At War with the Army | |
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Directed by | Hal Walker |
Screenplay by | Fred Finklehoffe |
Based on | At War With the Army 1949 play by James Allardice |
Produced by | Fred Finklehoffe |
Starring | Dean Martin Jerry Lewis Mike Kellin Jimmy Dundee Polly Bergen |
Cinematography | Stuart Thompson |
Edited by | Paul Weatherwax |
Music by | Joseph J. Lilley |
Production companies | Fred F. Finklehoffe Productions Screen Associates Inc. York Pictures Corporation |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | less than $500,000 [1] or $420,000 [2] |
Box office | $3.3 million (US rentals) [3] 1,464,218 admissions (France) [4] |
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, before opening nationwide on January 17, 1951. It was re-released in 1958 by OMAT Pictures.
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.
In a United States Army base in Kentucky at the end of 1944, during World War II, [5] First Sergeant Vic Puccinelli and Private First Class Alvin Korwin, who were partners in a nightclub song-and-dance act, join 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.
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 three act farcical play by James B. Allardice that ran for 151 performances from March 8, 1949 to July 16, 1949 with Mike Kellin and Kenneth Forbes repeating their roles. [7] It was filmed at Corriganville Movie Ranch from July to August 1949. [8] [9]
The First Sergeant character, played on Broadway by Gary Merrill had his ethnicity changed for Dean Martin whilst two characters were combined for Lewis's character. [10]
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.
The film was released during the Korean War when Conscription in the United States was reintroduced.
One of the later Martin and Lewis films, Sailor Beware (1952) also directed by Hal Walker and co-written by James Allardice had a working title of At Sea with the Navy. [11]
Lyrics by Mack David
Music by Jerry Livingston
Sung by Jerry Lewis and cast
Lyrics by Mack David
Music by Jerry Livingston
Sung by Dean Martin and Polly Bergen
Lyrics by Mack David
Music by Jerry Livingston
Sung by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Music and Lyrics by James Royce Shannon
Sung by Dean Martin
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). [12] 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.
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. [13]
Polly Bergen was an American actress, singer, television host, writer and entrepreneur.
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Mack David was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning the period between the early 1940s and the early 1970s. David was credited with writing lyrics or music or both for over one thousand songs. He was particularly well known for his work on the Disney films Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland, and for the mostly-English lyrics through which Édith Piaf's signature song "La Vie en rose" gained much of its familiarity among native speakers of English.
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James B. Allardice was an American television comedy writer of the 1950s and 1960s.
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My Friend Irma Goes West is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Hal Walker and based on the radio show My Friend Irma. It stars the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. The film is a sequel to My Friend Irma (1949) and was released on May 31, 1950 by Paramount Pictures.
That's My Boy is a 1951 American semi-musical comedy film directed by Hal Walker and starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis and marked the first time that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis had "roles" as opposed to previous efforts in which they played an extension of their nightclub act. It was released on May 31, 1951 by Paramount Pictures.
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Hal Walker was an American film director. He was known for doing some of the earliest Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis films such as At War with the Army and Sailor Beware and some with the team of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, directing Road to Utopia and Road to Bali.