Never Wave at a WAC (1953)

Strictly average movie

recommended

Let's be realistic.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Rosalind Russell became a star at 33 with "His Girl Friday" in 1940. Before that, she did mostly small parts. There's a big gap of nearly 20 years in her career before we see her is some of her best later career movies, like "Auntie Mame," "Gypsy," and the "Trouble with Angels" It is nice to see her in a mid-career piece like this from 1953. I watched it on 100 comedy classics from Mill Creek video.This is a reasonably funny piece about an aristocratic woman who joins the army expecting to be made an officer immediately because of her high social standing in society. She learns that the army is a democratic institution and goes through normal training as a WAC.Russell is reasonably delightful. She's given good support by Marie Wilson as a dizzy blond who wants to have a career in intelligence. Paul Douglas plays her husband, perhaps a little too somber and solemn for a piece like this. He's usually better in dramas and film noir.For those who have seen Abbott and Costello's "Buck Privates" or "Private Benjamin" or "Stripes," or other army comedies, there won't be too many surprises. Still, its a solidly amusing piece of work most of the time. It proves again that joining the army is just like going to summer camp, only with guns.

Rosalind Russell is a talented comedienne, but "Never Wave At A WAC" is a mediocre vehicle for her. It has a dependable fish-out-of-water premise, but not enough gags. I think it could have been improved by focusing more on the day-to-day struggle with, and gradual acceptance of, military life by Russell's character, and by drastically reducing the role of Paul Douglas, the vengeful but still loving ex-husband. Douglas not only looks too old for his role (hard to believe he was actually the same age as Russell!), but his character does some humiliating things to Russell's character that are more mean-spirited than funny. Although he's supposed, at least at the start, to be the "sensible" one while Russell is supposed to be the "spoiled" one, she is easily the more likable character of the two. And why waste Hillary Brooke in such a small part (she appears only in the opening party sequence)? **1/2 out of 4.

I watched this movie not so much for Rosalind Russel, but for Regis Toomey ("The Big Sleep" and "Guys and Dolls"). I barely made my way through this film. It was painful to watch. And like a train wreck, I could not stop watching, hoping it would get better.Jo McBain is an incredibly stuck-up blue-blood aristocratic ..um.. twit. She spends most of the movie with her nose high in the air, all but sh*tting on her black servants. I so wanted to smack her hard several times in the film.I would think that if a recruit showed that much insolence and insubordination that she showed the WAC NCOs and officers, she'd be thrown in the brig until her attitude got adjusted.And don't get me started on Clara Schneiderman and Sgt. Norbert Jackson! She was insufferable, and he desperately needed a knee in the groin every time he said or did something patently offensive.Yes, I know the movie is a product of its time and reflects the then-mainstream sensibilities. I've seen other old (read: black and white) films that were not nearly as offensive and painful to watch. This film needs to be watched with more than just a grain of salt, you need an entire container of Morton's.

I stumbled across this movie one sleepness night and rarely have I ever enjoyed insomnia so much. It has to be the inspiration for Goldie Hawn's "Private Benjamin" and the innocence of the era in which this movie was made (1952) seems to add to the enjoyment.The film quality and overall production seems to hint at a low budget affair but again this only adds to the charm. The actors work well together and you can tell that the players enjoyed working together. Rosalind Russell, as Jo McBain comes through as a real sport by allowing her character to be put through several hilarious and humbling situations. And most of those situations are created by the doings of Paul Douglas who plays Ms. Russell's likable ex-husband Andrew. And of course there is the "third wheel" in the story, a love interest of Jo McBain's, Lt. Colonel Schuyler Fairchild who is played solidly by William Ching. Andrw McBain's actions are driven by a desire to keep his ex-wife Jo and Colonel Fairchild apart.Adding to the pippiness is a cameo by World War II hero General Omar Bradley playing himself. Old movie buffs who have not seen this work will most certainly enjoy and appreciate it.