N'embrassez pas les WACs

Never Wave At A WAC is the apparently weird combination of Buck Privates and Woman of the Year. The odd thing about it is that it actually works and still will get a few laughs from today's audience.

This might have been a script offered to Katharine Hepburn, but Hepburn never really got as physical in her comedy films as Rosalind Russell does here. Still the part of socialite daughter of a United States Senator would normally have been something Hepburn might have done. Yet Russell makes the part all her own.

Russell's a bit of a snob and her father Charles Dingle well knows it. During a party where her ex-husband, Paul Douglas, crashes she meets another socialite friend who has just got a commission in the Woman's Army Corps. Russell's current boyfriend is another commissioned officer from public relations, William Ching, borrowed from an Ad agency. He's been assigned to NATO headquarters in Paris.

Of course dear old dad will pull some strings and make her an officer and a lady. Except Charles Dingle doesn't want to do it. He says let her in as a buck private and it takes a bit of getting used to before Russell realizes she's not a VIP on the base. And when Douglas who is a scientist doing work for the army arrives on her base the fun really starts.

Roz has some good physical scenes, check out the one where she and other WACS are part of a Douglas experiment in arctic conditions. They're not as physical as the ones in Private Benjamin, still Russell gets ample opportunity to display her comic timing.

There's also a nice subplot involving Marie Wilson, a stripper who joins the WACs and falls for Sergeant Leif Erickson.

Charles Dingle is always one of my favorite character actors and it was really nice to see him as a good guy for a change. He's either a nasty villain like in Edge of Darkness or he's a pompous horse's rear like in Welcome Stranger. He's neither in this film, just a nice down to earth man who happens to be a United States Senator and not pleased with the snobbish ways of his daughter.

Obviously because he believed in getting more women in the Armed Services, the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar N. Bradley made a guest appearance as himself. He has a moment when calls about Russell's status reach his ears and he refers them to his good friend Senator Dingle who's on a fishing trip.

Never Wave At A WAC though eclipsed somewhat for the current past two generations by Private Benjamin still has a lot of laughs. And it's a great introduction to one of the best and most versatile stars from the age of studio Hollywood, Rosalind Russell.

When ROSALIND RUSSELL wasn't doing heavy emoting in films like MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA, she was doing wacky comedies like NEVER WAVE AT A WAC and proving that she had comic flair even in sub-standard material.

This is a forerunner of the "Private Benjamin" type of service story--or the "See Here Private Hargrove" type of thing, where a disgruntled serviceman (or woman) finds life in the Army rough going when given some deliberately hectic chores to do. MARIE Wilson is another unlikely recruit who's fighting off advances from an overeager sergeant, LEIF ERICKSON.

The gags are fast and furious but not too original as Russell is given some challenging assignments by PAUL DOUGLAS, as the man who eventually wins her heart. None of it is very convincing and Russell certainly had better opportunities in other smarter comedies during the '30s and '40s.

Passes the time, but not really worth watching unless you're a Russell fan.

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.

This comparatively little known film, with the extremely unlikely storyline is, nevertheless a joy to watch. It is pure escapism with more than a hint of nostalgia for those of us of a certain age. The script is good with some nice one-liners, but because the plot itself is obviously rather weak things become a little laboured. I doubt it would come over as successfully as it does, where it not for the one and only Rosalind Russell - ever able to combine excellent dramatic and comedic acting with the epitome of Hollywood glamour. And where oh where would it have been without that stalwart, always believable, and I think much underrated actor, Paul Douglas as Russell's long suffering ex husband.

If you feel like some light hearted 1950s entertainment you could do a lot worse.

The plot of this movie is more than a little similar to "Private Benjamin." It's fun to see Rosalind Russell as a sort of WASP version of Goldie Hawn, indignant at the treatment she's being given in the WACs. The first half of this film is nearly a laugh a minute, but it bogs down in the second half when it does duty as a propaganda film and tries to put a button on the story line.

I found a DVD copy of this included on one of those discs that cram several movies on to one disc and cost very little. The title of the disc is "Comedy Classics" and includes (along with "Never Wave At a WAC") "New Faces," "Hazel Flagg," "The Smallest Show on Earth," and five others.

This movie is well worth the effort to locate, if only to see the scene in the doctor's office, Miss Russell with cigarette in hand.