Shemp Howard Month: Private Buckaroo (1942) Review
In today’s installment of Shemp Howard month, we are discussing Private Buckaroo, a Universal army film starring Dick Foran, the Andrews Sisters, and trumpeter Harry James, as well as featuring Shemp in a major supporting role.
Foran plays Lon Prentice, a vocalist who works with James’s group and expresses interest in joining the army. When he finally enlists, though, he insists on receiving special treatment, only doing training whenever he feels like it. Normally I hate these kinds of plots where the main character is a selfish egotist yet for almost no reason we’re supposed to feel sorry for him because of some predicament he got himself into. In this case, though, I find it tolerable enough because this film really is not that focused on the story.
Instead, this film is clearly a talent showcase and as far as that goes it actually does a pretty good job. This film is very big band-oriented, a style I’ve always enjoyed and James in particular is clearly enjoying showing off his trumpet playing skills (except, of course, the scenes where he tries to play a bugle, but we’ll get to that later). The Andrews Sisters also do a fantastic job, as usual, and their music is enhanced by James’s big band. “Steppin’ Out Tonight” was a very well staged and entertaining song, but undoubtedly the musical highlight is “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” my favorite Andrews Sisters song which is enhanced by not only James and his band but also Shemp Howard’s brief comedic bits.
Shemp actually has a pretty sizable role here and takes advantage of every moment he has on screen. Some of his scenes are shared with Mary Wickes as his fiancée he is constantly bickering with and the much taller Wickes works very well off of him in this regard, particularly when they’re first at the restaurant. Shemp also gets to shine on his own during many of the army scenes, playing a sergeant of all things. He gets to do a lot of great scare reactions during a scene where all his soldiers fall victim to a trap and go missing and also is funny in his scenes with Joe E. Lewis, especially the scene where Lewis refuses to fight him with his stripes.
The rest of the cast get some nice comedic moments as well. James struggles with a bugle, the Andrews Sisters struggle with pulling a prop tree, Lewis has to sing while also having a turkey accidentally thrown at him by Shemp. These comedic moments are not especially prominent, but they feel like they meet the perfect balance unlike the much more overly-comedic and less consistently funny The Invisible Woman. This film was directed by Eddie Cline, who had previously co-directed most of Buster Keaton’s silent shorts, so Cline clearly had a good understanding of comedic timing and this combination of a great director with these great talents may be the reason why so many of the comedic moments hit bullseyes.
The film is not flawless. While there definitely are some great song sequences in here, there also are some that drag quite a bit. The dance routine following “Apple Tree” in particular was pretty boring, though I still have to acknowledge that there was a lot of effort put into it. The romance is very forgettable and honestly I think the worst moments of the film were whenever Foran was on screen, and that’s including his song sequences. Not that his voice is bad, but much like his love interest in the film, I find a lot of those croon singers to sound the same and none of his songs ever stand out.
Private Buckaroo is as clear of a celebrity cash-in as you may think, but I mean that in the best way possible. The talents here are still very much at the top of their game and deliver energetic performances. If you’re looking for a compelling story then this obviously isn’t the film for you, but if you’re just interested in seeing these performers hanging around each other and doing what they do best, then this is definitely worth a look.
8 out of 10
Foran plays Lon Prentice, a vocalist who works with James’s group and expresses interest in joining the army. When he finally enlists, though, he insists on receiving special treatment, only doing training whenever he feels like it. Normally I hate these kinds of plots where the main character is a selfish egotist yet for almost no reason we’re supposed to feel sorry for him because of some predicament he got himself into. In this case, though, I find it tolerable enough because this film really is not that focused on the story.
Instead, this film is clearly a talent showcase and as far as that goes it actually does a pretty good job. This film is very big band-oriented, a style I’ve always enjoyed and James in particular is clearly enjoying showing off his trumpet playing skills (except, of course, the scenes where he tries to play a bugle, but we’ll get to that later). The Andrews Sisters also do a fantastic job, as usual, and their music is enhanced by James’s big band. “Steppin’ Out Tonight” was a very well staged and entertaining song, but undoubtedly the musical highlight is “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” my favorite Andrews Sisters song which is enhanced by not only James and his band but also Shemp Howard’s brief comedic bits.
Shemp actually has a pretty sizable role here and takes advantage of every moment he has on screen. Some of his scenes are shared with Mary Wickes as his fiancée he is constantly bickering with and the much taller Wickes works very well off of him in this regard, particularly when they’re first at the restaurant. Shemp also gets to shine on his own during many of the army scenes, playing a sergeant of all things. He gets to do a lot of great scare reactions during a scene where all his soldiers fall victim to a trap and go missing and also is funny in his scenes with Joe E. Lewis, especially the scene where Lewis refuses to fight him with his stripes.
The rest of the cast get some nice comedic moments as well. James struggles with a bugle, the Andrews Sisters struggle with pulling a prop tree, Lewis has to sing while also having a turkey accidentally thrown at him by Shemp. These comedic moments are not especially prominent, but they feel like they meet the perfect balance unlike the much more overly-comedic and less consistently funny The Invisible Woman. This film was directed by Eddie Cline, who had previously co-directed most of Buster Keaton’s silent shorts, so Cline clearly had a good understanding of comedic timing and this combination of a great director with these great talents may be the reason why so many of the comedic moments hit bullseyes.
The film is not flawless. While there definitely are some great song sequences in here, there also are some that drag quite a bit. The dance routine following “Apple Tree” in particular was pretty boring, though I still have to acknowledge that there was a lot of effort put into it. The romance is very forgettable and honestly I think the worst moments of the film were whenever Foran was on screen, and that’s including his song sequences. Not that his voice is bad, but much like his love interest in the film, I find a lot of those croon singers to sound the same and none of his songs ever stand out.
Private Buckaroo is as clear of a celebrity cash-in as you may think, but I mean that in the best way possible. The talents here are still very much at the top of their game and deliver energetic performances. If you’re looking for a compelling story then this obviously isn’t the film for you, but if you’re just interested in seeing these performers hanging around each other and doing what they do best, then this is definitely worth a look.
8 out of 10
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