Private Benjamin (1980)

My Review

“Private Benjamin” is a military comedy about Judy Benjamin, a sheltered socialite who enlists in the U. S. Army after her husband dies on their wedding night. Thrown into rigorous basic training, she has numerous conflicts with her captain, and the comedy and some drama proceeds from there. Director Howard Zieff (“The Main Event” 1979) did a great job directing traffic and supervising the comedy between recruit Goldie Hawn and drill sergeant Eileen Brennan. The excellent screenplay was written by Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, and Harvey Miller.

The cast includes Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber, Sam Wanamaker, Barbara Barrie, Mary Kay Place, Harry Dean Stanton, Hal Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Albert Brook, Richard Herd, Toni Kalem, P. J. Soles, Alice Hirson, Sally Kirkland, and Alan Oppenheimer as the Rabbi. The very watchable laugh-fest “Private Benjamin” was the sixth highest grossing film of 1980 for producers Nancy Meyers and Goldie Hawn and Warner Bros. Pictures. It was filmed in Los Angeles County, California, and Paris, France.