The title sounds like a punchline to a ‘dirty’ joke from the ‘50s (very Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink), but the film turns out to be a slight, innocuous Post-War Service Comedy. A late Raoul Walsh pic that’s harmless, silly and not unwatchable. (Damning with faint praise, no?) Our just-drafted trio (Sal Mineo, Gary Crosby, Barry Coe*) bud up at their new camp and, after getting whipped into shape in a reel & a half, spend the rest of the film dating and working toward an appearance on a live tv variety show (Jim Backus in the Ed Sullivan spot) that’s putting on an All-Army special. The boys didn’t even have to audition since nerdy inductee Bob Denver just happened to tape record their little singing routine as they worked KP peeling potatoes. With cute dates (Terry Moore, Barbara Eden, Christine Carère), a trip to the beach, and a ridiculous subplot involving Asst. Secretary of the Army Jessie Royce Landis marrying one of the boys by accident, Walsh wisely moves things along briskly: with a couple of laughs, a couple of bad songs, smartly stylized sets & ultra-shiny late ‘50s lensing. It just about squeaks by if you shut down your brain. And what a kick to see Sal Mineo in breezy charm mode, sans the usual strum und drang teenage angst.
DOUBLE-BILL: After phoning in the Biblical epic ESTHER AND THE KING/’60, Walsh did another Service Comedy, MARINES, LET’S GO, this time with four Marines larking about Japan on R&R from Korea. (Not seen here.)
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Coe actually won Golden Globe’s Most Promising Newcomer for this, but the career never got out of first gear.
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