The Perfect Furlough

Tony Curtis stars an Army corporal stationed at an Arctic outpost who gets a Parisian furlough with sexy Argentine movie actress Linda Cristal, who is secretly pregnant. Would-be bedroom romp never does get saucy. Director Blake Edwards bides his time with his usual padding and gimmicks: slapstick brawls and frantic chases. This was one of six movies Curtis made with then-wife Janet Leigh, wasted here as a prim lieutenant. Despite lots of Hollywood gloss, these are grueling comic antics indeed. Interesting supporting cast including Elaine Stritch and Keenan Wynn is a minor compensation. * from ****

Funny little early Blake Edwards. Curtis & Leigh are quite good, but watch for the supporting actors. The great Keenan Wynn, a non-"30 Rock" look at the wonderful Elaine Stitch and especially King Donovan, so funny as the befuddled military "handler" of Curtis' character. Love anything King Donovan was in.

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.

'The Perfect Furlough's' main attraction is the cast (Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, Elaine Stritch) . Also the talented Blake Edwards, who did many good to great films, so 'The Perfect Furlough' is watchable if one is trying to see as many films of his as possible. The same goes for Curtis, if, like me, you've found yourself unexpectedly watching as many films of his as possible.

Seeing it, 'The Perfect Furlough' is far from the best work of everybody else (Edwards though has also certainly done far worse), everybody here has been better and been in much better work. 'The Perfect Furlough' is most interesting for two things, one being seeing Curtis and Leigh in their third film together and the other being that it is the second time Curtis starred in a film directed by Edwards. As far as 1950s (and 1960s) comedies of this type go, there were far better, namely those featuring Doris Day, which were glossy and frothy but had much more wit, fun and charm as well as more natural chemistry between the cast.

It is certainly watchable. 'The Perfect Furlough' has glossy, but not overly so, production values, being elegantly shot and charmingly designed. The music is neither intrusive or low key and is pleasant enough in its own right. There are amusing and charming moments scattered through, there is a likeable light-heartedness and some chuckle-worthy lines.

Curtis and Leigh are fun to watch and are appealing in individual acting and together, Curtis especially has great comic timing and his expressions say an awful lot. They sparkle together and their love genuine. Stritch and Wynn stand out of the impressive supporting cast.

Edwards' direction however is disappointing clunky and without much pizzazz, got the sense he wasn't very interested in the film. The locations look nice enough but they don't look authentic, being more Hollywood than Paris. There is a constant stuck in the 50s feel and not much that feels current.

Also found the script uneven and more flabby than sparkling, there is not enough wit with too many moments that leaves one stone-faced while there is a lot of depth-less froth and the more risqué elements are not sharp or broad enough and come over as forced. The pace could have been much tighter and the story is contrived to the extreme, it's all very obvious and gets too silly even when taking it for what it's meant to be. At the end of the day, there is not an awful lot that's memorable here.

Summing up, a watchable enough film but uneven and forgettable after a few days. 5/10 Bethany Cox

The Army has a problem. 104 men has been in an Arctic base for 7 months but they can't all go on furlough. Psychiatrist Lt. Vicki Loren (Janet Leigh) suggests giving one man their perfect furlough. Cpl. Paul Hodges (Tony Curtis) leads the men to demand a trip to Paris with movie star Sandra Roca. Paul schemes his way to winning the lottery. It turns out that he was forced to go to the Arctic due to his womanizing ways and Vicki is forced to be a chaperon.

The premise is too complicated but a screwball comedy can do that sometimes. At least, it allows Tony Curtis to have some fun in the Arctic. His charm is cinematic and the movie shows it off. This is an early Blake Edwards comedy and there are a lot of his touches. My only complaint is Sandra Roca's revelation. It cuts short the possibility of a love triangle. That has so much potential but most of it is left behind. I also don't think Janet Leigh is a great comedic actress. Her seriousness can be used for comedy but in this case, it is simply a case of frustrating misunderstanding. It's not as funny as it could have been.