Just so...so bad

Am I Missing Something?

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Before Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, before Rosalind Russell Waved At A WAC. there was Lana Turner in Keep Your Powder Dry. Ironically all three of these women played women of some social standing who for similar reasons join the Women's Army Corps.Turner is a rather flighty nightclub loving trust fund baby who in the opinion of her guardians is just to irresponsible to control her own money. To show them her sense of responsibility Lana joins the WACs and this is also an act of patriotism as well. What could impress trustees more than being a patriot during World War II.Her fellow WAC trainees are Laraine Day who is an army brat , daughter of General Henry O'Neill who is following a family tradition. The third is Susan Peters who reminds one a lot of Jennifer Jones in her role in Since You Went Away., the girl everyone wants to come home to. She has a husband in the service already and she feels this is the best way to support him.Turner and Day are instant rivals, Peters is a good soul who is friend to both. Keep Your Powder Dry is essentially the story of their relationship dynamic and the changes in it.Some others in the cast are Agnes Moorehead as a severe but understanding post commandant, Lee Patrick as a former vaudeville entertainer who becomes an army cook, and Jess Barker as one of Turner's idiot nightclub companions.Another nightclub companion is Natalie Schaefer and you can see how in the next generation she could become Mrs. Thurston Howell IV. A really spot on performance. Keep Your Powder Dry may have started as WW2 flag waver, but it holds up very well over the generations both as comedy and drama.

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."

Tidy little drama with some comic overtones. Lana, looking lovely in her first turn after giving birth to daughter Cheryl the year before, is a playgirl who the corps teaches the value of hard work and focus. Laraine the army brat who has to learn to lighten up and actually relate to people and Susan Peters, in her last role before the shooting accident that crippled her and more or less ended her career, the spunky young bride who plays peacemaker between them. All three give good performances in what is basically a recruitment poster for the war effort with a little soap mixed in, and a highly enjoyable one at that.The three girls are basically the whole show but they are supported by some fine performers. Agnes Moorehead is all stiff upper lip in her small role as the commanding officer although she manages to mix in some warmth too. Natalie Schafer is very chic as one of Lana's fair weather friends in civilian life and in a small role as another sycophant is Jess Barker, who at the time was Susan Hayward's husband. The real standout is Lee Patrick as a former showgirl, she's sassy and brassy who adds a light touch to her scenes which is most welcome.

The unlikely prospect of anyone who looks like Lana Turner giving up her comfy civilian life to wear an army uniform is the hardest thing to swallow about this service film about three women from different walks of life who learn to become army buddies. Turner, of course, is given the glamour treatment and must have made hundreds of girls think they would look terrific in khaki.Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable enough item sparked by some very competent performances by the mostly female cast. It's the feminine prototype of countless serviceman films produced during the war years of World War II, given non-serious treatment with a story centering on three new WAC recruits. Laraine Day plays an army brat, a girl who constantly flaunts her superiority over the other recruits and for most of the film engages in a tug of war with Turner. While Turner was given the full glamour treatment, Laraine Day succeeded in playing her unsympathetic role to the hilt, for the first time showing a harder edge to her screen personality. The film is enjoyable fluff, with good work by Susan Peters and Agnes Moorehead.My article on Laraine Day appears in the Spring 2001 issue of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE--and one on Lana Turner is due for publication at a later date.