Another
of the teen romcom romps that Buster was in in the ’60s. Like Pajama Party, it’s silly, corny, and utterly insane – it still cracks me up that
this is what these movies are about.
Like, did Buster just happen to be in all the crazy ‘60s teen movies, or
were films like this super-popular with young people at the time? They’re so weird, I’m almost a little
impressed by them (premise spoilers.)
This
isn’t so much a beach party movie, since it takes place on an air base. Interminable screwup Sgt. O.K. Deadhead is in
love with Airmen Lucy Turner, but every time they’re getting ready to tie the
knot, Deadhead gets himself in trouble with a commanding officer and the
ceremony can’t go through. As it
happens, he’s not quite ready to get married and is intentionally putting it
off. His efforts go so far that he
accidentally winds up hitching a ride on an experimental rocket launch piloted
by a chimpanzee. Due to… I don’t know,
cosmic space rays or something? ...he undergoes a complete personality change
(the summary on IMDb says he switches brains with the chimp, but I don’t think
it’s as clear-cut as that – more than anything, he just becomes really
obnoxious and arrogant.) The military,
not wanting to admit their big screw-up, has to pretend they intended for
Deadhead to go into space all along, somehow keeping his personality change
from the press and Lucy before their now PR-approved wedding.
So yeah,
totally crazy. It’s amusing enough, cute
and inoffensive with nice music, and Frankie Avalon and Deborah Walley are
charming in the lead roles. Most of the
supporting players are totally ridiculous, and it all gets quite farcical.
There’s
less of Buster in this film than there is in Pajama Party, but fortunately, his role is way less racist. He plays Pvt. Blinken, an over-eager gofer
who has plenty of enthusiasm but little competence. Like I said, he’s not around much – he’s in a
few memorable slapstick bits in the first third of the film and then mostly
disappears. He does get to have a little
bit of fun, though. I like the gag where
he utterly fails to lead a group of airmen on a march, and my biggest laugh is
watching him stand stalwartly with a fire hose during an emergency, with barely
a hint of water dribbling out of it.
Even though these movies, naturally, can’t compare to anything Buster
did in his own films, they’re good reminders of how he could shine under any
circumstance and in the smallest of moments.
Warnings
Lots of
suggestiveness, a little drinking/smoking, and some slapstick violence.
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