''Abroad with Two Yanks'' is a 1944 American

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 ...

directed by Allan Dwan and starring Helen Walker,

William Bendix William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...

and

Dennis O'Keefe Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer. Early years Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevill ...

as the title characters. It was Bendix's third and final role in a film as a US Marine and the first of Dwan's three films about the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Premise

Arriving in Australia after the

Battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

, two American Marines compete with each other by stealing the other's Australian girlfriend. Their intense rivalry leads to their arrest and escape from confinement dressed as women.

Cast

as Cpl. Biff Koraski * Helen Walker as Joyce Stuart *

as Cpl. Jeff Reardon * John Loder as Sgt. Cyril North *

George Cleveland George Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954. Career Cleveland was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first appearance on the stage ...

as Roderick Stuart * Janet Lambert as Alice *

James Flavin James William Flavin Jr. (May 14, 1906 – April 23, 1976) was an American character actor whose career lasted for nearly half a century. Early life The son of a hotel waiter of Canadian-English descent,Flavin's obituary, distributed by United ...

as Sgt. Wiggins *

Arthur Hunnicutt Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, and old rural characters. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ...

as Arkie

Production

Hal Roach

The film was originally announced as one of

Hal Roach's Streamliners Hal Roach's Streamliners are a series of featurette comedy films created by Hal Roach that are longer than a short subject and shorter than a feature film, not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the 29 features that Roach produced for United ...

titled ''Yanks Down Under'' starring William Bendix. Due to

Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, and screenwriter, ...

's contract for filming

training film A training film is a form of educational film – a short subject documentary movie, that provides an introduction to a topic. Both narrative documentary and dramatisation styles may be used, sometimes both in the same production. While most ...

s for the American Army, the film and Bendix's commitment to it was sold to producer

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

with Roach employee

Fred Guiol Fred Guiol (February 17, 1898 – May 23, 1964), pronounced "Gill," was an American film director and screenwriter. Guiol worked at the Hal Roach Studios for many years, first as a property man, later as assistant director and finally writer and ...

to be credited as a producer. The film was the end of Roach's arrangement with

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

Edward Small

In November 1943 the project was with Edward Small and was called ''Waltzing Matilda''. William Bendix and Dennis O'Keefe were attached to star. The film was to be the second in a two-film contract between O'Keefe and Small, the first being '' Up in Mabel's Room''. The title was eventually changed to ''Abroad with Two Yanks''. Small later said he mainly bought the story because this title was so appealing. In January 1944 Edward Small announced the film would be his next for United Artists. Lou Beslow and John Twist were writing the script and Lew Seiler was borrowed from

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

to direct. However, by February Allan Dwan, who had just made ''Up in Mabel's Room'' for Small, had been signed to direct

Anna Lee Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell". Early life Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham, (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, th ...

was meant to play the female lead. She accepted the part while in Las Vegas for her divorce proceedings. However, on returning to Hollywood she decided that the part was not suitable for her and pulled out of the film. She was replaced by Helen Walker, who was borrowed from Paramount. Filming started March 1944.

Hedy Lamarr Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actress ...

took a photo with Bendix and O'Keefe around the making of the film which Small subsequently issued. Lamarr then sued Small for damages.

Reception

Reviews were strong. ''

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 d ...

'' said the film was done in "the right spirit".

Proposed sequel

Edward Small wanted to star O'Keefe and Bendix in a series of films and in August announced a sequel ''Two Yanks in Paris''. Charles Rogers and Wilkie Mahoney worked on a story. However no film resulted.

Radio adaptation

The Screen Guild Theater ''The Screen Guild Theater'' is a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952 during the Golden Age of Radio. Leading Hollywood stars performed adaptations of popular motion pictures. Originating on CBS Radio, it aired under several dif ...

''" broadcast a 30-minute radio adaptation of the movie on April 9, 1945, with William Bendix and Dennis O'Keefe reprising their film roles with

Marjorie Reynolds Marjorie Reynolds (née Goodspeed; August 12, 1917 – February 1, 1997) was an American film/television actress and dancer, who appeared in more than 50 films, including the 1942 musical ''Holiday Inn'', in which she and Bing Crosby introdu ...

in Helen Walker's role.

References

External links

*
Review of film
at ''Variety''
Complete copy of radio adaptation for Screen Guild Players''
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Edward Small 1944 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films United Artists films Films directed by Allan Dwan Films about the United States Marine Corps Films set in Australia Pacific War films American comedy films Military humor in film Films produced by Edward Small Films with screenplays by Charley Rogers 1944 comedy films 1940s American films