Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Crappy film

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Cutesy little comedy that tries hard but trips over its own obviousness. Hard-nosed army Major Charlton Heston is unwillingly dispatched to a lax military school to shape up the boys' failing ROTC program. There's an immediate clash of backgrounds that provides some comedic potential, but I suspect this is a film Heston would just as soon forget. The trouble is he's miscast-- Moses just doesn't do pratfalls well. And here, unfortunately, he does a lot of them. The comedy is clumsily done, with a real lack of timing , and is not helped by the many blaring close-ups of the precious little Tim Hovey, who I'm sure many find adorable-- which he may be, but in very small doses. After about the 20th close-up of "how cute I am", my dinner began to rebel. I kept wishing a really digestible kid like Alfalfa or Spanky had been available . With a more jaundiced eye, better direction, and appropriate casting, this might have made a humorous little 90 minutes. As it stands, the only interest is to aficionados of early Sal Mineo.

This is a very unusual film for Charlton Heston, as he plays a hard as nails major that is forced to be the commandant of a boys military school. Seeing his gruff and perfectionistic ways meet the reality that these are only children makes this a cute film and HIGHLY reminiscent of Clifton Webb's MR. SCOUTMASTER--another great family film about a grumpy old guy who is eventually tamed by the boys. Sure, this makes the film awfully predictable, but sometimes I am just a sucker for a little bit of sentimentality--provided it is paired with some comedy to keep it from being too schmaltzy--as in the case of this film. Also, like MR. SCOUTMASTER, the real star of the film is a very small and very endearing little boy--played in this film by an adorable Tim Hovey. The bottom line is for all this to work, the film had to be well-written and the writers DID earn an Oscar nomination for Best Original Story. So see this film--and MR. SCOUTMASTER--two excellent family films that are lots of fun regardless of your age.FYI--This film was later remade as MAJOR PAYNE.

It was shown frequently on television, in the 1960s and 1970s, usually around Christmastime, probably due to its school setting, with nuns and kids, remotely resembling "The Sound of Music" (1965) without the music, and even lead actress Julie Adams resembling Julie Andrews (both Libras to boot!). Reviewing my VHS tape of the film recently (not on DVD yet), the movie remains surprisingly enjoyable, funny, tender and clever (script nominated for Academy Award), a big hit in 1955. Charlton Heston, in only a handful of comedies throughout his career, is very good as the hard-nosed Major who is assigned to military school by his superiors to soften his image, unaware its for kids and run by nuns! Adams, in one of her best roles and films, (until her "The Last Movie" role - 1971), effectively and warmly plays the school's doctor, not nurse, as other reviewers stated, and stands firm to Heston's shenanigans, not taking a subordinate role in all the proceedings. Child actor Tim Hovey is a revelation as "Tiger" who also helps melt Heston, with capable William Demarest as a caretaker and the marvelous Nan Bryant as the Mother Superior. Good color, filmed on location, direction, nice finale.

The film is overall a delightful comedy with the best actors being the children. Mr. Heston makes an effort to appear less imperious than usual, and partly succeeds. The script and children were of such quality, I think that a number of other actors may have played Major Benson with success, e.g., James Whitmore, James Stewart, Glenn Ford, and others.