What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?

Filmmaker Blake Edwards's 1966 WWII comedy is set in an infantry unit during the 1943 invasion of Sicily. James Coburn stars as Lt. Christian, whose orders are to take a small but strategically vital village, and Dick Shawn is Capt. Lionel Cash, who is given his first field command. Cash's inexperience and by-the-book approach don't prepare him for a village that is eager to surrender—but only if the residents are first allowed to hold their annual wine festival. Christian is the savvy combat veteran and wily advisor who negotiates the détente, but both sides get so drunk that they sleep through the planned ceremony, leading to confusion that attracts the attention of both American and German forces. Beloved actor Harry Morgan (M.A.S.H.) has a supporting role as an officer who loses his way in a labyrinth of underground tunnels. Edwards, who hatched the complicated plot (scripted by The Exorcist author William Peter Blatty), favors broad performances and slapstick antics (many revolving around drunkenness) and he manages to play a counter-offensive against a Nazi division as a comical con-game. Edwards's knack for choreographing physical gags and big comic set pieces is evident here, although this is a minor work, both as an Edwards comedy (ranking below his Pink Panther films and The Party) and as a wartime romp. Optional. (S. Axmaker)