Caught in the Draft
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
David Butler
Bob Hope
Dorothy Lamour
Lynne Overman
Eddie Bracken
Clarence Kolb
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Lead actor Don Bolton practically faints from the sounds of gunshots while filming a war movie. When real-life Colonel Peter Fairbanks visits the set with his beautiful daughter Tony, Don insults them by mistaking Fairbanks for an actor and ordering the makeup man to put mud on the colonel. Smitten by Tony, Don convinces her to go out with him. He soon proposes to her to keep himself from being drafted but backs out when the draft age is raised to thirty-five. Tony is appalled when she discovers his ulterior motive, and to improve her opinion of him, Don goes to his local recruitment office to enlist, but discovers too late that he is dealing with a real enlistment officer, not the actor that he hired. At training camp with his assistant Bert and manager Steve, Don visits Tony and her father, who is stationed there, and Fairbanks makes a deal with Don that if he can actually make the rank of corporal, he will consent to his marriage to Tony. Don, Bert and Steve consistently get into trouble, however, and spend most of their time on kitchen patrol. Tony, having fallen in love with Don, defends him to her father. Finally, Don, Bert and Steve's sergeant leaves them behind to keep them out of trouble while the rest of the unit participates in war games. The trio decides to change some of the signposts to help their unit win; however, the signs lead the troop directly into an artillery range. Tony, who has been berating the three men as cowards, attempts to pass through the line of fire to save the troops, but when her horse throws her, Dan overcomes his fear of gunfire, even after being hit in the arm, and crawls through the firing range to head off the troops. Don, Bert and Steve earn their promotions and Don and Tony marry.
Director
David Butler
Cast
Bob Hope
Dorothy Lamour
Lynne Overman
Eddie Bracken
Clarence Kolb
Paul Hurst
Ferike Boros
Phyllis Ruth
Irving Bacon
Arthur Loft
Edgar Dearing
Murray Alper
Dave Willock
Rita Owin
Frances Morris
Ella Neal
Eleanor Stewart
Earlene Heath
Gloria Williams
Marie Blake
Terry Ray
Edward Peil Sr.
Archie Twitchell
Jimmy Dodd
Jack Chapin
Victor Cutler
Pat West
Frank Mitchell
Jerry Jerome
Jack Luden
Ray Flynn
David Oliver
Frank O'connor
Frank Marlowe
Heinie Conklin
Phyllis Kennedy
Arch Macnair
Edwin Stanley
June Bryde
Weldon Heyburn
George Mckay
Peter Lynn
Andrew Tombes
Edward Hearn
Major H. E. Popping
Len Hendry
Gene Mako
Robert Blewett
Crew
Louis Alter
B. G. Desylva
Haldane Douglas
Hans Dreier
Stanley Goldsmith
Edith Head
Frank Loesser
Wilkie C. Mahoney
Gene Merritt
Irene Morra
Walter Oberst
Charles Schoenbaum
Karl Struss
Harry Tugend
Victor Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Mmmm, that's a bundle! She looks like Dorothy Lamour with clothes on.- Don Bolton
I went out with a girl once that told me to go jump in the lake... When I got back, she was gone.- Bert
I had an uncle who was a hero in the last war. Broke up a gas attack singlehanded.- Steve
How, with bicarbonate of soda?- Don Bolton
Trivia
Notes
According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, producer B. G. DeSylva created the original story idea and collaborated on the story development of this, his first picture for Paramount. According to the press book, the National Guardsmen trained the actors to look like real soldiers, and Look noted that the film was produced under the guidance of the War Department. Charles Schoenbaum is credited with photography in Hollywood Reporter production charts through February 7, 1941; Karl Struss, who received screen credit, is credited in production charts beginning February 14, 1941. A April 1, 1941 news item in Hollywood Reporter noted that Paramount planned its press preview for Fort Ord, CA on May 2, 1941, where it was expected that Major General Joseph W. Stilwell would oversee the proceedings. Bob Hope, in his autobiography, notes that some scenes were shot at Malibu Canyon, which he later purchased, and that Harry Ray was his makeup man.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1941
Released in United States on Video May 19, 1993
Released in United States 1941
Released in United States on Video May 19, 1993
