A Privates Affair

Unmemorable but watchable
Three guys are inducted into the Army at the same time: a "beatnik" (Sal Mineo), a rancher (Gary Crosby) and a wholesome middle class kid (Barry Coe). The three enter an Army talent show but problems arise when Coe, due to a mix up, is accidentally and secretly married to an older U.S. Army official (Jessie Royce Landis) high up in the chain of command. Directed by the veteran Raoul Walsh, this film is so lightweight that you expect it to dissolve at any minute. Though not a musical, the film is padded out with a couple of unmemorable musical numbers and a monkey act. Coe's character takes center stage and his comical situation provides whatever minor laughs there are to be had. The rest of the film consists of romantic encounters with the film's three leading ladies: Barbara Eden, Terry Moore and Christine Carere (A CERTAIN SMILE). With Jim Backus and Bob Denver, who would go on to do GILLIGAN'S ISLAND a few years later and Ken Scott.

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Keep it private
I am a Sal Mineo fan and I feel sorry that he had to be in such a minor film. It's part musical, a wanna-be comedy and such a superficial film that I nearly gave up on it. But it was a Sal Mineo movie so I persevered. It is not well-known and I can see why! If you like Sal, you might want to see it just to understand that he made films like this to keep his career afloat. Poor devil.

For Those Who Think Young and Need Enlightening
I don't see any reason to give this movie unnecessary low marks. The cover of the DVD, a Cinema Archives edition, makes it appear it is in black-and-white, but it is letterboxed and in Color by Deluxe. 20th and director Raoul Walsh ("High Sierra") turned the screenplay by Winston Miller based on a story by Ray Livingston Murphy and produced by David Weisbart into a thin army service story, a comedy which becomes a musical as the three drafted men become involved in a talent show, their actual appearance on the televised talent show becoming a production number. It was an attempt to provide work for younger players like star, Sal Mineo ("Rebel Without a Cause"), Christine Carere ("A Certain Smile"), Barry Coe ("Peyton Place"), Barbara Eden ("The Yellow Canary," "Ride the Wild Surf" and TV's "I Dream of Jeannie"), Gary Crosby (Elvis's "Girl Happy"), Terry Moore (also from "Peyton Place") and Bob Denver ("Gilligan's Island") with old-timers Jim Backus ("Billie" and "Rebel Without a...

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