"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.
