Journalist Marion Hargrove enters the Army intending to supplement his income by writing about his training experiences. He muddles through basic training at Fort Bragg with the self-serving help of a couple of buddies intent on cutting themselves in on that extra income.
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Criticized for bad reporting, young Robert Walker (as Marion Hargrove) saves himself from getting fired (yet again) by receiving his draft letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Off to basic training in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Mr. Walker meets manipulative Private Keenan Wynn (as Mulvehill) and gullible Private George Offerman Jr. (as Orrin Esty) en route. They will become fast friends, with Mr. Wynn eventually getting Walker and himself cushy office transfers. However, when their old platoon gets orders to join the fighting forces, patriotic Walker and Wynn want in on the action. The good news is Walker's furloughs include quality kissing time with pretty Donna Reed (as Carol Halliday). The bad news is he has to scrub clean a lot of garbage cans. Walker is endearing enough to make cameo-appearing Robert Benchley, as Ms. Reed's veteran father, seem more annoying than funny.***** See Here, Private Hargrove (3/18/44) Wesley Ruggles ~ Robert Walker, Keenan Wynn, Donna Reed, George Offerman Jr.
If you loved the movie Stripes, and who didn't, this is basically the World War II version and dare I say made me laugh out loud more. I will agree with some of the other reviewers that a bit of the movie is a little dated but come on folks it's 68 years old.Robert Walker as the guy who just couldn't seem to follow Army protocol no matter how hard he tried, until he meets Donna Reeds' character was both funny and sweet. Both gave a great performance as did the supporting cast, and the movie was actually a big hit with G.I.s serving overseas when the movie was released. If you get the chance to check this out I don't think you'll be disappointed, It actually is laugh out loud funny.
Robert Walker plays an extremely skinny private in the United States Army during the midst of World War Two. He scrubs lots of garbage cans and gets to woo a lovely Donna Reed. As an "in the army" genre movie the film has more of a peace time vibe to it than one that was produced during the biggest war of the twentieth century. It would be hard to imagine Germany or Japan cranking out cinematic fluff like this in 1944. It perhaps reflects the fact that the mainland of the United States was not suffering the effects of total war like other countries. The lighthearted tone also might indicate the underlying confidence the country was feeling about ultimately winning the war at the time.
Nobody else seems to have made any comments on this movie, probably because, although it is often referred to in print, it's not often shown on TV. And for good reason. It's based on an autobiographical novel by Marion Hargrove. It dates badly. It was probably nothing more than a light-hearted look at basic training when it was released. But the gags have been done so often, and so much better, that it no longer strikes an audience as funny. "In our battery the portions are so small that instead of hollering come and get it, they holler come and find it." That's one of the better lines. It has a good cast, all right. Not just Robert Walker at his non-neurotic best but Keenan Wynne, Chill Wills, and other familiar types. But it's simply not a very good comedy. If you want funny and basic training, even Laurel and Hardy, or even Abbot and Costello, are funnier on the subject. And if you want a reasonably good, structured comedy on the subject, go to "No Time For Sargeants." A few seconds of Andy Griffeth looking wonderingly out the barracks window and listening to Taps and saying, "Somebody brung his trumpet," packs more laughs than this entire movie.