Dad's Army (1971)

Writers: Jimmy Perry and David Croft
Director: Norman Cohen
Stars: Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn, John Laurie, James Beck, and Arnold Ridley

Dad's Army (2016) British Quad Poster

If you live in the United States and have been searching for a film to watch, with some of your favorite actors, you may have came across a poster or a trailer for this film above, Dad's Army, and not even realized that this movie is a remake of a popular television series from the 1960's you probably never heard of called Dad's Army.

Keep calm and whatever you do don't panic, because I am here to fill you in on what is considered by many British critics one of the ten greatest sitcoms of all time. If you don't believe me then check out this article from the Telegraph that came out in November of 2015, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10121664/The-10-best-TV-sitcoms-of-all-time.html . In that article Dad's Army was considered to be as great as Seinfeld, Simpson, The Office, and my favorite British comedy Porridge.

The premise to Dad's Army is very simple, all the British men who could fight in World War II are gone on the home front. If an invasion was to happen, then the British citizens were at risk of losing their country to Nazi Germany. Somebody had to come up with an answer to protect the British citizens. The answer was the Home Guard – comprising 1.5 million local volunteers otherwise ineligible for military service. Their sole goal was to provide enough time for the main military to regroup and arrive in case of an invasion happened. These men were either too young to join the services, were in reserved occupations, physical disabilities, or were too old to join the services - hence the nickname "Dad's Army".

World War II picture of the Home Guard

What could go wrong in a unit assembled of the unwanted men? Bad leadership, not enough supplies, or insufficient training if the real threat came. On paper the idea sounded great, but was the British public ready for a show like this?

One thing was clear the writers had to show respect to the Home Guard without making them look terrible and the other thing was clear the right cast had to be put together because if the cast did not get along like a unit the show would fail.

Jimmy Perry and David Croft did just that. World War II veterans and members of the Home Guard in England were finally able to sit down with their children and grandchildren and watch an entertaining show about their experiences in World War II. The show brought respect and made heroes out of men for their involvement in the Home Guard. The show was so popular at its peak that an average of 18 million viewer were watching the show weekly in England.

In the 1970's, the on way to tell how popular a television was in England was to be made into a movie with the cast from the television show. Most of these movies were to be honest terrible, but there are a few gems out of the bunch and maybe just maybe Dad's Army from 1971 is just one of those gems.

Official Original British Quad Theatrical Release Poster

The Plot:

Operation Dynamo had just finished with an overwhelming success for Nazi Germany, in June of 1940. British troops were forced to withdraw the harbor and beaches of Dunkirk, France. Now the only thing protecting England from an immediate German invasion is the English Channel. A Nazi Colonel pulls out his binoculars to survey the cliffs of Dover. What the colonel sees is too shocking for his own eyes, the colonel wipes his binoculars to make sure what was seen was true.

Private Godfrey

The colonel sees Private Godfrey, an old man in uniform, leave the lavatory to run back to his squad. The colonel laughs realizing England will be easier to take over than originally anticipated. The opening credits roll and the usual Dad's Army song plays.

Now the main movie begins as George Mainwaring, a bank manager, is making his way to work. Along Mainwaring's way to work, you finally get to see what on a large scale the fictional resort Wilmington-On-Sea and how the people of the town interacted with each other before the threat of invasion. What is different about today though a stranger enters the bank no one has ever seen before.

The stranger wants his check cashed, but without an account or reliable identification Mainwaring refuses to cash the check for this stranger. The stranger, who we will later find out to be Major General Fullard, gets into a verbal fight with Mainwaring and storms out of the bank in disbelief.

Mainwaring, however does not have much time to focus on the events that just happened. The town people are all being told to turn on the radio for an emergency announcement. Anthony Eden, future Prime Minister of England, begs every man in England to join the Local Defence Volunteers. Anyone interested joining can sign up at the local police station.

Captain George Mainwaring

 The problem is when over 50 men show up to sign up at the same time the police are unable to handle the situation. Mainwaring, a former officer who served in World War I, seizes the opportunity to take control and has every man who wants to join follow him and sign up.

Mainwaring puts his assistant manager of the bank, Arthur Wilson, second in command. Jack Jones, the local butcher, becomes third in command after bribing Mainwaring and Wilson with a regular supply of sausages. The rest of the men fall underneath him and make the Home Guard of Wilmington-On-Sea including Private Joe Walker, a con man who could pass for Clark Gable if he wanted to.

Still from the 1971 film

The rest of the film spends about a third of the time focusing Mainwaring whipping his men into shape, training with little to no supplies, developing alternative weapons, and the follies of his efforts. Mainwaring is so focused on the training of his men, that Mainwaring believes he can win the upcoming games at battle school. Battle school is where all divisions of the Home Guard meet up and compete for honors. Unbeknownst to Mainwaring though is the man in charge of the battle school is Major General Fullard. Fullard despises Mainwaring and still has a grudge against Mainwaring for the bank incident.

One embarrassing incident after another happens to Mainwaring's men while at this school. Fullard believes the problem starts up at the top with Mainwaring's platoon and is going to recommend for Mainwaring's dismissal. In utter disappointment, Mainwaring and his men make their way back home to Wilmington-On-Sea resort. If Mainwaring is going to keep his job, a miracle will need to happen.

Luckily for Mainwaring a miracle just might happen. A Nazi SS German spy plane crashes just outside of Wilmington-On-Sea. The crew of the plane make their way inside of a church and take everyone inside of the church hostage. Mainwaring's crew is the first to arrive on scene, but are told to get lost once Major General Fullard arrives. Fullard sends for the Navy, the Navy sends for the police, and etc. wasting time to decide on how to save the hostages.

Mainwaring and his men knows the insides and outsides of this town like no others. Mainwaring decides to disobey Fullard's orders and take on the spys himself with his soldiers. In a climactic showdown, the Home Guard saves the day and Mainwaring makes a full out of Fullard.

Initial reactions to the film:

As a huge fan of the original Dad's Army television series there was no way I was going to miss a chance to see my favorite group of misfits on the big screen. A large budget with fantastically filmed sequences in full color, most of the episodes up to that point were shot in black and white. Arthur Lowe, Captain Mainwaring, gave possibly the best performance of his career in this film. Lowe's performance makes you feel as if you were in the middle of the action suffering with him. By far the best sequence of this film was the climactic showdown in the church. This is where the director Norman Cohen deserves credit because Cohen knew how much drama to mix with comedy in this film at certain times.

Now for the problems with the movie. If you have seen every episode of the first three seasons then you might just say the only original sequences to the film is the showdown at the church. I will be the first person to admit the movie seemed source mostly from the following Dad's Army episodes The Man and the Hour, Battle School, The Lion Has Phones, and The Armored Might of Lance Corporal Jones. The only other big issue was the television show was filmed in front of an audience who would laugh at the jokes. The film at times seems much darker as a result of the absence of a laugh track. While usually I am not a fan of laugh tracks, in the case of Dad's Army, the laugh track helps lighten the mood on a very dark matter. At times I felt the film got too dark for its own good. The recent biopic Were Doomed: The Dad's Army Story also pointed to the fact if the show was not kept lighthearted enough the public would of hated Dad's Army.

Final Thoughts on the film:

Despite the negatives I listed, I really love this movie. The main cast from the television series really gel well together. The truth is if I had never of seen the television series and was just to watch the film by itself, the film really does stand on its own feet. To be honest the movie is the perfect vehicle to introduce a person who has never seen Dad's Army to. The person will see all what they can expect to see in the series in this film and more.

As far as compared to other British TV shows turned into movies with the cast from the television show, most of those films are complete crap with the rare exception of Dad's Army and Porridge. Why does this film still stand up so well today? The film was over ten years ahead of its time. You can see glimpses of the film in Stripes and Police Academy.

Is the film a masterpiece? No, but the film definitely deserves at least one view. If you are a fan of the shows Are You Being Served, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Allo Allo, or Hi-de-Hi! then this film might interest you as well because the creators of Dad's Army were the creators of those shows as well.

All in all I give the film a solid 7 out of 10. Taking 1 point away for being too dark for my taste at times compared to the television show and taking 2 points away from essentially rewriting four episodes for the big screen. 

Before you watch the Dad's Army 2016 film give the original actors the respect they deserve by watching the original Dad's Army film from 1971.

Since I can't find the trailer for the original film. I will leave you with the trailer for the upcoming film in which I will be at the theater to watch when it comes to my city.