You're in the Army Now

Durante and Silvers would fit right in with the 3 Stooges with their unbearably bad but lovable antics as vacuum cleaner salesmen and later buck privates. But the fun picks up when they start dragging the Colonel's house through the town behind a tank in the middle of the night! And of course then they leave it perched halfway off a cliff overlooking a demolition test site.

Also, Jane Wyman, the colonel's daughter, before she became a serious actress, was seriously gorgeous.

In the months before Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, millions of Americans were to enter the armed forces through enlistment or the draft. Hollywood did its part to reassure new servicemen and their families that life in the Army was not so bad when nitwits and misfits like Jimmy Durante and Phil Silvers could thrive in uniform.

Pushing 50, Durante seemed a little old to be an Army recruit but his forever sunny disposition between trips to the guardhouse and lines like "I'm a victim of circumstances" makes it somewhat forgivable.

I was amazed by the regimental commander who kept insisting that cavalry horses were more than a match for tanks even after the Nazi Panzers proved otherwise in France and Poland. How could someone this dense keep a combat command in 1941? Of course, Durante and Silvers prove the superiority of the tank to him, not by its firepower or mobility, but by the fact it can tow a house better than a team of horses.

Released on Christmas Day in 1941, You're In The Army Now is a marvelous opportunity to see a pair of comedic greats Jimmy Durante and Phil Silvers teaming up in an obvious attempt by Warner Brothers to cash in on the success Universal was having with Abbott&Costello in Buck Privates. Even some of the routines that Durante and Silvers use are straight from the A&C play-book.

The subplot of the film involves stubborn old cavalry colonel Donald MacBride not wanting to convert to a mechanized army to the distress of daughter Jane Wyman and her fiancé Regis Toomey. That's the way it is with some military folks, slow to adapt to change.

The Durante and Silvers styles clash and with good reason, try making Abbott&Costello work with two comics. Of the two of them, Silvers is strangely subdued for him. Nevertheless they do have some really funny bits and the climax involving MacBride's house is absolutely hysterical.

Next to Edgar Kennedy no one had a better slow burn going in films than Donald MacBride. He had a marvelously expressive face and his reactions to Durante and Silvers are sometimes funnier than the two comedians themselves.

You're In The Army Now is a curious piece of nostalgia with a once in a lifetime opportunity to see two comic legends together.

Jimmie & Phil worked terrific together. I wish it was on DVD or at least VHS. Very very funny movie and kids will enjoy it also. If you like watching the Marx Brothers movies, you'll love "You're in the Army Now" One of the funniest...clean humor...movies of all time.

You're in the Army Now is a special piece of nostalgia and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch two comedies together.

Besides Edgar Kennedy, no one was more passionate about movies than Donald MacBride. His face is beautiful, and his reactions to Durante and Silvers are sometimes funnier than the two actors.

Durante's and Silvers' styles clash and for good reason Abbott&Costello try to work on two comedies. Second, Silvers was a different defeat for him. However, they do have some fun stuff and the climax involving MacBride's house is really scary.

The plot of the film involves an old cavalry colonel, Donald MacBride, who refuses to convert to a mechanized army at the distress of Jane Wyman's daughter and her lover, Regis Toomey. . Similarly, some soldiers are slow to adapt to changes.

Released on Christmas Day 1941, You're in the Army Now is a great opportunity to see comedy giants Jimmy Durante and Phil Silvers working together in a four-part Warner Brothers effort. Valued the success of Universal and Abbott&Costello. In Buck Privates. Even some of Durante and Silvers' routines are straight out of the A&C playbook.