Comedy is a funny animal. You never know when laughter is going to strike next, and you just never know what you're going to find funny. Recently, I laughed in child-like glee during Walt Disney's "Pinocchio", and all the way through the 1931 French farce "Le Million". I found the 2009 romantic comedy "I Love You, Man" delightful, and I almost had to call 911 I was laughing so hard during "The Sunshine Boys". but Stanley Kramer's laborious, sour, mammoth wannabe laff-fest "It's a Mad (etc.) World" didn't elicit a single chuckle from me. I believe that the harder the film-maker seems to be trying, the less likely it is that he'll succeed. The best comedy, no matter how many hours are spent setting up a gag, must appear as if it happens totally by accident. But one thing for sure - laughter is a gift. I'll take it wherever I can find it.
"Advance to the Rear" is a funny movie. It made me laugh. There you have it. That's my review. Part of me feels that this movie shouldn't work. It's a total contrivance. But it's so feather-light, so airy, so unpretentious, and so good-natured that one just gives in to it. It's as if the film-makers and the actors are saying: "We've put together this little concoction for your amusement, and we hope that you have a good time." It helps that Glenn Ford and Melvyn Douglas are the stars - Ford taking things way too seriously and becoming seriously undone, and Douglas, demoted to Captain, wincing at every mishap and quite beside himself about what his wife will think ("I married well! All my friends are generals!"). Even if you don't think that men running around in their long-johns is funny you might get a hoot out of the injun from West Point, the guy whose scent attracts horses and the ski attack on water barrel rings. As for Stella Stevens - she can be the angel on top of my Christmas tree anytime.
