Trivia

First film at MGM for Frank Sinatra. He would be under contract there for most of the 1940s.

In 1942 Buster Keaton was under contract at MGM to 'punch up' the studio's comedies with physical gags. In this film he contributed the deck chair bit, the whole concept of the magnetized mines and the metal deck plates, and coached Red Skelton on his stairway tumbles. As in most of his work of the period his input is sadly uncredited.

The title was changed from "I'll Take Manila" to "Ship Ahoy" because the Philippines had already fallen to the Japanese in the war. The ship's destination was changed from Manila to Puerto Rico, and the song "I'll Take Manila" was changed to "I'll Take Tallulah".

Frank Sinatra makes his second feature film appearance as a singer with Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra. Also look quickly for Broadway star John Raitt as a young sailor.

One song "I Fell In Love (With the Leader of the Band)", by Jule Styne and Herb Magidson, was filmed but not included. The footage was used in The Great Morgan (1946).