Surprisingly flat comedy from a promising cast and writers. With a famous comedian, Ernie Kovacs, a future star Jack Lemmon and more than able support from the likes of Dick York, Arthur O'Connell and Kathryn Grant, as well as writers including Blake Edwards, we might have expected more. This pseudo-sex farce set on a US military base in France just after the end of WWII never picks up steam as a comedy. It does derive some energy at moments from Kovacs and Co. There's also Mickey Rooney, who has the liveliest scene in the picture as a goofball who memorizes the World Almanac. Rooney also livens up the "Mad Ball" at the end with his raring-to-go band. But none of that is enough. It was 1957 and the audience was supposed to enjoy the not very subtle winking dialog about what men and women want to "do" with each other. There's a song under the credits, nicely sung by uncredited Sammy Davis Jr. Others seem to find this film a laugh riot. Well, to each his/her own.
Review of Operation Mad Ball
