Private Benjamin (1980)

A sheltered young high society woman joins the army on a whim and finds herself in a more difficult situation than she ever expected.

Director:

Howard Zieff

Writers:

Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer,

Stars:

Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Goldie Hawn	...	Pvt. Judy Benjamin - Judy Goodman
Eileen Brennan	...	Capt. Doreen Lewis
Armand Assante	...	Henri Alan Tremont
Robert Webber	...	Col. Clay Thornbush
Sam Wanamaker	...	Teddy Benjamin
Barbara Barrie	...	Harriet Benjamin
Mary Kay Place	...	Pvt. Mary Lou Glass
Harry Dean Stanton	...	1st Sgt. Jim Ballard
Albert Brooks	...	Yale Goodman
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Rabbi
Estelle Marlov	...	Vocalist at Wedding
Everett Covin	...	Bandleader
Robert Hanley	...	Arnie
Lee Wallace	...	Mr. Waxman
James Dybas	...	Photographer

Storyline

When her husband dies in the wedding night Judy decides to join the army. What looks like a bad decision at first, turns out not so bad at all. That is, until her superior makes sexual advances. She is transferred to NATO headquarters in Europe and (re)meets the Frenchman Henri. Judy and Henri decide to marry, but will they ?

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Plot Keywords:

army | nato | wedding night | wedding | 1980s | 

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Taglines:

The army was no laughing matter until Judy Benjamin joined it.

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

La pícara recluta

Filming Locations:

Angel's Gate Park - 3601 Gaffey Street, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$69,800,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Off-duty service men and women were used as extras for the war games and basic training sequences as the replica basic training course was so authentic.

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Goofs

When Benjamin jumps out of the airplane, the static line to deploy her parachute is not hooked up.

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Quotes

Judy Benjamin: [heavenward] Look what we got!

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Connections

References An Unmarried Woman (1978)

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Soundtracks

"We Are Family"
(uncredited)
by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers
Performed by Sister Sledge
on tape player in barracks

User Reviews

All present and correct

The service comedy is a genre almost as old as cinema itself and, whether it's Charlie Chaplin or Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe in the trenches, Andy Griffith befuddling his sergeants, the Carry On team on the assault course or Steve Guttenberg and co at the Police Academy, has an almost immutable formula that is never, ever departed from: through mildly comic misadventure misfit(s) find themselves in the army/navy/air force/police force, are hopelessly unprepared for the harsh realities of basic training, fumble every task yet somehow come out of it all as the perfect soldier/sailor/airman/cop and prove themselves in a mildly comic baptism of fire. Private Benjamin does absolutely nothing to fix what ain't broke, contenting itself to offer the odd slight tweak and flavoring with a mild dose of Jewish humor as Goldie Hawn's sheltered princess finds herself talked into joining the 'new' army by Harry Dean Stanton's smooth-talking recruiting sergeant after husband Albert Brooks dies in the throes of passion before the honeymoon even starts ("Do you remember what the last thing he said was?"] asks his distraught mother, eliciting the reply "I'm coming.").

While it's a given that there are no surprises whatsoever, it's one of those comedies that manages to be pretty consistently funny throughout even if there aren't many really big laughs out of sheer likability. Hawn's character is not too bright but not too Hilton with it – her character arc is not just from dependence to self-reliance but more importantly from not being able to understand why Jill Clayburgh walked out on Alan Bates in An Unmarried Woman to being able to make the same choice herself, in the process tackling sexism rather more effectively than G.I. Jane did 17 years later. Eileen Brennan is clearly having a ball as the obligatory sadistic training officer out to make her life hell and there's a quietly impressive supporting cast filling out the ranks as well as a memorable Bill Conti score. It only really misses its step slightly in the scenes where her Monsieur Right (Armand Assante) rather clumsily turns out to be Monsieur Wrong at the end, as if afraid of losing the audience's sympathy long after she's won them over, but not enough to squander the goodwill it's earned by then.