You're in the Army Now (1941)

Vacuum-cleaner salesmen Homer "Jeeper" Smith and "Breezy" Jones are accidentally inducted into the army, and "Jeeper", who can sell anything, immediately begins to try and convince, Colonel... See full summary »

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Paul Gerard Smith (original screenplay), George Beatty (original screenplay)

Stars:

Jimmy Durante, Phil Silvers, Jane Wyman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jimmy Durante	...	Jeeper Smith
Phil Silvers	...	Breezy Jones
Jane Wyman	...	Bliss Dobson
Regis Toomey	...	Captain Radcliffe
Donald MacBride	...	Colonel Dobson
Joe Sawyer	...	Sergeant Madden (as Joseph Sawyer)
Clarence Kolb	...	General Winthrop
Paul Harvey	...	General Philpot
George Meeker	...	Captain Austin
Paul Stanton	...	Lt. Col. Rogers
William Haade	...	Sergeant Thorpe
John Maxwell	...	Army Doctor
Etta McDaniel	...	Della
Navy Blues Sextette	...	Singers
Kay Aldridge	...	Navy Blues Sextette Member

Storyline

Vacuum-cleaner salesmen Homer "Jeeper" Smith and "Breezy" Jones are accidentally inducted into the army, and "Jeeper", who can sell anything, immediately begins to try and convince, Colonel Dobson, their cavalry officer of the Old School---from the "nothing can replace a horse in a battle" school---that the age of mechanization has arrived and "Jeeper" has a deal for him on some tanks. This also helps further the romance between the colonels' daughter, Bliss (named after the fort in El Paso), and Captain Joe Radcliffe, a mechanical engineer with the tank corps. Along the way, at an U. S. O show (featuring the Navy Blues Sextette from the film "Navy Blues"), "Jeeper" does an Apache Dance, spikes the lemonade with alum, and sings "I'm Glad My Number Was Called."

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Plot Keywords:

mechanization | mechanical engineer | uso show | mock airplane | father daughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

SOME FUN! (original print media ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Spy Swatters

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Listed in the Guinness Book of Records for many years for containing the single longest on-screen kiss, between Jane Wyman and Regis Toomey clocking in at 3 minutes and 5 seconds. This record was not broken until Big Top Pee-wee (1988) and then by the six minute kiss at the end of Kids in America (2005).

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Quotes

Jeeper Smith: [Boasting, to the Army induction physician] I'm a fightin' man, Doc. I'm one tough hombre. Surrender is two words that ain't in my "vocaburary."

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Charlton Heston/Dom DeLuise/Ace Trucking Company/Lucille Ball (1974)

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Soundtracks

My Wild Irish Rose
(1898) (uncredited)
Music by Chauncey Olcott
Played whenever Jeepers smells the flower

User Reviews

Yet another army comedy from 1941...what a huge surprise!

1941 was an incredible year for army films. Suddenly with the peacetime draft, Hollywood decided to make a long string of comedies about army life--and they are too numerous to count. A few examples I can think of off the top of my head are Abbott & Costello in "Buck Privates", Bob Hope in "Caught in the Draft", William Tracy in "Tanks a Million" and even the almost elderly Laurel & Hardy in "Great Guns"--heck, EVERYONE seemed to be making army pictures in 1941! All of them were reasonably funny and watchable but, believe it or not, the low-budget "Tanks a Million" is probably my favorite--even though it is clearly the least familiar and lowest budget of the films I mentioned (and, by the way, there were MORE such films in '41!).

Well, not wanting to be left out of the act, Warner Brothers decided to make one of these films--but they really didn't have a good headliner or comedy team for such a film. So they decided to try pairing two journeymen comedians, Phil Silvers and Jimmy Durante, and hope for positive results. Considering they didn't instantly become a comedy sensation or remain a team, you can assume it was not a rousing success.

Like almost all the films above, the ANY army taking these over-age and extremely unqualified men into their ranks does strain credibility! While Silvers was only 30 (though he looked at least 45), Durante was 48--way past the age of serving--even in the armies of Liechtenstein or Costa Rica! And, being diminutive (a nice politically correct way of saying he was a shrimp), there is no way Durante could have served! But, if Oliver Hardy (who was about the same age and pushing 350 pounds) could make a film, I guess I can't fault the casting of Durante too much!

The film begins with Durante and Silvers playing obnoxious vacuum cleaner salesmen. Eventually, to make a sale to a recruiting officer, they accidentally join the army (can anyone be THAT dumb?!). Most of the film consists of them going through basic training and making total nuisances of themselves! Along the way, they meet up with the obligatory girl (Jane Wyman) and the obligatory foil (actually, there are several--including Regis Toomey, Donald MacBride and Joe Sawyer). And, like most of these army films, there are quite a few completely out of place musical numbers--including an amazingly ridiculous one involving a prop plane. I don't know why Hollywood thought they needed to add songs to comedies and I am glad that cliché has died over the years! They just seem to bog down the film--though I must admit I liked some of Durante's numbers--as he sang so badly that they were clearly comedy!!

Some highlights of the film was seeing Durante in drag (my gosh, he was so hideous that he made me laugh!) as well as Durante's banter. In fact, he clearly came off better than Silvers (who didn't have a lot to do by comparison) and this sort of film seemed to fit him--even if he was the most ridiculous soldier! In fact, while I truly HATED Durante in his ill-fated teaming with Buster Keaton in the early 30s, here he is a pretty funny guy. As a result, the film is very watchable and fun--though one of the lesser such films of '41. It is better than "Great Guns" (Laurel & Hardy were NOT up to their old standards in their later films) but not as funny as the other three films I already mentioned. Good...but not a must-see!

By the way, I do have one question about this film. In the bizarre ending (that really did not work for me), you see Silvers and Durante as old men. How is it that as old men Silvers actually has a lot more hair than he did at age 30? Just a thought.