What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

William Peter Blatty (writer)
Blake Edwards (story)

Release Date:

11 November 1966 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender...

Plot Keywords:

Italy | Soldier | Question In Title | Beautiful Woman | WWII

Cast

James Coburn	...	Lieutenant Christian
Dick Shawn	...	Captain Lionel Cash
Sergio Fantoni	...	Captain Oppo
Giovanna Ralli	...	Gina Romano
Aldo Ray	...	Sergeant Rizzo
Harry Morgan	...	Major Pott
Carroll O'Connor	...	General Bolt
Leon Askin	...	Colonel Kastorp
Rico Cattani	...	Benedetto (as Henry Rico Cattani)
Jay Novello	...	Mayor Romano
Vito Scotti	...	Frederico
Johnny Seven	...	Vittorio
Art Lewis	...	Needleman
William Bryant	...	Minow
Kurt Kreuger	...	German Captain

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11

Company:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hudson Hawk (1991)

Soundtrack:

In the Arms of Love

Turgid wartime comedy with obvious targets...

In 1943, as American Army troops are invading Italy, an over-eager yet green Commanding Officer is given the choice whether or not to overtake a small Sicilian village; hungry for the invasion, he leads his men into battle, but the cheery, celebrating Italians ultimately make a surrender difficult to manage. Developed and directed by Blake Edwards, this wartime comedy hasn't many jokes, and a great deal of the situations center on Dick Shawn's shrill Captain Cash, leaving stars James Coburn and Aldo Ray with little to do but react. Shawn does well in his role, but the part itself (a sniveling weasel who is temporarily subdued by a broad and some liquor) is tiresome, representing a cookie-cutter approach to the writing. The production is passable, and Edwards and screenwriter William Peter Blatty do make some comments on military procedure which are adept, but they run out of interesting ideas too soon. Edwards' mood is light and his tone is jovial, but there's no comedy in Blatty's script to match up with this. The result is rather like "Hogan's Heroes" without the laugh-track. *1/2 from ****