This has gotta be the inspiration for Stripes. The setup involves a going nowhere ingrate loser who ends up at basic training with a bunch of other misfits and under the direction of a bunch of army clowns.
There are so many scenes that have direct analogues that I have to believe the pitch meeting to the studios was to remake this movie with the red-hot Bill Murray, who insisted Harold Ramis be brought on board to make it a zany service comedy. Watch them back to back and you will see what I mean.
Tab Hunter, Alan King, Henry Jones, James Garner became Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, John Diehl, et al. Murray Hamilton has the Warren Oates role. David Janssen has the John Laroquette part. Natalie Wood as the love interest exists only to be on the movie poster, as far as I can see, whereas PJ Soles and Sean Young are more integral to Stripes.
Here's the problem. Harold Ramis was arguably the greatest film comedy writer of his or any generation. Whereas this movie was written by somebody whose sense of humor was as dry as the old man's martinis. Compounding the problem, Tab Hunter in the lead is a charmless, spoiled, middle-class suburban white boy. Whereas Bill Murray's John Winger is a charming, slovenly, loveable loser. Frankly, I think he's the greatest comedy movie character of the past 50 years.
As a standalone movie, this is painfully unfunny. But as a companion piece to one of the funniest movies of all time, I'm glad I caught it on TCM.
There are so many scenes that have direct analogues that I have to believe the pitch meeting to the studios was to remake this movie with the red-hot Bill Murray, who insisted Harold Ramis be brought on board to make it a zany service comedy. Watch them back to back and you will see what I mean.
Tab Hunter, Alan King, Henry Jones, James Garner became Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, John Candy, Judge Reinhold, John Diehl, et al. Murray Hamilton has the Warren Oates role. David Janssen has the John Laroquette part. Natalie Wood as the love interest exists only to be on the movie poster, as far as I can see, whereas PJ Soles and Sean Young are more integral to Stripes.
Here's the problem. Harold Ramis was arguably the greatest film comedy writer of his or any generation. Whereas this movie was written by somebody whose sense of humor was as dry as the old man's martinis. Compounding the problem, Tab Hunter in the lead is a charmless, spoiled, middle-class suburban white boy. Whereas Bill Murray's John Winger is a charming, slovenly, loveable loser. Frankly, I think he's the greatest comedy movie character of the past 50 years.
As a standalone movie, this is painfully unfunny. But as a companion piece to one of the funniest movies of all time, I'm glad I caught it on TCM.