PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

bomboogie I have waited for this to come out on DVD for over 10 years, and it finally did, although it had one disappointment. Seems like I recall the original shown on TV many years ago had the cadets march to "The Bonnie Blue Flag" as part of their test for ROTC certification. Sadly, it did not.

bkoganbing If there's one characteristic that Charlton Heston portrays well on the screen it's resolve. Whether he's Moses, Judah Ben-Hur or Major Barney Benson, he takes on an assignment and he sees it through. Somebody at Universal got the bright idea to borrow Heston from Paramount for The Private War of Major Benson in which a professional soldier now assigned to beef up the Reserve Officer Training program at a Catholic military academy. Seems as though the Mother Superior Nana Bryant has some pull with the Pentagon as her brother Milburn Stone is a general and Heston's commanding officer.And Heston's quite a problem for Stone. Seems as though an eager reporter got a real good sound bite from Heston while he was training troops. Stone figures this request from his sister, the Sister comes at an appropriate time to solve two problems.Of course Heston and the kids don't really get along. The leadership skills you need to cross the Red Sea and race a chariot are a bit different than heading a boy's military school. Especially when these kids are not even into puberty as most of them aren't. Ironically he gets along best with Sal Mineo who's just entering puberty and offers him some facts of life points of view about the opposite sex. Heston has his eye on school doctor Julie Adams and is embarking on his own quest there.It's a cute and funny movie and it ought to be since the it was written by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, the folks who brought you Leave It to Beaver. Think of Wally and the Beaver at military school with Charlton Heston as the commander. It's not half bad.

juliafwilliams Before Charlton Heston became a Biblical era plaything, before Milburn Stone tended to the sick as Doc Adams in Gunsmoke, before Tim Considine became a fixture in the productions of Walter Elias Disney, and most of all, before Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher told us to Leave it to Beaver and later meet The Munsters, they all participated in this unforgettable gem of a movie set at a Catholic military school. Oh yes, let us not forget some other significant players, William Demarest, who later played Uncle Charlie on My Three Sons, David Janssen, who later played Richard Diamond and then The Fugitive, and that unforgettable teen idol, Sal Mineo, who starred in Rebel Without a Cause.Have I mentioned all of the springboard players?Moving right along, one will never really know the star potential of child performer Tim Hovey. I understand that Mr. Hovey took his own life in later years.Anyway, The Private War of Major Benson is a charming vehicle that should never be forgotten nearly 50 years after its initial release.

ivan-22 Forget "I was a teenage Moses", this may well be Heston's magnum opus. For once women are not second fiddle, quite the contrary. Any movie with Sal Mineo is worth watching. I haven't seen them all, but those I've seen have been quite good. Tim Hovey is another estimable thespian. His end came too soon, but his life seems to have been a happy one. This is a very happy, cheerful movie which can teach movie makers a thing of three about simplicity and naturalness.