Keep Your Powder Dry (1945)

A disparate group of women try to adjust to their new lives after enlisting in the Womens Army Corps.

Director:

Edward Buzzell

Writers:

Mary C. McCall Jr. (original screenplay), George Bruce (original screenplay)

Stars:

Lana Turner, Laraine Day, Susan Peters

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lana Turner	...	Valerie Parks
Laraine Day	...	Leigh Rand
Susan Peters	...	Ann Darrison
Agnes Moorehead	...	Lieut. Colonel Spottiswoode
Bill Johnson	...	Captain Bill Barclay
Natalie Schafer	...	Harriet Corwin
Lee Patrick	...	Gladys Hopkins
Jess Barker	...	Junior Vanderheusen
June Lockhart	...	Sarah Swanson
Marta Linden	...	Captain Sanders
Tim Murdock	...	Captain Joseph Mannering
Henry O'Neill	...	Major General Lee Rand
Mary Lord	...	Mary
Sondra Rodgers	...	WAC Hodgekins
Marjorie Davies	...	WAC Polhemus

Storyline

A disparate group of women try to adjust to their new lives after enlisting in the Womens Army Corps.

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Plot Keywords:

women's army corps | rivalry | competition | socialite | military discipline | 

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Taglines:

Gals IN UNIFORM...IN ACTION...IN LOVE! They're strictly G.I.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

There Were Three of Us

Filming Locations:

Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Turner wrote in her 1982 biography that during pre-production she received a studio memo of reprimand about missing many of her wardrobe appointments - even though it was Irene who was not showing up. When the actress went to studio head Louis B. Mayer to defend herself, she was told that the memo was a face-saving device for Irene, who was an alcoholic but so valuable to MGM that the studio was willing to bear with her problems and delays.

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Quotes

Lt. Col. Spottiswoode: I'm sorry for you Rand, you've worked so hard to learn so many things so badly.

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Soundtracks

"Reveille"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played by a bugler to awaken the cadets

User Reviews

Sparkling performances enliven routine service comedy-drama...

The unlikely prospect of anyone who looks like Lana Turner giving up her comfy civilian life to wear an army uniform is the hardest thing to swallow about this service film about three women from different walks of life who learn to become army buddies. Turner, of course, is given the glamour treatment and must have made hundreds of girls think they would look terrific in khaki.

Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable enough item sparked by some very competent performances by the mostly female cast. It's the feminine prototype of countless serviceman films produced during the war years of World War II, given non-serious treatment with a story centering on three new WAC recruits. Laraine Day plays an army brat, a girl who constantly flaunts her superiority over the other recruits and for most of the film engages in a tug of war with Turner. While Turner was given the full glamour treatment, Laraine Day succeeded in playing her unsympathetic role to the hilt, for the first time showing a harder edge to her screen personality. The film is enjoyable fluff, with good work by Susan Peters and Agnes Moorehead.

My article on Laraine Day appears in the Spring 2001 issue of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE--and one on Lana Turner is due for publication at a later date.