spoof. It suffers in two major areas--there is too much singing (which is odd, as one reviewer thought the opposite) and the comedy is very forced and unfunny.

The film begins with Homer Smith (Robert Young) being sent by his small town newspaper to be a war correspondent. However, his adventure is short-lived when his ship is sunk. While floating about the Mediteranian, he meets up with a spy (Reginald Owen) and they eventually decide to separate. The spy asks Homer to deliver a message to a lady in a bar in Cairo (in case he cannot make it) and this drops dopey Homey into a nest of Nazi spies. Now this is VERY obvious and it's a tribute to how stupid they made his character that he had no indication that they were enemy agents. However, the Nazi lady spy decides to send Homer on a wild goose chase and tells him that a famous American actress who just happens to be in Cairo is a Nazi! So, Homer applies for a job as a butler for Marcia Warren (Jeanette MacDonald) so he can spy on her! There's a lot more to the film, but none of it works well because the film keeps getting interrupted by songs. The MacDonald ones are typical for her--with LOTS of high-pitched operatic stuff that would make most folks ill. I know I found myself using the fast-forward button whenever she began singing. The other problem is that Homer and Marcia seems incredibly stupid--yet, they somehow defeat the Nazis and save the world! Unfunny, forced and dumb. Perhaps my score of 3 is a bit charitable.