Vacaciones sin novia

The military men stationed at an Arctic radar base are bored, so a bright perky psychologist, a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, gets a bright idea. The men will dream up their perfect furlough and stage a raffle, the winner of which will go on the furlough, while the others enjoy it vicariously. The eager men devise "The Perfect Furlough" as three weeks in Paris with a sexy Hollywood movie star, Sandra Roca. Faced with daunting odds, one clever womanizer conspires to con his mates out of their chances and capture the prize for himself. The flimsy predictable screenplay hinges on extreme naivete and characters that do not listen to one another. A few simple questions and answers would quickly clear up the film's mildly comic complications.

Married to each other at the time, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh star as the fast-talking conniving Corporal Paul Hodges and the lovely psychologist Lieutenant Vicki Loren. Both actors are fine in undemanding roles and are ably supported by Keenan Wynn, Elaine Stritch, and Linda Cristal. Although no one in particular stands out, Curtis does a good job playing a character he has played elsewhere both before and after this film. Not surprising in a 1950's movie, sexism runs rampant, from an army officer crawling under his desk to look at a woman's legs, to a discussion of the domestic duties for a perfect wife, to the assumption that the movie star would offer sex as part of the furlough. Eyes will roll, even when the sexism is not overtly offensive.

Directed by Blake Edwards, who went on to direct far better films, and written by Stanley Shapiro, who subsequently had more success writing for Doris Day, "The Perfect Furlough" is a pleasant time killer, depending on a viewer's tolerance for sexist situations, admiration for Curtis's pretty-boy looks, and willingness to overlook silly simplistic situations.