Wake Me When It's Over (film)

Last updated
Wake Me When It's Over
Wake Me When It's Over FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by Richard L. Breen
Screenplay by Richard L. Breen
Based onWake Me When It's Over
1959 novel
by Howard Singer
Produced byMervyn LeRoy
Starring Ernie Kovacs
Dick Shawn
Margo Moore
Jack Warden
Cinematography Leon Shamroy
Edited by Aaron Stell
Music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Production
company
Mervyn LeRoy Productions Inc.
Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox
Release date
April 8, 1960
Running time
126 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2,000,000 (US/ Canada) [1]

Wake Me When It's Over is a 1960 DeLuxe Color comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Ernie Kovacs and Dick Shawn in CinemaScope. The screenplay concerns a World War II veteran who gets called back into service by mistake and sent to a dreary Pacific island. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Howard Singer. The title song was written by Sammy Cahn (words) and James Van Heusen (music) and sung by Andy Williams.

Contents

Plot

Gus Brubaker (Dick Shawn) is a self-described schnook. Soon after the end of the Korean War, his wife talks him into applying for G.I. insurance for which he is eligible from his World War II service with the Air Force. Gus is reluctant because he was shot down and became a prisoner of war, but the military listed him as killed. A red-tape foulup results in Gus being back in uniform, assigned to a ramshackle radar station on a backwater island near Shima, Japan. Boredom has made the airmen assigned there apathetic, slovenly, and unmotivated. Its equipment and supplies are a collection of junk, abandoned or surplus.

Capt. Charlie Stark (Ernie Kovacs), a free-wheeling nonconformist Air Force pilot, is in charge. His superiors have all but forgotten the base is still on the island. Gus gets to know Ume Tanaka (Nobu McCarthy), daughter of the village's unfriendly mayor, who shows him a pool of natural hot springs. Gus and Charlie conspire to open a resort hotel, using the men as labor and the broken-down equipment as materials, with Doc Farringtom (Warden) scamming journalist Joab Martinson (Robert Emhardt) about the water's "healing powers" to gain free publicity.

Doc summons no-nonsense Lt. Nora McKay (Margo Moore) to lend a woman's touch to the project, and Charlie develops a romantic interest in her. The airmen, including Charlie, are motivated by the project and their pretty young lieutenant, become a military outfit again, and construct a first-class facility, the Hotel Shima. Nora staffs the hotel with 40 young women from the village, and following local custom, the girls are "sold" for two years to Gus as their "papa-san" at the insistence of their fathers. Nora and Charlie fall in love, but when he asks her to marry him, she is doubtful that he is marriage material.

When Martinson gets drunk and embarrasses himself in front of all the guests, he vindictively writes a story painting the hotel as a den of sin. Gus is court-martialed as a scapegoat despite the fact that 100 airmen are its owners. When Charlie becomes outraged and demands to testify, he is transferred by his reputation-conscious commander to prevent it. A congressional panel from Washington, DC also launches an investigation, Charlie ends up buzzing the trial in a jet as Doc Farrington blackmails Colonel Hollingsworth with the knowledge that he received Hotel Shima-supplied luxury goods. Stark ends up testifying on Gus's behalf while all sorts of crazy antics occur during the trial.

Ultimately, Brubaker is found not guilty on one count, but guilty of taking government property. During sentencing, the court discovers it has tried the wrong man due to the earlier government error. Stymied, the panel finally decides to find Gus not guilty and leave the hotel to the people of the island. Charlie and Nora reconcile from an earlier disagreement over the trial and decide to marry. As Gus says goodbye to Ume and sets off to leave, he sees that Colonel Hollingsworth (now demoted to sergeant) has been assigned to the base in his place. Ume waves goodbye as Gus starts for home.

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernie Kovacs</span> American comedian, actor, and writer (1919–1962)

Ernest Edward Kovacs was an American comedian, actor, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar Bergen</span> American ventriloquist, comedian and actor (1903–1978)

Edgar John Bergen was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen pioneered modern-day ventriloquism and has been described by puppetry organization UNIMA as the “quintessential ventriloquist of the 20th century”. He was the father of actress Candice Bergen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broderick Crawford</span> American actor (1911–1986)

William Broderick Crawford was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in the film All the King's Men (1949), which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Often cast in tough-guy or slob roles, he later achieved recognition for his starring role as Dan Mathews in the crime television series Highway Patrol (1955–1959).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Jenkins</span> American actor (1900–1974)

Allen Curtis Jenkins was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. He may be best known to baby-boomer audiences as the voice of Officer Dibble on the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series Top Cat (1961–62).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar Kennedy</span> American actor (1890–1948)

Edgar Livingston Kennedy was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to portray characters whose anger slowly rose in frustrating situations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parley Baer</span> American actor (1914-2002)

Parley Edward Baer was an American actor in radio and later in television and film. Despite dozens of appearances in television series and theatrical films, he remains best known as the original "Chester" in the radio version of Gunsmoke, and as the Mayor of Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Faylen</span> American actor (1905–1985)

Frank Faylen was an American film and television actor. Largely a bit player and character actor, he occasionally played more fleshed-out supporting roles during his forty-two year acting career, during which he appeared in some 223 film and television productions, often without credit.

The following is a list of players and managers (*), both past and current, who appeared at least in one regular season game for the Chicago White Sox franchise.

The following is a list of players, past and present, who have appeared in at least one competitive game for the Boston Red Sox American League franchise, known previously as the Boston Americans (1901–07).

The following is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared at least in one game for the Pittsburgh Pirates National League franchise (1891–present), previously known as the Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1882–1890).

The Atlanta Braves are a National League ballclub (1966–present) previously located in Milwaukee 1953–1965 and in Boston 1871–1952. The Boston teams are sometimes called Boston Red Stockings 1871–1876, Boston Red Caps 1876–1882, Boston Beaneaters 1883–1906, Boston Doves 1907–1910, Boston Rustlers 1911, Boston Braves 1912–1935, Boston Bees 1936–1940, Boston Braves 1941–1952. Here is a list of all their players in regular season games beginning 1871.

The following is a list of players, both past and current, who appeared at least in one game for the Cincinnati Reds National League franchise, also known previously as the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1882–1889) and Cincinnati Redlegs (1953–1958). Players in Bold are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr. was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards.

Bradford Ernest Sullivan was an American character actor on film, stage and television. He was best known for playing the killer Cole in The Sting, hockey goon Mo Wanchuk in Slap Shot, mobster George in The Untouchables (1987) and the gruff Henry Wingo in The Prince of Tides (1991).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Dunn</span> American actor (1900–1968)

Ralph Dunn was an American film, television, and stage actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Emhardt</span> American actor (1914–1994)

Robert Emhardt was an American character actor who worked on stage, in film, and on television. Emhardt was frequently cast as a villain, often a crooked businessman or corrupt politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ajay Kapoor (Neighbours)</span> Soap opera character

Ajay Kapoor is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Sachin Joab. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 13 July 2011. The actor was cast in the role following a successful audition. The part was initially going to last for about a month, but the producers liked him and the character. They then decided to create a family unit around Ajay and later introduced his wife Priya. Five months later it was announced that Joab and Gooneratne would be promoted to the regular cast in early 2012, while their on-screen daughter, Rani, would be introduced. The Kapoor's arrival marked the show's first family with Indian and Sri Lankan heritage and the first family to be introduced since 2010. Ajay departed on 12 July 2013.

<i>Wake in Fright</i> (miniseries) 2017 television miniseries

Wake in Fright is an Australian miniseries based on Kenneth Cook's 1961 novel of the same name, which first aired on Network Ten in October 2017. Directed by Kriv Stenders and written by Stephen M. Irwin, the series features an ensemble cast that includes Sean Keenan, Alex Dimitriades, Caren Pistorius, David Wenham, Anna Samson, Gary Sweet, and Robyn Malcolm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benny Baker</span> American actor and comedian (1907–1994)

Benny Baker was an American film and theater actor and comedian, and appeared in over 50 films between 1934 and 1988. He died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.

References

  1. "Rental Potentials of 1960", Variety, 4 January 1961 p 47. Please note figures are rentals as opposed to total gross.