As I've written in previous reviews, comedy is the most subjective type of movie genre. Two people view the same film and one finds it hilarious while the other sits stone-faced. Which brings us to the segment above from director Joe Dante's addictive "Trailers from Hell" web site. Here, filmmaker Larry Karaszewski weighs in on director Blake Edwards' 1966 madcap WWII comedy "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?". Karaszewski finds the movie amusing enough to recommend, while I sat with the aforementioned stone face through most of it. Edwards was a highly successful writer/producer/director and was also capable of making memorable dramatic movies such as "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Experiment in Terror". His direction of "Breakfast at Tiffanys" ensured it would become a timeless classic and his collaborations with Peter Sellers on the Pink Panther films became the stuff of Hollywood legend. Yet, I've found that while I still find some laughs and value in most of Edwards' comedies, with the exception of "Tiffanys'", "The Pink Panther" and "A Shot in the Dark", many of his movies seemed far funnier back in the day than they do now. I had never seen "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?" and looked forward to finally catching it as a streaming title on Amazon. It seemed to be a "can't miss" type of scenario: Edwards at the peak of his powers aided by an impressive cast headed by James Coburn (finally a leading man following recent success of "Our Man Flint"), Dick Shawn and some top-rung second bananas: Harry Morgan, Carroll O'Connor, Aldo Ray, Vito Scotti and Leon Askin. Additionally, he had the services of screenwriter William Peter Blatty, who had written the script for "A Shot in the Dark" a decade before he became a sensation with the publication of his novel "The Exorcist". Add to the mix a score by Edwards' frequent collaborator, the great Henry Mancini. It all looked promising but the end result fizzles in nearly every aspect.
The film opens with a traditional battle scene of American troops invading Sicily in 1943. General Bolt (Carroll O'Connor playing the type of commanding officer role he would recreate over the next couple of years in "The Devil's Brigade" and "Kelly's Heroes") informs his straight-laced humorless aide Captain Lionel Cash (Dick Shawn) that he needs to loosen up and get some battlefield experience and assigns him to lead a company of men to seize a German controlled local village that is deemed important to the U.S. advance. Cash has zero people skills and goes strictly by the book. He's shocked to find he's inherited a company of misfits and party animals who are temporarily under the command of Lt. Christian (James Coburn), who only encourages his men's undisciplined behavior. When Cash and the troops arrive at the village, they are shocked to find the Germans have abandoned it and their Italian allies are all too willing to surrender immediately as long as Cash agrees to allow them to hold their sacred annual wine festival. Cash concedes to avoid bloodshed and a wild, drunken evening ensues. The men enjoy their time in the village, making use of the wine and prostitutes. They also have a charismatic anti-Nazi Italian officer to interpret for them, Capt. Oppo (Sergio Fantoni), who also eschews military discipline in favor of the good life. Things are going swimmingly until General Bolt asks how the advance is going. Cash and Christian try to cover up their escapades by telling him they have encountered strong resistance and a battle for control of the town is raging. They reinforce this by filming phony battles scenes and sending them to HQ. Bolt is impressed and sets off with reinforcements, unbeknownst to Christian and Cash, who is quickly adopting the slovenly habits of his men.
Giovanna Ralli and Dick Shawn.
From this point, the film devolves into increasingly zany and often
monotonous scenes of the Americans enjoying drunken parties and
patronizing with local prostitutes. Even the staid Cash is drawn into
letting his guard down as he is manipulated by Christian. This results
in Cash having a romantic encounter with Oppo's girlfriend, a local
maid, Gina (Giovanna Ralli, who interestingly had recently appeared with
Sergio Frantoni in "Von Ryan's Express". ). Oppo goes into a jealous
rage and all hell break loose. The already cluttered screenplay then
introduces more chaos by having a German division occupy the town, which
forces the Americans to hide and Cash to disguise himself in drag.
For all the goings-on and an impressive cast, the film doesn't
provide many laughs. It does afford a rare leading role to Dick Shawn,
whose comedic appearances in feature films generally had him playing
manic characters. He provides the few fleeting moments of amusement.
Surprisingly, newly-minted leading man James Coburn is largely wasted in
a superfluous role that leaves him with little to do. A sub-plot with
Harry Morgan as an officer lost in ancient catacombs goes on forever and
is excruciatingly unfunny.Clocking in at almost 2 hours, the movie is
far too long and Edwards repeats comedic scenarios that grow
increasingly tiresome. If seeing Dick Shawn in drag for a minute is
funny, by Edwards' reasoning, then seeing him in drag for 15 minutes
must be hilarious. It's the type of miscalculation that would affect
many of his comedies over the years to come.
The film is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime. It can also be ordered from Amazon on Blu-ray by clicking here.