At War with the Army ** (1951, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Mike Kellin, Polly Bergen, Jimmie Dundee, Angela Greene, Dick Stabile) – Classic Movie Review 13,402

The 1951 musical comedy film At War with the Army stars Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in their first starring feature. Appallingly, Lewis appears in drag fending off the amorous advances of his drunken platoon sergeant.

Director Hal Walker’s 1951 Paramount Pictures musical comedy film At War with the Army is written by the film’s producer Fred K Finklehoffe, based on a 1949 Broadway play by James B Allardice, and stars Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, along with Mike Kellin, Polly Bergen, Jimmie Dundee, Angela Greene, and Dick Stabile.

Martin and Lewis are dopey drafted entertainers First Sergeant Vic Puccinelli and Private Alvin Korwin in this serviceable service comedy, all too obviously taken from a play (by James B Allardice) since it unfolds mainly in a single extended scene. However, the play is slightly opened up by adding a ghastly 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 extra new songs by Mack David and Jerry Livingston.

At War with the Army is Martin and Lewis’s first starring feature, which rocketed them to the top, but it is very hit and miss, with just a few high spots. Gaps between jokes are filled with Mack David (lyrics) and Jerry Livingston (music) songs, including ‘The Navy Gets the Gravy but the Army Gets the Beans’, ‘You and Your Beautiful Eyes’ and ‘Tonda Wanda Hoy’.

The ancient, infallible box-office plot has Sergeant Martin getting idiot Private Lewis to help him out of girl trouble. The film introduces Polly Bergen (as Helen Palmer) to the screen and she gets to sing ‘You and Your Beautiful Eyes’ with Martin. The film has a topical flavour and was very popular as it was released during the Korean War when the US reintroduced conscription.

The infallible box-office: it took $3.3 million in US cinema rentals against a cost of only $420,000. The stars made it through their own company York Productions and took small salaries in exchange for 90 percent of the film’s profits, though a long legal battle ensued.

Martin and Lewis made their film debut in My Friend Irma (1949) and then filmed this first starring feature At War with the Army, but its release was held back till the sequel film My Friend Irma Goes West (1950) was released.

It was shot from July to August 1949 at Corriganville Movie Ranch, and premiered in San Francisco on December 31 1950, then was released in the US on January 17, 1951.

The film is in the public domain. The copyright holders York Pictures Corp (the stars’ company) renewed their copyright too late to retain it on December 7, 1979.

James B Allardice’s three-act farcical play ran on Broadway for 151 performances from March 8, 1949 to July 16, 1949 with Gary Merrill playing the First Sergeant character. Mike Kellin and Kenneth Forbes were also in the play and recreate their roles for the film.

Martin and Lewis’s Sailor Beware (1952), also directed by Hal Walker, is a kind of follow-up.

The cast

The cast are Dean Martin as First Sergeant Vic Puccinelli, Jerry Lewis as PFC Alvin Korwin, Mike Kellin as Sergeant McVey, Angela Greene as Mrs Deborah Caldwell, Tommy Farrell as Corporal Clark, Polly Bergen as Helen Palmer, Jean Ruth as Millie, William Mendrek as Captain Ernest Caldwell, Douglas Evans as Colonel Davis, Kenneth Forbes as 2nd Lt Davenport, Danny Dayton as Supply Sergeant Miller, Paul Livermore as Private Jack Edwards, Frank Hyers as Corporal Shaughnessy, Ty Perry as Lt Terrey, Jimmie Dundee as Eddie, Dick Stabile as Private Pokey, Dewey Robinson as Bartender, and Joe Gray as Soldier.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,402

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