La ragazza che ho lasciato

This movie can't seem to decide if it is a comedy or drama. Tab Hunter's role though well acted is strange. It seems Hunter can join the Army & tell the Army what he wants. At least the script is consistent here as his mother comes to visit him & does the same thing.

Natalie Wood is 18 years old when she does this movie & looks great even in the frumpy dresses she gets to wear in some sequences. You can not hide a hot 18 year old babe unless you keep her off camera. The rest of the script is a veritable who's who of character actors.

James Garner has a small role in his 3rd career film. David Jansen has a small before Fugitive role as an officer. Norman Fell (Stanley Roper) though I can't find him credited is in quite a few sequences. Raymond Bailey (Milburn Drysdale on Beverly Hillbillies) is here as well as Jim Bakus (Thurston Howell on Gilligan's Island) is here too. The interesting thing here more than the plot is seeing all this talent on screen trying to bring off a weak script.

At times, the script tries to be funny & at times like when kids almost get blasted when they wander on to the artillery range, the film gets a little dramatic. I think if the film had headed more for comedy, especially with this support cast, it would have been better.

.....then by all means let me know directly at the above e-mail address so that I may arrange for a copy for you. This winning military "dramedy" stars the never-lovelier Natalie Wood as the titular dish waiting back home for her college-flunkie boyfriend (and barracks brat) Tab Hunter to smarten up and get a life in the army. Among the many highlights are some meaty set-pieces pitting n'er-do-well Hunter against his superior officers, all played with gusto by Murray Hamilton, Jim Backus and David Janssen (while Henry Jones and Alan King deliver equally fine turns as Hunter's pals. Look for James Garner, too). Action, comedy and emotional resonance in equal measures in a true classic of its kind that unfortunately never got its due. Worth repeat viewings if only to behold Ms. Wood's unique incandescence at its peak.

Spoiled rich kid (Hunter) is drafted into the army where he creates problems.

For about a ten-year period from the smash-hit Mr. Roberts (1955) to the deepening involvement in Vietnam, Hollywood produced a spate of service comedies, including this one. These were movies trading on the lighter side of military service. They existed in what might be called the triumphant after-glow of WWII, and perhaps as a way of further forgetting that awkward war in Korea. Of course, Hollywood being Hollywood, liberties with real military service were taken, sometimes in wholesale lots. Nonetheless, comedies like Mr. Roberts, Operation Mad Ball (1957), Operation Petticoat (1959) were genuinely funny and harmless entertainment unless taken seriously.

Few people, I expect, remember this entry and for good reason—it's not even amusing, let alone funny. Which means for one thing that folks familiar with Basic Training are not apt to overlook the many liberties taken, as other reviewers detail. Clearly, Warner Bros. intended the movie as a vehicle for its younger players, probably hoping for chemistry between Hunter and Wood. And that's the trouble. Hunter simply lacks the skills for what's actually a rather difficult role. Shaeffer needs to be not just arrogant, but also likable at some level. Unfortunately, Hunter's Pvt. Shaeffer is just obnoxious without the redeeming qualities that a Jack Lemmon or a Tony Curtis, for example, could have managed. And since Hunter's miscasting is in about every scene, the movie is more unpleasant than anything else.

Wood's role as the girlfriend is clearly secondary to Hunter's, and one most any young actress less talented could have handled. But at least, the movie's a payday for such fine supporting players as Jones, Janssen, and especially the arch Murray Hamilton whose platoon sergeant is made to suffer indignities from a trainee no real sergeant would put up with. I'm just sorry Jim Garner wasn't young enough to bring his superb light-comedy skills to the lead role. Then the movie might have worked.

Tab Hunter plays a disgruntled college football star with bad grades who reluctantly joins the Peace Time Army, immediately getting on the wrong side of the other G.I.s with his surly attitude. I doubt, even in 1956, that Army officers would have put up with as many of Hunter's time-wasting shenanigans as they do here: he nods off and snores during a speech, he gets sarcastic and throws a few punches, his mother and former girlfriend both come for visits during Basic Training. The Fort Ord locations in California are well-captured, but this script seems conjured up by Hollywood persons unfamiliar with the milieu. For his part, Tab Hunter does almost nothing naturally as an actor. When he focuses on another performer, Hunter's intense stare makes him look furious--and when he's joshing or sweet-talking his mama, the smile is forced and nervous. Hunter isn't a bad actor, necessarily; there are one or two scenes where he seems in the moment. Still, both he and Natalie Wood are slumming here, giving about fifty-percent of what they've got. Supporting players Henry Jones, Jim Backus, Murray Hamilton, James Garner (in a small role), David Janssen, and even Alan King (as the proverbial barracks clown) do much better work than the stars. ** from ****

A rich mummy's boy gets bad grades at college so is forced to enlist in the Infantry. This was supposed to be a comedy, though I found the humour lacking, probably because the lead actor, Tab Hunter, wasn't very good. Natalie Wood had a smaller role playing Tab Hunters girlfriend, and the future major of Amity Island in Jaws played a sergeant. Only watch is you are very bored.