From my favorite movies..

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

"Keep Your Powder Dry" is an excellent wartime propaganda film. Now when I call it propaganda, that is not an insult--propaganda can be evil but it can also be very good. And, this is a good film in many ways because it draws attention to a group seldom talked about in pictures--the Women's Army Corps (WACS). In doing so, it bolsters the war effort and increases the public's support for these women in the military.When the film begins, you see some women joining the WACS. Valerie (Lana Turner) initially joins for selfish reasons...to enable her to get a hold of her inheritance. But soon Valerie buys into the WAC life and is a model soldier. Leigh (Laraine Day) is a daughter of a general and this is actually unfortunate because she thinks she knows everything...and, not surprisingly, she rubs her fellow recruits the wrong way...particularly Valerie. And then there is Ann (Susan Peters). Ann is friends with both of these women and tries her best throughout the film to bring them together for the good of the Army. The film follows them from boot camp, to their first assignment and then to Officer's Candidate School.I loved this film simply because it was so educational...yet also well written, interesting and quality production. One of the better wartime pictures...and one well worth seeing.

Less than two months remained of World War II fighting in Europe when this movie came out. And, the end of the war was in sight when MGM began making "Keep Your Power Dry." With the likelihood that war action movies would be made after the war, Hollywood probably thought it needed to get a tribute out to the WACs before they might soon be forgotten. The plot for this film is OK and probably necessary to keep interest in the story. Other movies had been made early in the war about Army basic camp, the Navy and numerous specialty training. So, how different and interesting could it be for women? The public wasn't likely to sit through another full film about military training with the end of the war in sight. But, a film with something more for a plot might be of interest. Thus, we have two feuding females around whom this story is built. And, it's quite good. Even with that, though, there isn't a whole lot to the film by way of training. The contest between Lana Turner's Valerie Parks and Laraine Day's Leigh Rand provides the energy that keeps the film afloat. It's not spectacular but it is a nice tribute to the Women's Army Corps, with a look at training women for officers as well. The seven stars I give it are for the good performances of a fine cast, the quality of the production, and the historical value of the subjects and the locations. It was filmed at two real locations. One was a basic training camp for WACs during WW II at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. It was located just south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, inside the Georgia border. The town of Fort Ogelthorpe occupies most of the fort grounds today. During World War I, some 4,000 German Prisoners of War were housed there. Fort Des Moines in Iowa also has very little left of its original facilities. The city now maintains some of the buildings for public events and use. It is a registered National Historic Landmark. It was the site of the officer training school for WACs starting in 1942. Before that it had been the officer training school for African Americans. The first class graduated there in 1917.The film is peppered with funny lines here and there. Here are a couple samples. Check out the Quotes section on this IMDb movie Web page for more samples of funny dialog.Valerie Parks, looking at herself in a full-length mirror in the morning, "Oh, they're making terrible mirrors these days." WAC Sergeant, "Good going, Parks. You know your planes." Parks, "I know my pilots."

"Keep your powder dry" is Major General Rand's advice to his daughter Leigh when he learns that she has just enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (or WAC's) toward the end of The Second World War. This 1945 release was the first "Private Benjamin" and you know that the events are contemporary with the year of production (1944) because prior to 1944 it was Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (or WAAC). The name change was quite an achievement because it conferred regular army status on the female soldiers and their officers; an acknowledgment that the women auxiliaries had demonstrated more than enough commitment and resourcefulness to earn the grudging admiration of most of their former detractors. The actual Private Benjamin role went to Lana Turner who plays rich and immature party girl Valerie Parks. Valarie becomes a WAC to improve her playgirl image with the trustees of her inheritance. But "Keep Your Powder Dry" is actually the story of three Private Benjamin, as it seeks to be as inclusive in its characters as the corps was in its enlistees.Susan Peters plays Annie Darrison, a young wife in a traditional marriage to an Army officer on his way overseas. She enlists with his concurrence but is uncertain of her ability to function effectively in his absence. Finally there is Leigh Rand (Laraine Day), an Army brat and martinet, who enlists to please dear old dad and because she likes military order and discipline.So you start with three women who each lack something. Valarie lacks focus, Annie lacks confidence, and Leigh lacks humanity. The three recruits meet at the start of their basic training at the 1st WAC Training Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Free spirit and fun loving Val clashes with mega-dedicated Leigh throughout basic; with Ann doing her best to defuse the conflicts. But the desire to show up her nemesis causes Val to take training seriously and she becomes a pretty good soldier. Both secretly apply for motor transport school, in part to be with Annie but mostly to get as far away from each other as possible. There is a fun sequence when they get they assignments and realize the strategy has backfired. All three are sent to The Third WAC Training Center at Ft. Oglethorpe, GA for motor transport training. Val and Leigh eventually become friends and work together to bolster Ann's self-confidence. They are successful and all three are accepted into Officers' Candidate School (OCS). But some misunderstandings cause the old resentments to return and Leigh schemes to have Val dismissed from training. "Keep Your Powder Dry" is a relatively low-keyed look at the social changes that resulted from wartime mobilization, as unprecedented opportunities suddenly became available to women. The early WAC's came from wide range of backgrounds and quickly became aware of both the uniqueness of their situation and the significance of the changes in which they were involved. All three performances are excellent, the early characterizations are quite believable and it looks like Day in particular had a lot of fun with her character. The growth and transformation process is less convincing but it is easy enough to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the film on its historical merits.The Ft. Oglethorpe parade ground and many of the surrounding buildings that were used for the location shots still exist and are worth a stop if you are in the area. Susan Peters was probably Hollywood's most tragic figure, even more so than Elizabeth Hartman, Marilyn Monroe, or Pier Anglei. Peters looked a lot like Anne Shirley, who had just opted out of the movie business, Peters was her obvious successor. An especially promising young actress (with an Oscar Nomination for "Random Harvest"), Peters was paralyzed in a hunting accident shortly after filming "Keep Your Powder Dry". The film had not yet been released. Failing in several attempts to sustain her career and with chronic pain, she literally starved herself to death a few years later. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

This is a great little movie with plenty of laughs and tears. Lana Turner is in stunning form as Val, for some reason she really reminds me of Marylin Munroe a lot in this movie. The rest of the cast is great too, especially Laraine Day and Susan Peters. The story is based around the idea of three women from different social circumstances joining the WAC. The combination of Laraine Day with her army family background and Lana Turner as a model, creates for some incredible tension and electric scenes between the two. These two actresses really spark off each other wonderfully and they have some really dynamic exchanges. All the while with Susan Peters trying to play peace maker and remain neutral. A really heartbreaking ending really adds good balance to this movie also. I feel some of the other reviews were a little harsh on this film, treating it rather whimsically, this film has great dialogue and some very whitty exchanges, the likes of which you won't find on celluloid these days. I find it so hard to believe people can pass off a great little gem like this as boring and uninteresting. Anyway at least it has me here to champion it. :)