Search - 23 1/2 Hours Leave on DVD

AWOC (Absent without clothes)

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 03/30/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Supporting cast in GRAND NATIONAL's 23½ HOURS LEAVE includes Arthur Lake (Dagwood Bumstead in 28 BLONDIE programmers), Russell Hicks (con man stock seller in W.C. Fields' THE BANK DICK), and this reviewer's favorite character actor, Ward Bond.



In this very minor Great War comedy, Sgt. Bob Gray (Ellison), who's already in hot water for sleeping through reveille, gives his bunkmates 2-to-1 odds that within the month he'll be eating "pattycakes" with their commanding general (Harvey), but no one will take the bet.



Bob hitchhikes to town to pick up a custom-made uniform; the general's daughter (Walker) gives him a lift. He doesn't know who Peggy is and makes a date with her for the next morning, when the men will have a short furlough before shipping out.



At mess, Bob starts a food fight with hecklers who needle him about a personal matter. A tomato he throws hits the general and now Bob's pals want in on that "pancakes with the boss" wager. In order to meet Peggy later and with his non-reg uniform comfiscated, Bob goes AWOL wearing only a topcoat over skivvies.





Parenthetical number preceding itle is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.



(4.5) 23½ Hours Leave (1937) - James Ellison/Terry Walker/Russell Hicks/Ward Bond/Arthur Lake/Paul Harvey/Murray Alper/Pat Gleason





ALPHA VIDEO offers bargain priced, often hard-to-find vintage movies that are ideal for those willing to skip DVD extras. Their transfers show no evidence of restoration, so quality varies from one title to the next, with "fair to good" being the average.



Related ALPHA item:

HALF SHOT AT SUNRISE (1930) is a Wheeler & Woolsey comedy where the boys go AWOL to Paris during WWI."