Le bal des cinglés

This was a screw ball comedy set within an American Army base with a hospital where the female nurses outrank the enlisted men, which plays havoc on the dating opportunities. Our hero, Private Hogan (Jack Lemmon), has an idea. He approaches a local French business woman and they strike a deal...if he and his men repair her establishment to its pre-war state, they can throw a ball for the service men and nurses there.

This becomes a crazy event where everyone is pulling together to make it happen under the radar of Captain Paul Lock (Ernie Kovacs) and then counter to Colonel Rousch's (Arthur O'Connell) plan to have his own nightclub up and running for a visit from his brother.

Lots of the usual running around by Jack Lemon and an odd romance with nurse Lt. Betty Bixby (Kathryn Grant). It was fun to see Dick York as young Corporal Bohun and the best appearance was the high energy quirky jive talking Mickey Rooney as Master Sergeant Yancy Skibo, who really pulls through for the gang in the end.

And then there is the ball, which besides Mickey Rooney is the best part of this film.

I have seen better films by all of these comedic actors, especially Jack Lemmon, which keeps this off my recommendation list unless you are collecting post WWII comedies. For me it is in the didn't hate it, but didn't love it category.

First: The Sony movie channel has been periodically showing this, in a hilariously good, maybe even remastered transfer. Look for it.

Second, ignore the poster, the marketing of the time, even the title. It's not slapstick, no impossibly improbable stuff and really, it's more like a heist movie than a pure comedy. All machinations of some scheming lower ranks to get a party together, all within or by skirting regulations.

No physical impossibilities, no moustache twirling villains breaking the law themselves, no one runs around in a gorilla suit. It's even relatively realistic B&W.

Nothing like Bilko or so on, and all the better for it.

What breaks down military discipline faster than pull from the opposite sex. But that's what's happening to the enlisted men of a hospital detachment US Army with all those fetching nurse officers next to them. It's France right after the war and the boys are getting restless. The trouble is that Capt. Locke (Kovacs) is a pompous stickler for discipline, while mastermind Pvt. Hogan (Lemmon) schemes to let nature take its course. It's a hilarious battle between enlisted men and officers. Can fast-talking Hogan put on his mad-ball mixer before killjoy Locke foils his romantic plans. Both comedians are in fine form, making this a service comedy whose modest budget and b&w photography probably got lost in the mix of the time. Too bad, because the movie's fast paced, full of clever situations, with an attractive and lively cast.

Kovacs and Lemmon are a great pairing, showing again how much delicious humbug was lost in that tragic Kovacs auto accident. Support comes through, as well- a demure Kathryn Grant as the wide-eyed lieutenant, a cranky Dick York as the frustrated corporal, and a rhyming Mickey Rooney as the "twiddle-de-de, it must be me" logistics sergeant--- all orchestrated by up-and-coming director Richard Quine. Anyway, this is a good chance to catch up with the whole madcap bunch in a movie that remains a genuine sleeper. Now if I could just figure out what the heck an ocarina is.

I have enjoyed this film for many years. Casting a film is an art in itself. And this film is a classic of casting. The Oscar-winning actor Jack Lemmon, is a perfect foil for the fussy Ernie Kovacs. Young James Darren, and Dick York, and the inimitable Mickey Rooney, all make a fine ensemble. Veteran Arthur O'Connell, and all of the rest serve up a delicious film.

This is one of the biggest sleepers of all time, and really never got the recognition that it deserved. I like to think of it as a "Proto-M*A*S*H", as it clearly presents a lunacy of a military hospital, and the goofy characters.

A precious "gem" of a film.

Jack Lemmon, two years after winning an Oscar for "Mister Roberts," stars in the tale of Army hijinks just after the end of WWII somewhere in France. It's amazing to watch just how much influence he has and he's not even a superior officer. He's trying to organize a ball for the men before they get back to the states. For many, it may seem like why should we care. But, for those who are patient, it does get better as it goes along. Mickey Rooney shows up in the second half, who always is a "ball" waiting to happen. It may not be Lemmon's best material, but costarring Ernie Kovacs, Dick York, and Arthur O'Connell, it deserves to be seen more often.