''The Last Time I Saw Archie'' is a 1961

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

set in the waning days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

stars as Arch Hall Sr., a lazy, scheming American in the

Civilian Pilot Training Program The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was a flight training program (1938–1944) sponsored by the United States government with the stated purpose of increasing the number of civilian pilots, though having a clear impact on military prepare ...

, an aviation school for pilots too old to fly aircraft but not too old to fly

military glider Military gliders (an offshoot of common gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops (glider infantry) and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft were ...

s and

liaison aircraft A liaison aircraft (also called an army cooperation aircraft) is a small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages. The concept developed before World War II and ...

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...

produced, directed and costarred. The film is currently unavailable on DVD. There is an Internet petition to support a home video release. The campaign was initiated by the Jack Webb Fan Club Los Angeles Chapter.

Plot

In flying school, lazy Private Archie Hall (Robert Mitchum) somehow dominates everyone around him, fellow trainees, sergeants and officers alike, and manages to avoid doing any work. Bill Bowers (Jack Webb), a Hollywood screenwriter in civilian life, becomes his sidekick. An initially hostile, suspicious trio of privates, Sam Beacham (

Louis Nye Louis Nye (May 1, 1913 – October 9, 2005) was an American comedic actor. He was an entertainer to the troops during World War II and is best known for his work on countless television, film and radio programs. Early years He was born Louis ...

), Russell Drexler ( Joe Flynn) and Frank Ostrow (

Del Moore Marion Delbridge Moore (May 14, 1916 – August 30, 1970) professionally Del Moore, was an American actor, comedian and radio announcer. Life and career Moore was born on May 14, 1916, in Pensacola, Florida, he began his career in radio before m ...

), are penalized for opposing him and eventually smarten up and become his pals as well. Archie exudes so much self-confidence that Master Sergeant Stanley Erlenheim ( Robert Strauss) becomes convinced that he is an undercover G-2 (counterintelligence) general. Erlenheim and his underling, Sergeant Malcolm Greenbriar (

Harvey Lembeck Harvey Lembeck (April 15, 1923 – January 5, 1982) was an American comedic actor best remembered for his role as Cpl. Rocco Barbella on ''The Phil Silvers Show'' (a.k.a. ''Sgt. Bilko'', a.k.a. ''You'll Never Get Rich'') in the late 1950s, and a ...

), arrange it so that Archie and his buddies are given permanent passes and a personal jeep, so they can leave the training base whenever they please. Archie sees Cindy Hamilton ( France Nuyen) every night, while Bill pairs off with Peggy Kramer (

Martha Hyer Martha Hyer (August 10, 1924 – May 31, 2014) was an American actress who played Gwen French in ''Some Came Running'' (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her autobiography, ''Finding My Way ...

). Archie also arranges for the three other privates to acquire gorgeous girlfriends as well. As time goes by, Bill comes to suspect that Cindy is a Japanese spy, but he cannot get Archie to take it seriously (even though Cindy keeps giving him money in outsized old bills). It turns out that Cindy actually is a spy, but for American counterintelligence, despite the opposition of her guardian, Colonel Edwin Martin, the base commander. Sergeants Erlenheim and Greenbriar get into trouble when they break down the door of her apartment, thinking they will catch her in the act of reporting to the enemy, only to find her presenting her findings to Martin. As the war winds down, requirements change and the trainees are given the choice of retraining to become either aerial gunners or glider pilots. Archie and Bill opt for the latter, despite the supposedly high casualty rate, so the other three do the same, only to discover that Archie and Bill have gotten themselves safe jobs at the base. However, the war ends before any of them see combat. Archie invites himself to spend a week with Bill in Hollywood. Bill is shown hard at work in his tiny office at a film studio; Archie has somehow become his boss, and has just been promoted to head of the studio. Bill jokes about seeing him in the White House. A later newspaper headline states that Governor Hall has decided to run for president.

Cast

as Archie Hall *

as William "Bill" Bowers *

as Peggy Kramer * France Nuyen as Cindy Hamilton *

as Pvt. Sam Beacham * Joe Flynn as Pvt. Russell Drexler *

as Pvt. Frank Ostrow *

Jimmy Lydon James Joseph Lydon (May 30, 1923 – March 9, 2022) was an American actor and television producer whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenager during the 1930s. Early life Lydon was born in Harrington Park, New Jersey on May 3 ...

as Pvt. Billy Simpson *

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

as Col. Edwin Martin *

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on ''The Andy Griffith Show'', a 1960s sitcom for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also ...

as Capt. Harry Little * Robert Strauss as MSgt. Stanley Erlenheim *

as Sgt. Malcolm Greenbriar * Claudia Barrett as Lola * Theona Bryant as Daphne *

Elaine Devry Elaine Devry (born Thelma Elaine Mahnken) is an American actress. Early life Devry was born Thelma Elaine Mahnken to Fred P. and Hortense Mahnken in Compton, California, where she was raised. Her brother, Jeff, was three years her senior. She b ...

as Carole * Marilyn Burtis as Patsy Ruth *

Howard McNear Howard Terbell McNear (January 27, 1905 – January 3, 1969) was an American stage, screen, and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as the original voice of Doc Adams in the radio version of ''Gunsmoke'' and as Floyd Lawson, the ...

as Gen. Williams *

James Mitchum James Mitchum (born May 8, 1941) is an American actor. Mitchum was born in Los Angeles, California, the elder son of actor Robert Mitchum (whom he closely resembles) and his wife, Dorothy Spence. His brother is actor Christopher Mitchum, and he i ...

as Corporal * John Nolan as Lt. Oglemeyer *

Nancy Kulp Nancy Jane Kulp (August 28, 1921 – February 3, 1991) was an American character actress and comedienne best known as Miss Jane Hathaway on the CBS television series ''The Beverly Hillbillies''. Early life Kulp was born to Robert Tilden and Mar ...

as Miss Willoughby *

Don Drysdale Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball, D ...

as Soldier in E-Club *

Billy Kilmer William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He w ...

as Soldier *

Lillian Powell Lillian Ruth Powell (May 29, 1896 – May 31, 1992) was a Canadian-born American Denishawn-trained dancer who performed in early experimental silent film musicals. She would later teach dance and physical education before embarking on a nearly ...

Production

The movie cost nearly $2 million to produce, Webb's most expensive production at that time, but only grossed about half its production cost. The main character in ''The Last Time I Saw Archie'', played by Robert Mitchum was based on Arch Hall Sr., whom screenwriter

William Bowers William Bowers (January 17, 1916 – March 27, 1987) was an American reporter, playwright, and screenwriter. He worked as a reporter in Long Beach, California and for ''Life'' magazine, and specialized in writing comedy-westerns. He also turn ...

knew in the war. However, the film was made without the permission of Hall, who successfully sued the producers and won a settlement. The film also features the debuts of baseball pitcher

and football quarterback

in cameos. Portions of the film were shot at

Fort MacArthur Fort MacArthur is a former United States Army installation in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California (now the port community of Los Angeles). A small section remains in military use by the United States Air Force as a housing and administrative annex ...

Reception

The film review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' summarized ''The Last Time I Saw Archie'' as part of the "too many cooks syndrome", "... especially military chefs—spoiling the broth appears to be painfully true of 'The Last Time I Saw Archie'.""Movie review: 'Last Time I Saw Archie' at the Victoria."
''The New York Times'', May 29, 1961. The ''Los Angeles Times'' review said, "The most irritating fact is that it could have been a really hilarious picture, but every time the action shows promise of better things to come, it bogs down in the same old static situations and these receive no help from William Brower's script or Jack Webb's direction."

Novelization

In an unusual (if not entirely singular) approach to tie-in fiction, Jack Webb's production company decided to create the impression that the film was based on a pre-existing book. They commissioned a young Robert Carlisle (who would later distinguish himself as a war historian) to novelize the Bowers script, which he did, under his by-line, delivering it as the first-person memoir of a character named Burns instead of Bowers (first name still Bill). The adaptation was published as ''Archie'' (suggesting that this was the screenplay's original title) by

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...

in the guise of a non tie-in, standalone novel, in February 1960, 15 months prior to release of the film, likely prior to the start of production as well. (The only "tell" indicating the book's progeny is on the copyright page: In tiny print, the rights holder is Jack Webb's company, Mark VII Productions.) Novelizations of the era were commonly released weeks, even months, prior to a film's release, in the hopes that a strong selling book might drum up interest and even critic-proof the movie; but to have one designed to let the reader infer that it was the basis for the film that it was itself based on…well, it was a strategy worthy of Arch Hall himself. The novelization's subsequent tie-in edition, published under the revised title, ''The Last Time I Saw Archie''—its cover featuring Nuyen, Mitchum, Webb and Hyer with arms linked, walking forward—didn't spill the beans either. Indeed, in small print, the cover gets to legitimately claim, "(Original title: ARCHIE)", extending the illusion that the book came before the uncredited screenplay.

References

Notes Bibliography * Weaver, Tom. ''Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2003. . * Weaver, Tom. ''I Talked with a Zombie: Interviews with 23 Veterans of Horror and Sci-Fi Films and Television''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2014. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Time I Saw Archie, The 1961 films American aviation films American comedy films American black-and-white films 1960s English-language films Mark VII Limited films Military humor in film United Artists films American World War II films Films directed by Jack Webb Films about the United States Army Air Forces 1960s American films