Jump to content

Which Way to the Front?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Which Way to the Front?
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJerry Lewis
Written byGerald Gardner
Dee Caruso
Dick Miller
Produced byJerry Lewis
StarringJerry Lewis
Jan Murray
Willie Davis
Joe Besser
Kathleen Freeman
Paul Winchell
Neil Hamilton
CinematographyW. Wallace Kelley
Edited byRussel Wiles
Music byLouis Y. Brown
Pete King
Color processTechnicolor
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • July 1970 (1970-07)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office1,474,881 admissions (France)[1]

Which Way to the Front? is a 1970 American comedy film produced, directed by and starring Jerry Lewis, which was his first film for Warner Bros.

Plot

[edit]

Brendan Byers III is a rich playboy who enlists to fight in the war against the Axis powers, but is classified 4-F. He really wants to fight, so he enlists other 4-Fs and some loyal volunteers from his own service staff and forms his own mercenary army, financing their training and equipment. Once completed, they travel to the front in Italy, with Byers impersonating a Nazi general named Eric Kesselring.[2]

The plan is to pull back the German lines, since the front has remained static for too long, enabling the Allies to push forward again. The mission does not go smoothly and they must overcome several obstacles, including the fiery wife of the local mayor who is the real Kesselring's lover, and the real Kesselring's involvement in an assassination attempt on Hitler. Afterwards, they face their next mission: infiltrating the Imperial Japanese command to influence the outcome of the Battle of Kwajalein.

Cast

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Which Way to the Front? was filmed from November 30, 1969 through February 1, 1970 and received a G rating from the MPAA.[3] It marked the final film appearance for actors Joe Besser, Neil Hamilton, and Kenneth MacDonald.

Reception

[edit]

The film received a "BOMB" rating in Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide in which it is described as "one of Jerry's worst."[4] It had widespread disapproval from other critics.[citation needed]

Home media

[edit]

Warner Archive released the film on made to order DVD in the United States on May 18, 2010.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Google Translate". translate.google.com.au.
  2. ^ "The Official Jerry Lewis Comedy Museum and Store". Archived from the original on 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
  3. ^ "Welcome To". Filmratings.com. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  4. ^ Maltin, Leonard, ed. (2008). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, 2009. New York City & London: Plume. p. 1533. ISBN 9780452289789.
[edit]