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.
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.