At War with the Army (1950)
On a stateside Army base in the last winter of the war, First Sergeant Vic Puccinelli wants a combat posting while his former nightclub partner, the hapless Private Korwin, just wants a pass to see his wife and baby. Paperwork, a broken soda machine, and a looming camp show keep tripping them both up.
The first film to give Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis the screen to themselves, adapted from a stage play and produced independently by their own company. That independent origin left At War with the Army unprotected when its copyright went unrenewed, and it has circulated in worn public-domain prints ever since despite being a key record of the team’s early act.
Background
At War with the Army was the first starring vehicle for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, though the pair had already appeared together in two earlier Paramount pictures. Directed by Hal Walker from Fred F. Finklehoffe’s screenplay, it adapted a 1949 stage play by James Allardice and was produced independently by the duo’s own company rather than by a studio, which is part of why its copyright later lapsed into the public domain. It opened in San Francisco on December 31, 1950, followed by New York and Los Angeles engagements the next month. Made on a budget under $500,000, it went on to earn $3.3 million in US rentals and drew more than 1.4 million admissions in France alone.
What to watch for
The film sets up the contrast that would define the team for the next decade: Martin’s Sergeant Vic Puccinelli, eager for a combat posting, playing straight man to Jerry Lewis’s Private Korwin, a klutz mainly interested in a pass to see his wife and new baby. Much of the plot turns on the pair’s dealings with camp bureaucracy, a malfunctioning soda machine, and preparations for an Army variety show, giving Lewis room for the physical comedy that had already made the duo a top nightclub act. Polly Bergen, in an early film role, and Mike Kellin round out the supporting cast.
