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In his memoirs Tony Curtis lists this as one of five films he would make with first wife Janet Leigh. As opposed to such dramatic fare as Houdini or a great comedy like Who Was That Lady, The Perfect Furlough is distinctly second rate. The film is also one of four Curtis did with Blake Edwards as director. Tony and Blake first teamed with a good dramatic film Mister Cory and then later in Operation Petticoat and The Great Race. All of those are better than The Perfect Furlough.

The great military minds of the Pentagon are concerned about the morale of those Air Force guys stationed in the Arctic. All 104 men are performing a top security job at the North Pole so we can't furlough them all to get what they obviously need.

So what's the answer as thought of by Colonel Les Tremayne. Get a willing movie star like Linda Cristal to go on a carefully chaperoned date in Paris with just one lucky airman chosen by lottery. The others will live vicariously through Curtis's good times. The operation to be supervised by Lieutenant Janet Leigh.

Curtis is the base conniver and he connives his way into winning the lottery and the dream time with Cristal. It's one of those operations like you used to see on The Dating Game. Only Curtis does play for keeps and Leigh wishes he would play with her, officer/enlisted man rules of non-fraternization not withstanding.

It's a dumb premise to start with. I mean Lee Marvin when his Dirty Dozen had completed training he took care of them in proper style before they went on their mission. But Marvin was an original thinker on these matters unlike those in the Pentagon in Cold War peacetime.

Note some good performances by Elaine Stritch as Cristal's studio chaperon and Keenan Wynn as her controlling producer. But over all The Perfect Furlough is far from perfect.

The Army has a problem. 104 men has been in an Arctic base for 7 months but they can't all go on furlough. Psychiatrist Lt. Vicki Loren (Janet Leigh) suggests giving one man their perfect furlough. Cpl. Paul Hodges (Tony Curtis) leads the men to demand a trip to Paris with movie star Sandra Roca. Paul schemes his way to winning the lottery. It turns out that he was forced to go to the Arctic due to his womanizing ways and Vicki is forced to be a chaperon.

The premise is too complicated but a screwball comedy can do that sometimes. At least, it allows Tony Curtis to have some fun in the Arctic. His charm is cinematic and the movie shows it off. This is an early Blake Edwards comedy and there are a lot of his touches. My only complaint is Sandra Roca's revelation. It cuts short the possibility of a love triangle. That has so much potential but most of it is left behind. I also don't think Janet Leigh is a great comedic actress. Her seriousness can be used for comedy but in this case, it is simply a case of frustrating misunderstanding. It's not as funny as it could have been.

Director Blake Edwards would go on to do some very funny PINK PANTHER movies, but THE PERFECT FURLOUGH begins to crumble upon the premise that men stationed in the Arctic would all be happy if just one of them got a furlough in Paris with a beautiful star (Linda Cristal).

Unfortunately, the script only gets dafter as the film progresses, culminating in Cristal getting pregnant, apparently by her accountant hubby whom we never see. Thank God this film is only about 90' long, though by 60' I was already praying for THE END to appear soon!

The saving grace is the young and beautiful couple that would produce the stunning Jamie Lee in the near future.

And there are a few curiosities worth noting: The scene in the plane's bed coves prefigures a similar one in SOME LIKE IT HOT, the following year, but involving Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. And Janet Leigh taking a bath must have given Hitchcock an idea for the famous shower scene in PSYCHO, also the following year.

So, despite its unambiguous stupidity, this film probably contributed to two of the best - and best known - films ever made!

Which is why I give it 5/10

The military men stationed at an Arctic radar base are bored, so a bright perky psychologist, a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, gets a bright idea. The men will dream up their perfect furlough and stage a raffle, the winner of which will go on the furlough, while the others enjoy it vicariously. The eager men devise "The Perfect Furlough" as three weeks in Paris with a sexy Hollywood movie star, Sandra Roca. Faced with daunting odds, one clever womanizer conspires to con his mates out of their chances and capture the prize for himself. The flimsy predictable screenplay hinges on extreme naivete and characters that do not listen to one another. A few simple questions and answers would quickly clear up the film's mildly comic complications.

Married to each other at the time, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh star as the fast-talking conniving Corporal Paul Hodges and the lovely psychologist Lieutenant Vicki Loren. Both actors are fine in undemanding roles and are ably supported by Keenan Wynn, Elaine Stritch, and Linda Cristal. Although no one in particular stands out, Curtis does a good job playing a character he has played elsewhere both before and after this film. Not surprising in a 1950's movie, sexism runs rampant, from an army officer crawling under his desk to look at a woman's legs, to a discussion of the domestic duties for a perfect wife, to the assumption that the movie star would offer sex as part of the furlough. Eyes will roll, even when the sexism is not overtly offensive.

Directed by Blake Edwards, who went on to direct far better films, and written by Stanley Shapiro, who subsequently had more success writing for Doris Day, "The Perfect Furlough" is a pleasant time killer, depending on a viewer's tolerance for sexist situations, admiration for Curtis's pretty-boy looks, and willingness to overlook silly simplistic situations.

Funny little early Blake Edwards. Curtis & Leigh are quite good, but watch for the supporting actors. The great Keenan Wynn, a non-"30 Rock" look at the wonderful Elaine Stitch and especially King Donovan, so funny as the befuddled military "handler" of Curtis' character. Love anything King Donovan was in.