User Reviews

I stumbled across a poster for this film several years ago, and, hailing from Walla Walla, it caught my attention. I finally found this movie on eBay – must be a pirated copy as it's never been released by the studio – and for good reason. Definitely a "B" movie, maybe even a "C," and unfortunately no mention of Walla Walla at all. The film appears to be one in a number of vehicles written specifically for its star – Judy Canova. Who? you ask – good question. Although popular in the 40s and 50s, Canova has not stood the test of time. She plays Judy in the film, a small-town farm girl tricked into joining the WACs (Women's Army Corp). If you think Hee-Haw meets Police Academy you'll have a good idea as to the caliber of this film.

The Canovas are the proud, if inept, descendants of the town's founding father. Once again the town is presumably Walla Walla although its name is never stated other than in the title. Judy's father and grandfather are proud veterans and are thoroughly disappointed when Judy is born as they were hoping for a son to carry on the military tradition.

Disaster seems to follow Judy wherever she goes; some of her incidents are too corny to believe, but others are genuinely funny. She manages to destroy the statue of her great-grandfather numerous times, in a running gag throughout the film that gets old after the first time. More genuine is Judy accidentally stumbling into a group of soldiers running a drill when she gets separated from her WAC division. The men drag her through the obstacle course mistaking her for the bumbling Private Cronkheit (played excellently by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer).

The reason Judy actually joins the WAC is because it puts her closer to Lt. Tom Mayfield (Stephen Dunne), whom she has a crush on. Unwilling to be outdone, her rival, the much prettier Doris (June Vincent) also joins the WAC. As fate would have it, they both end up assigned to section 13 where Tom and a group of specialists are testing a top secret missile. And the missile falls into the wrong hands – of course – leaving Judy the only one able to save the day.

The acting is mediocre at best. The plot simple, the jokes inane; in other words The WAC from Walla Walla is the perfect 1950s matinée. Don't bother with the film unless you're a die-hard Judy Conova fan. One treat though is seeing Irene Ryan (as WAC Sgt. Kearns) before she became famous as Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies.

Another corny Judy Canova film that may give some audiences lots of laughs but many others will simply grown at the silliness of the comedy and the lack of a story. She's the descendant of a southern hero who enlist in the army and simply by accident ends up a hero... sort of. For the first 15 minutes of this film, she seems like everything she touches ends up creating some sort of chaos, destroying statues of family descendants simply by either touching them or touching something near them, such as a temperamental bull which begins to buck the statue. perhaps her family just wants to get rid of her so she doesn't destroy the entire town, allegedly Walla Walla but that's really only in the title to just give it something funny on the poster.

When Judy enlist in the army, she ends up with none other than Irene Ryan (Granny from "The Beverly Hillbillies") as her drill sergeant, making this a precursor to "Private Benjamin" and the more obscure "Never Wave at a WAC". Of course, Judy Canova is not a sophisticate like Goldie Hawn or educated like Rosalind Russell. She's your typical country bumpkin, getting into trouble, often not through her own fault, and thus a female version of Gomer Pyle.

There is a slight attempt at a story, but most of the film are sight gags of Canova's various mishaps. at one point while driving on Army jeep, she basically care the camp down because going in reverse, she is covered by a tent and camp see as she drives through the open countryside. Then, she's chased by a strange-looking missile, obviously animated and certainly not very realistic looking.

Stephen Dunne is cast as her apparent love interest, although the interest seemed to be more on her side then his. June Vincent is her romantic rival for Dunne's affections. Veteran character actor Allen Jenkins also adds a little bit of amusement. I wouldn't call Irene Ryan's character an early version of Eileen Brennan's from "Private Benjamin", but it's pretty much the same concept. In spite of my low rating, I did laugh a few times, but for the most part I just felt indifferent to the whole film.