Themes: Fish Out of Water, Starting Over, Military Life
Main Cast: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Sam Wanamaker, Harry Dean Stanton
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Devastated when her brand-new husband Albert Brooks) drops dead on their wedding night, Jewish American princess Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) is receptive to the pitch delivered by a duplicitous recruiter for the Women's Army Corps. Quickly adivsed by topkick Captain Lewis (Eileen Brennan) that she should not look forward to the private room, fancy clothes and sauna bath that she'd been promised, Judy is forced to go through basic training like any other "grunt". This turns out to be a real growth experience for the pampered Private Benjamin, who for the first time in her life has to work for her privileges. A brief misadventure with a lascivious paratroop officer (Robert Webber) nearly sours Judy on army life, but she turns out to be a darned good soldier-and a woman with a highly developed sense of self-esteem, which enables her to weather a further disappointing romantic fling with French phsycian Henri Tremont (Armand Assante). Private Benjamin turned out to be one of Goldie Hawn's most profitable vehicles. The 1981-82 TV sitcom spinoff starred Lorna Patterson in Goldie's role, with Eileen Brennan repeating her film characterization of the long-suffering Captain Lewis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Private Benjamin is a beloved film, a rallying call for burgeoning feminists and one of Goldie Hawn's most recognizable star vehicles. However, its narrative is also a mess and only funny in spots. The film doesn't understand what it wants to be -- a goofy military sendup or a tale of a spoiled young woman growing into independence. A smarter script would have had it both ways, but this one meanders, jumping in and out of the barracks and finishing with a third act that has nothing to do with the armed forces. If it had been filmed in the 1990s, Private Benjamin might have taken place entirely within basic training, centering on the struggles of Hawn's Judy Benjamin as she makes painful but funny strides to trade her jewelry for artillery. That might have been too tight and formulaic, but at least it would have been internally consistent. As is, the film jumps from a funny opener involving the absurd death of Judy's new husband (Albert Brooks), to Judy's pronounced difficulties in training, to her sudden rebound to head of the class, where she scores an assignment so select that only men had received it. Little explanation is given for her transition between these stations. And the third act, involving her engagement to a French skeezeball (Armand Assante), can only be considered a very dated, and hollow, feminist victory. The best way to explain the widespread appeal is the viewing public's much-deserved adoration of Hawn, who has some brilliant moments and became one of the most reliable comedic actresses of her generation. When Private Benjamin does trust its sillier instincts, it's a winner. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Barbara Barrie - Harriet Benjamin; Robert Webber - Col. Clay Thornbush; Mary Kay Place - Pvt. Mary Lou Glass; Albert Brooks - Yale Goodman; Lillian Adams - Mrs. Goodman; Alston Ahern - Pvt. P.J. Soyer; Wil Albert - Lt. Rahmi; J.P. Bumstead - Induction Officer; Lilyan Chauvin - Mrs. Tremont; Everett Covin - Band Leader; Tim Haldeman - Stanley Goodman; Robert Hanley - Arnie; Richard Herd - General Foley; Alice Hirson - Mrs. Thornbush; Toni Kalem - Pvt. Ganelli; Sally Kirkland - Helga; Ed Lewis - Red Team Soldier; Paul Marin - Leo Lemish; Estelle Marlow; Mimi Maynard - Liz Lemish; Stu Nahan - Newscaster; Craig T. Nelson - Capt. William Woodbridge; Alan Oppenheimer - Rabbi; P.J. Soles - Pvt. Wanda Winter; Maxine Stuart - Aunt Betty; Lee Wallace - Mr. Waxman; Danny Wells - Slick Guy; Hal Williams - Sgt. L.C. Ross; Gretchen Wyler - Aunt Kitty; Keone Young - Kim Osaka; Damita Jo Freeman - Pvt. Gloria Moe; James Barnett; Raymond Oliver; Kopi Sotiropulos - Limo Passerby; Clay Wright; Robin Hoff - Red Team Soldier; Allison Caine
Credit
Betsy Cox - Costume Designer, Jerry Sobul - First Assistant Director, Howard Zieff - Director, Sheldon Kahn - Editor, Goldie Hawn - Executive Producer, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), Robert F. Boyle - Production Designer, Jeffrey Howard - Production Designer, David M. Walsh - Cinematographer, Goldie Hawn - Producer, Nancy Meyers - Producer, Harvey Miller - Producer, Charles Shyer - Producer, Arthur Jeph Parker - Set Designer, Bob Peterson - Special Effects, Marty Bolger - Sound/Sound Designer, Nancy Meyers - Screenwriter, Harvey Miller - Screenwriter, Charles Shyer - Screenwriter
Private Benjamin is a 1980Americancomedy film starring Goldie Hawn. The film was one of the biggest box office hits of 1980[1], and also spawned a short-lived television series. The film is ranked 82 on the American Film Institute's "100 Funniest Movies" poll[2], and 58 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies"[3].
Hawn plays Judy Benjamin, a JAP who joins the U.S. Army after her new husband dies on their wedding night. Duped by a sneaky recruiting sergeant, who lets her believe military life to be more glamorous than it is, she has a rude awakening in boot camp. Her superior officer Captain Doreen Lewis takes special delight in making her life hell. Judy is forced to re-evaluate her conduct when given the option of quitting the Army on psychiatric grounds. She chooses to stick it out, and has a series of adventures which eventually lead to promotion.
During her service Judy meets Henri Tremont, a dashing French doctor. However, their romance is short-lived when he returns to Paris and she to her army career. Later Judy manages to be assigned to NATO headquarters in Paris, where she meets up with Henri again. He proposes marriage; she accepts, but must give up her army career to do so.
Later in the relationship Judy discovers Henri's controlling side, when he tries to 'remake' her, and when forced to sign a complicated prenuptial agreement in his favor. Then, when she finds out Henri is madly in love with an old flame with whom he has already cheated on her, she realises she is in danger of losing her hard-won independence. She walks out on her wedding and Henri just before they take their vows.
