The film chronicles the WAC experience of three women, each of whom joined the organization for different reasons---including selfish ones. First, there's Valerie Parks (Lana Turner), a spoiled heiress, who must prove herself to be a mature, responsible adult in order to have access to her trust fund. Val's plan is to join the WACs, look presentable enough to obtain her inheritance, then get out as soon as possible---feigning illness if she has to. Ann Darrison (Susan Peters), whose Army husband is being shipped overseas, wants to do her part to win the war so that the two of them can be together again. Leigh Rand (Laraine Day), is the daughter of an Army officer and has grown up with an Army mindset.
Confident that she is Army material because of her status as "Army brat," Leigh gives off a snobby, bossy air, which immediately puts her at odds with the strong-willed Val. With kindhearted, easy-going Ann acting as a buffer between them, Leigh and Val are continually at each other's throats. If they don't learn how to put their dislike for each other aside and learn how to get along, neither of them will graduate.
All three leads are lovely and quite good in their roles. I already adore Lana, but I really took notice of Laraine Day and Susan Peters here. They were both excellent. Susan Peters has such a fragility to her in every film she's in (even as "the other woman" in Random Harvest). Her life was so very tragic---After this film was made, but before it was released, she was involved in a hunting accident, resulting in permanent paralysis from the waist down. From then on, until her death a few years later at the too-young age of 31, she suffered from kidney disease, depression, and anorexia nervosa.
Having minor roles as other WACs and officers are Lee Patrick (always a great wit), June Lockhart (who looks virtually the same here in 1945 as she does as the Lost in Space mom in the 1960's) and Agnes Moorehead.
This film has some touching moments...I got teary-eyed on three different occasions, even cried heartily one of those times. While not the same caliber as some of the other female WWII movies (like So Proudly We Hail), Keep Your Powder Dry is definitely enjoyable, interesting, and worth watching. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Out on DVD, the film ought to be fairly easy to track down. Also, it is on the TCM schedule for Tuesday, June 25th, at 2:00 p.m. (ET) I hope you get a chance to see it.
Happy viewing!!
