Themes: Vacation Romances, Doctors and Patients, Military Life
Main Cast: Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Linda Cristal, Keenan Wynn, Elaine Stritch
Release Year: 1958
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
In this frothy romantic comedy, a hard-working female Army shrink (Janet Leigh) devises the "perfect furlough" for battle weary men and convinces the brass to let her try it on selected men stationed at her base. According to her plan, selected men would be given three weeks, tailor made to fit their deepest desires. Her first test-case is a handsome ladies' man (Tony Curtis) who chooses to go to Paris with his favorite movie star. Naturally the psychologist chaperones. Romantic mayhem ensues and eventually the furloughed soldier and the shrink fall in love. The story is also titled Strictly for Pleasure. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Review
There's nothing perfect about The Perfect Furlough, but undemanding audiences willing to go to great lengths to suspend their disbelief should be moderately entertained by this dated piece of fluff. Those who ask that their films have some bearing on reality, however, will likely be annoyed by much of Furlough, starting with its truly ridiculous premise: that 104 sex-starved men isolated in the arctic without any female companionship for seven months would find their libidos satisfied by having one man from among them be picked to go on a dream furlough on behalf of them all. Things aren't smooth sailing even after one swallows this ridiculous premise (or the idea that any psychologist with an ounce of gray matter would even suggest such a ridiculous arrangement), for Furlough is laden with mechanical plot devices that stretch credulity past the breaking point. All of this would matter less if the film found genuine humor in all this, but real laughs are few and far between. Don't blame the cast, for Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh do very fine jobs with this leaden material, and Elaine Stritch's dry way with a line makes her brief scenes quite memorable. Unfortunately, director Blake Edwards doesn't take full advantage of his actors and also paces the film rather dully. Sex farces are much harder to pull off than they seem, but Furlough falls very short of the mark. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Marcel Dalio - Henri Valentin; Troy Donahue - Sgt. Nickles; Les Tremayne - Col. Leland; Jay Novello - Rene Valentin; King Donovan - Maj. Collins; Gordon Jones - First M.P.; Alvy Moore - Pvt. Marvin Brewer; Lilyan Chauvin - French nurse; Dick Crockett - Second M.P.; Eugene Borden - French doctor; James Lanphier - Assistant Hotel Manager; Genevieve Aumont - Pregnant woman; Peter Camlin - Winemaker; Albert Carrier - Hairdresser; Jack Chefe - Maitre d'; Frankie Darro - Man in cast; Roger Etienne - Bellboy; Scotty Groves - Medic; Phil Harvey - Capt. Morgan; Hugh Lawrence - Capt. Johnson; Vernon Rich - Middle-Aged Man; Victor Romito - Reporter; Marcel Rousseau - Magistrate; Karen Scott - French waitress; Carleton Young - Maj. Morrow; Gail Bonney - Spinster; Manuel Paris - Doorman
Credit
Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Bill Thomas - Costume Designer, Blake Edwards - Director, Miton Carruth - Editor, Frank Skinner - Composer (Music Score), Joseph E. Gershenson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Richard Loring - Songwriter, Diane Lampert - Songwriter, Bud Westmore - Makeup, Philip H. Lathrop - Cinematographer, Robert Arthur - Producer, Oliver Emert - Set Designer, Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer, Clifford Stine - Special Effects, Stanley Shapiro - Screenwriter
