Dois Pracinhas do Barulho

This movie combines features of the WWII Aviation Cadet program (Preflight), Civilian Pilot Training Program, and O.C.S. It is not like any of them as An Officer and a Gentleman is not like any USN program. However, I would think that the writer had been in one of the programs to get it so right as to how the guys interact with each other and with the military. I am the product of such a program (Aviation Cadets) and saw much to identify with. From the writer's list of credits, covering ever year of WWII it doesn't seen that he could have been in the military. Still, he got it right. The first time I saw the movie I thought the spy subplot was a stupid filler but I enjoyed it much more in later viewings.

By 1960, "Dragnet" had been cancelled, and so had all of Mark VII LTD's other TV series. Webb's intention was to do theatrical films from now on. Then he made this film.

"The Last Time I Saw Archie" is a series of comedy vignettes hooked on a true life situation - a stateside camp consisting of "leftovers" from a program designed to train pilots too old for combat duty during WWII. (The program was cancelled because the war was winding down.) Robert Mitchum plays Pvt. Archie Hall, a schemer who manages to convince everyone around him that he's more important than his rank indicates. Webb is Pvt. Bill Bowers (the same man who wrote the screenplay), the buddy who goes along for the ride. During the course of the film, Archie avoids all the mundane duties of military life, finds girlfriends for himself and Bowers, and secures an unrestricted pass and a private jeep.

FACTOID: The film was Webb's most expensive production; it cost about $2 million. It was also his biggest flop, grossing about $1.2 million. Webb would never again make a theatrical feature. Five years later, he'd be back to playing Sgt. Friday.

I had to note that the title character is none other than the producer of the Bad Film classics Wild Guitar, Eegah (also director) the Thrill Killers, and the Choppers. He is also the Dad of "star" Arch Hall Jr. Another great Webb film, and the only one he did with Mitchum. Webb should be better known for his film and radio work.

As a huge Jack Webb fan and a huge Arch Hall (Sr. & Jr.) fan, I had long awaited the opportunity to see Jack Webb's portrayal of the life of Arch Hall Sr. I was a bit disappointed, though, when I discovered that the movie was a comedy about Arch's army career, not about his production of film greats like `Eegah' and `The Choppers.' This movie doesn't even mention his extensive prewar career making B-Westerns, preferring to imply that he had `no past.'

That said, however, Robert Mitchum does an excellent job of portraying Arch, as recollected by his wartime buddy Bill Bowers (adeptly portrayed by Jack Webb himself). According to Ray Dennis Steckler, Mitchum spent time studying the real Arch Hall, learning how to make every move speak of laziness and a drive to get somebody else to do the work. Steckler (who worked with Arch on `Eegah' and `Wild Guitar') says Mitchum did him to a `T.'

Bowers clearly romanticized his old friend quite a bit - if the real Arch Hall had been that good at manipulating circumstances to his favor, he would have become a Hollywood powerhouse, not a director of low-budget (if wonderful) schlock films. Nevertheless, watching Mitchum work people as Arch is enormously entertaining. I think this movie would appeal to anybody who has been in the service and dealt with the kind of ludicrous conditions that are familiar there. Mitchum as Arch gets to turn the whole system of controlled chaos to his advantage.

It's too bad Don Knotts didn't get more scenes, I started laughing as soon as he appeared on the screen. Everyone in the cast shows excellent comedic sense, and Jack proves (once again) that he was not just the straight man from Dragnet - he was a visionary and talented artist with considerable range.

Light, entertaining piece that oddly seems to fit both Webb and Mitchum. The scriptwriter had an excellent feel for how things worked (and still work, probably) in the Army if you know how to play the angles. Most of us who spent a few years on active duty (I spent 21 yrs) pulled a lot of these stunts, and we all knew people like Archie Hall -- and most of the other denizens of Camp Buckley.

This ain't CITIZEN KANE, but it's a lot of fun, probably a lot more so if you spent time in uniform.