Starring Gordon MacRae, Eddie Bracken, Dick Wesson, and Virginia Gibson
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Music by Pete De Rose; Lyrics by Charles Tobias
Other musicals from the 50's took a more upbeat look at friendship in the military. This one is a remake of an earlier 1938 non-musical Warners comedy Brother Rat, about three close military school buddies who vouch for each other when the wife of one is about to have a baby. It ups the slapstick quotient with goofy gags and lets Bracken go wild as the expectant father. How do all these hijinks look today? Let's start at Southern Military Institute (based after the real Virginia Military Institute) with those three pals and find out...
The Story: Tony Williams (MacRae), Dave Crouse (Wesson), and Biff Roberts (Bracken) are the best of friends at Southern, and Biff is the star pitcher on the baseball team. Dave happily flirts with new co-ed on campus Betty (Gibson), who isn't what she claims to be. Tony is more interested in her southern belle friend Lorna (Aileen Stanley Jr.). He keeps playing pranks on her supposed boyfriend, rigid Lieutenant Jones (Cliff Ferre). Meanwhile, Biff has bigger problems when his secret wife Alice (Phyllis Kirk) announces she's about to have a baby and he has to pass chemistry to stay in school.
The Song and Dance: The cute plot plays more like the ancestor of "slobs prank the snobs" comedies of the 1980's or a musical Police Academy with a military bent than a typical musical of this era. Though the ladies provide romance, the real focus is on Biff, Dave, and Tony and their close relationship with each other and Bender (a very young Joel Gray), the underclassman they've taken under their wings. I also appreciate that the ladies are no dopes, either. Betty's the one who tutors Biff in chemistry, and it's her idea to pass as a student and find a guy who will love her for who she is.
Favorite Number: We open with the "Revile" as we get an example of the kind of drills the cadets attend on a regular basis. The boys and the girls get together for a trio with "Bass, Piano, and Drums," but they're caught by Jones before the girls can flee. Dave and Betty dance around a bench as he tells her about school traditions, and they happily sing about how "Spring Has Sprung." Dave and Tony tease Biff by telling him that "They Haven't Lost a Father Yet." Gray gets top honors in the manic "I'm Nobody" danced around the chemistry classroom, messing with chemicals and doing imitations of Jerry Lewis as he shows a glimpse of the nutty talent that would fully blossom in the 60's and 70's onstage. We end with MacRae singing "No Other Girl For Me" as the entire campus attends the Cotillion and dances the night away, including Ferre in an amazing tap solo in the end.
Trivia: Joel Gray's film debut.
What I Don't Like: This might actually be a little too goofy, even for a military comedy. Bracken overdoes it, mugging outrageously as the expectant father whose mind is on that and nothing else. Gray and Gibson are the only ones who actually look young enough for military school. Everyone else is way, way too old, especially Bracken. Though we have some ok numbers, the only really memorable song is Gray's. Everything else is pretty dull.
The Big Finale: Fun way to spend an hour-and-a-half if you're a fan of Gray or musical films of the 50's; otherwise nothing you need to go out of your way for.
Home Media: Warners Archive DVD is out of print; you're probably better off streaming this one or looking for it on TCM.
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