The Girl He Left Behind *** (1956, Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, Jessie Royce Landis, Jim Backus, Henry Jones, Murray Hamilton, Alan King, James Garner, David Janssen) – Classic Movie Review 8,131

The pleasant and amusing 1956 services comedy drama film The Girl He Left Behind stars Tab Hunter as a military draftee knocked into shape by the US Army, and Natalie Wood as his indulgent girlfriend.

Director David Butler’s 1956 film The Girl He Left Behind is an over-familiar but pleasant and mildly amusing Fifties services comedy drama, with Tab Hunter as college student Andy Shaeffer, a military draftee knocked into shape by the US Army under Sgt Clyde (Murray Hamilton) during basic training at Fort Ord, California. Hunter is teamed with Natalie Wood as his cute, indulgent girlfriend, Susan Daniels, a hard worker putting herself through college.

Nice and adorable though Hunter and Wood are, giving sweet, appealing performances, the rest of the cast also provide much of the film’s attraction, especially Jessie Royce Landis as Hunter’s doting mom, Mrs Shaeffer. Also in the cast are a wealth of acting talent in Jim Backus as Sgt Hanna, Henry Jones as Hanson, Alan King as Maguire, James Garner as Preston, David Janssen as Captain Genaro, Wilfred Knapp, Les Johnson, Florenz Ames, Fredd Wayne, Ernestine Wade, Brett Halesy, Sid Melton, and Vinton Hayworth as Arthur Shaeffer.

It is great to see all these players in their young primes, though the movie probably would mean most to fans of the two stars, long-ago army conscripts and Fifties nostalgia seekers.

The screenplay by Guy Trosper is based on a novel by Marion Hargrove, aka Edward Thomas Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr. Hargrove had a huge success with his book See Here, Private Hargrove, selling 3,500,000 copies, so Warner Bros asked him if he would write a story about a draftee in the army in peace time. The studio paid him to write the novel, retaining the screen rights only, published in 1956 as The Girl He Left Behind, the title Warners preferred to his All Quiet in the Third Platoon.

Filming started May 1956, mainly at Fort Ord and using real soldiers, with Hunter and Wood re-teamed after the Western The Burning Hills (1956). Tab Hunter recalled: ‘David Butler was more of a traffic cop than a director, keeping us on time, under budget, and thoroughly uninspired. The most memorable thing about the film was the supporting cast, brimming with more fresh talent.’

James Garner recalled: ‘The film was awful and I was awful.’

The Girl He Left Behind is directed by David Butler, runs 103 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is written by Guy Trosper, based on a novel by Marion Hargrove, is shot in black and white by Ted D McCord, is produced by Frank P Rosenberg, is scored by Roy Webb and is designed by Stanley Fleischer.

The US Amy post Fort Ord on Monterey Bay, Pacific Ocean coast, California, closed in 1994 and most of its land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument.

Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) actually served in the military. He joined the United States Coast Guard when he was only 15. But he was soon tired of Warner Bros type casting him in military roles. Warner Bros teamed him with Natalie Wood in two hit films, the Western The Burning Hills (1956) and The Girl He Left Behind. Warners planned a third teaming, but Hunter rejected the film.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,131

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com