Papà, Ma che cosa hai fatto in guerra?

The Sixties produced a slew of funny war comedies demonstrating that WWII was basically good fun for all concerned, rather than being peopled with the kind of angst-filled, hand-wringing adolescents you see nowadays in movies like Memphis Belle and Saving Private Ryan. Edwards would go on to fantastic success with the Pink Panther series and writer Blatty is notable for his later work, The Exorcist. Edwards draws on a solid cast, including veterans Carroll O'Connor, Harry Morgan and Aldo Ray, without whom no war movie is complete. Italian star Fantoni turns in a meatball performance as Oppo but Dick Shawn steals the show with the best role of his career. Although a little slow in spots, Blake Edwards nonetheless gets where he's going and the result is a fine, though underrated, entry in the genre. The interactions between Shawn and Fantoni are worth the price of admission alone.

"What did you do in the war daddy?" is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It rates up there with "It's a Mad Mad Mad World", and "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming", etc. Definitely a laugh out loud movie. I saw it first in Seattle in the 60's with a friend, and it was playing with "..The Russians are coming." Both movies were so hilarious that we stayed and watched them both twice. I was shocked here to read the negative reviews. Perhaps what caused their dislike is why the movie was not as popular as it should have been. I do remember when the Germans arrived, the whole tone of the movie changed. It was a gay hilarious party, and suddenly the war returns. You don't want the fun to end, so you're kind of angry that the writers did this to you. But, if you can tell yourself this IS a 'comedy about war' and accept the change, you will see that the hilarity continues. You will enjoy the end just as much as the beginning. I bought the VHS version years ago when it came out and have to agree to the timelessness of it, it was still hilarious. It needs to come out on DVD!!!

this movie was not only well written it has all the right stars. dick Shawn is hilarious and black Edwards always puts out A comedy! and the biggest plus of all was that i was there when they made the movie shot partly in thousand oaks California.if this movie was made today it would still garnish rave revue's.James coburn is one of my all time favorite actors,and of coarse harry Morgan we all know today from M.A.S.H. he adds to the strength of the comedy as Bud Abbott once did with Costello.of all the movie remakes i think this one would and should be considered by the studio executers.With a budget of todays standard it would not be a problem of set and location but that of actor costs and consideration.

Gen. Sherman said that war is hell, but if he had seen "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?", he would have eaten his words. The movie focuses on an American platoon that captures an Italian village in WWII. The Italians are willing to surrender as long as they can have their festival. This creates a problem for the Americans, who have to look like they're fighting. Meanwhile, one of the commanding officers gets lost in the catacombs and goes crazy.

Dick Shawn displays the same type of wacky humor that he employed in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", and we even get to see Carroll O'Connor, pre-"All in the Family". Perfect.

If you've never seen "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?", you owe it to yourself to pick it up (or at least ask Netflix to stock it!). Great, wacky fun, memorable characters/situations, heavy drinking, babes, and catacombs!! What's not to love???

Stars some of the greats: James Coburn (Magnificent Seven, Our Man Flint, etc.), Harry Morgan (who kept up the military theme as Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H), and Carroll O'Connor (whom you might better recognize as Archie Bunker). It's got all the energy and cleverness of "Animal House" without the "Porky's"-style humor - this is a movie you can watch with your kids!

I've been looking for it for years. Rent it. You'll be glad you did.