Starring Frankie Avalon, Deborah Walley, Eve Arden, and Fred Clark
Directed by Norman Taurog
Music by Guy Hemric; Lyrics by Jerry Stymer
Let's honor those men and women who explore the final frontier and travel to the far reaches of space this Veteran's Day with this unusual war comedy. Though it features many regulars from the Beach Party series, this one has more in common with the fluffy musicals Taurog directed from the 30's onward. How strange is this story of a soldier whose accidental trip into orbit ends up changing more than his knowledge of the stars? Let's begin at an Air Force Base, where the title soldier (Avalon) is trying to set off his own rocket, and find out...
The Story: Sergeant O.K Deadhead (Avalon) constantly ends up in the brig, thanks to his experiments and antics. His fiancee Airman Lucy Turner (Walley) works on the base as well and is frustrated when he turns up in the brig again. They were to have been married that day. After fellow prisoners Private McEvoy (Harvey Lembeck) and Private Filroy (Johh Ashley) break him out, he flees for what turns out to be an experimental rocket carrying a chimpanzee into space. After Deadhead ends up in orbit, General Fogg (Clark) and his assistant Lieutenant Kinsey (Arden) have no choice but to pretend that was the plan all along.
When Deadhead returns to Earth, he's a changed man. Turns out that his trip through space has blended his personality with that of the chimp. He's now egotistical and aggressive, to the annoyance of Fogg and disappointment of his fiancee, who preferred him when he was gentler. Fogg and Admiral Stoneham (Cesar Romero) hire look-a-like Sergeant Donovan (Avalon) to take his place with his fiancee at their wedding. After he ends up in the brig again, Deadhead begins to realize that he's changed and breaks out to take Donovan's place. Captain Weiskopt (Gale Gordon) still wants Donovan in his place, but no less than the President of the United States (Pat Buttram) is fine with Deadhead the way he is.
The Song and Dance: Avalon gives one of his better performances, both as the goofy Deadhead and the smoother Donovan, in this extremely peculiar attempt to cross the antics of the Beach Party films with a more traditional military-based musical. In fact, I'm impressed with just how much of a musical this is. No randomly-inserted rock bands or goofy dance routines here. There's a march number for the military ladies in the opening, a number for the girls, duets for Walley and Avalon, and even a comic number for Arden. Of the adults, Clark and Arden have the most fun as the exasperated head of the base who just wants his plans to work and the head of the women's corps who loves him. Also look for Reginald Gardiner as a distracted officer and Buster Keaton doing his own material as the base handyman.
The Numbers: We open with that march number performed by the women's corps over the credits as Lieutenant Kinsey leads Deadhead to the guardhouse, "Hurry Up and Wait." The girls wonder "How Can You Tell?" the guy is right for you in their barracks at night. Lieutenant Kinsey tells the girls that "You Should Have Seen the One That Got Away" at Deadhead and Lucy's wedding, while Donna Loren sings about that "Two Timing Angel." Lucy insists "Let's Play Love" on their honeymoon night to the shy Donovan...and Deadhead turns it around and chases her when he replaces him. When Lucy wonders why Deadhead acted so differently after he returned from space, he insists that "The Difference In Me Is You."
Trivia: There was to have been a sequel, Sergeant Deadhead Goes to Mars, but it was canceled after this was a disappointment at the box office.
What I Don't Like: Did I mention how strange and fluffy this is? The romantic comedy stuff with the kids getting married doesn't really seem to fit with the military story or with the shenanigans from Beach Party regulars like Harvey Lembeck and Buster Keaton. It's also a little unusual for one of the American International musicals. As mentioned, this is a full-out musical. There's the brief wedding party, but no rock groups, and no one goes to the beach. The military setting also explains the increase in character actors and the lack of Annette Funicello. She doesn't even turn up in a cameo. The music is ok, but not terribly memorable.
The Big Finale: Not the best of the American International teen musicals of the early-mid 60's, but worth a look once on Veteran's Day if you're a fan of Avalon or the Beach Party films.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming.
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