At War with the Army

At War with the Army is a 1950 American musical comedy film directed by Hal Walker, released by Paramount, starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis and introducing Polly Bergen. Filmed from July through August 1949, the film premiered in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1950. It was re-released in 1958 by OMAT Pictures.

At War with the Army
1958 theatrical reissue poster
Directed byHal Walker
Written byFred Finklehoffe
Based onAt War With the Army (play)
by James Allardice
Produced byFred Finklehoffe
StarringDean Martin
Jerry Lewis
Mike Kellin
Jimmy Dundee
Polly Bergen
CinematographyStuart Thompson
Edited byPaul Weatherwax
Music byJoseph J. Lilley
Production
companies
Fred F. Finklehoffe Productions
Screen Associates Inc.
York Pictures Corporation
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • December 31, 1950 (1950-12-31) (San Francisco)
  • January 17, 1951 (1951-01-17) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budgetless than $500,000[1] or $420,000[2]
Box office$3.3 million (US rentals)[3]
1,464,218 admissions (France)[4]

Although filmed before My Friend Irma Goes West (1950), it was held back until the sequel to Martin and Lewis' smash film debut My Friend Irma (1949) was released.

Plot

The film is set at a United States Army base in Kentucky at the end of 1944, during World War II.[5] The protagonists are First Sergeant Vic Puccinelli and Private First Class Alvin Korwin, who were partners in a nightclub song-and-dance act before joining the Army.

Puccinelli wants to be transferred from his dull job to active duty overseas, but is refused transfer and is to be promoted to Warrant Officer. Korwin wants a pass to see his wife and new baby. In addition, they have to rehearse for the base talent show and avoid the wrath of Alvin's platoon sergeant, Sergeant McVey.

Along the way they both sing a few songs, and they do an impression of Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald by recreating a scene from Going My Way (1944) for the talent show. Further complications include a Post Exchange worker who is pregnant, a company commander who gets all his information from his wife, a scheming supply sergeant, and a defective Coca-Cola machine.

Cast

Production

When Martin and Lewis signed their film contract with Paramount Pictures, they were allowed to make one film "outside" the studio per year through their own company, York Productions. This film was made under that provision, with the stars taking a small salary in exchange for 90 percent of the film's profits.

However, upon its release, Martin and Lewis ended up in a long, drawn-out legal battle. After several years, they relinquished all financial interest in this film in exchange for not having to make any more of these "outside" ones.[6] The copyright on this film was not renewed in 1977, resulting in its public domain status.

The film is based on a play by James B. Allardice that ran for 151 performances from 1948 to 1949 with Mike Kellin and Kenneth Forbes repeating their roles.[7]

The producers opened up the play by adding a sequence of an absent without leave Lewis in drag fending off the amorous advances of his drunken platoon sergeant, a sequence on an obstacle course and the addition of several songs written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.

One of the later Martin and Lewis films, Sailor Beware (1952) had a working title of At Sea with the Navy.[8]

This film's copyright was registered to York Pictures Corp. and Screen Associates, Inc. on January 23, 1951 (LP 679), and was renewed on December 7, 1979 (RE43009).[9] However, the film has since lapsed into the public domain as the copyright holders failed to renew their copyright in the 28th year of publication pursuant to the Copyright Act of 1909.

Home media

As this film is in the public domain, there have been at least a dozen DVD releases from a variety of companies comprising many different quality prints. In July 2014, Film Chest released a restored version in HD.[10]

See also

References
  • Hurst, Walter (1989). Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950-1959). Hollywood Film Archive. ISBN 0-913616-29-X.

Notes
  1. "Boy Meets Girl in Monroe, N.Y., Starting Tomorrow - Home From Italy by A.H. WEILER". The New York Times. October 15, 1950. p. X5.
  2. "{ar Advance Coin Gives Texas Oilmen Their Coin". Variety. 6 December 1950. p. 3.
  3. Top 20 Films of 1950 by Domestic Revenue
  4. Jerry Lewis films French box office information at Box Office Story
  5. The Broadway League. "At War With the Army | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". IBDB. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  6. "At War with the Army (And Everyone Else)".
  7. The Broadway League. "At War With the Army | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". IBDb.com. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  8. Billboard, August 4, 1951, p. 16
  9. Film Superlist: Motion Pictures in the U.S. Public Domain (1950 - 1959), p. 20
  10. "Amazon.com: At War with the Army (Film Chest Restored Version): Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Polly Bergen, Mike Killen, Hal Walker: Movies & TV". Amazon. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
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