"Keep Your Powder Dry" is an excellent wartime propaganda film. Now when I call it propaganda, that is not an insult--propaganda can be evil but it can also be very good. And, this is a good film in many ways because it draws attention to a group seldom talked about in pictures--the Women's Army Corps (WACS). In doing so, it bolsters the war effort and increases the public's support for these women in the military.When the film begins, you see some women joining the WACS. Valerie (Lana Turner) initially joins for selfish reasons...to enable her to get a hold of her inheritance. But soon Valerie buys into the WAC life and is a model soldier. Leigh (Laraine Day) is a daughter of a general and this is actually unfortunate because she thinks she knows everything...and, not surprisingly, she rubs her fellow recruits the wrong way...particularly Valerie. And then there is Ann (Susan Peters). Ann is friends with both of these women and tries her best throughout the film to bring them together for the good of the Army. The film follows them from boot camp, to their first assignment and then to Officer's Candidate School.I loved this film simply because it was so educational...yet also well written, interesting and quality production. One of the better wartime pictures...and one well worth seeing.

Lana Turner, Laraine Day, and Susan Peters star in "Keep Your Powder Dry," a 1945 film.The three women come into the WACS for different reasons: Day is carrying on the family tradition, Turner needs to live a decent life in order to get her inheritance, and Peters' husband is in the service, and she wants to help the effort. Turner and Day hate one another immediately, and a good part of the film is their struggle.I suppose this film was intended to be about girl power, but it has the typical sexist bend of the times. To be fair, I'm sure it was intended to glorify the work these women did during the war (it came out in 1945 when the war was almost over), but also it serves as a propaganda movie. Turner gives her bum friends a speech about their wasteful lives as people are fighting for them.Totally predictable. I am a fan of all three women, but this wasn't great material for any of them.

Tidy little drama with some comic overtones. Lana, looking lovely in her first turn after giving birth to daughter Cheryl the year before, is a playgirl who the corps teaches the value of hard work and focus. Laraine the army brat who has to learn to lighten up and actually relate to people and Susan Peters, in her last role before the shooting accident that crippled her and more or less ended her career, the spunky young bride who plays peacemaker between them. All three give good performances in what is basically a recruitment poster for the war effort with a little soap mixed in, and a highly enjoyable one at that.The three girls are basically the whole show but they are supported by some fine performers. Agnes Moorehead is all stiff upper lip in her small role as the commanding officer although she manages to mix in some warmth too. Natalie Schafer is very chic as one of Lana's fair weather friends in civilian life and in a small role as another sycophant is Jess Barker, who at the time was Susan Hayward's husband. The real standout is Lee Patrick as a former showgirl, she's sassy and brassy who adds a light touch to her scenes which is most welcome.

It seems that the film boards made a concerted effort to boost the image of women as tough and capable leading up to and continuing through World War II. "Keep Your Powder Dry" is an effort to display three women who overcome their disparate backgrounds, their petty differences, and their civilian prejudices to achieve a greater good by contributing to the war effort. A character in the film puts it this way, "...subordinate your personal feelings for the good of the corps."This is a consistent theme in movies throughout this era. In John Ford's "Pearl Harbor" a German mocks the notion that the weak and decadent American women could take the place of men in industry to free them for service as soldiers. In "Cry Havoc" we witness the courage, trials, and sacrifices of women on Corregidor. Here in "Keep Your Powder Dry" we learn of the candidates' perseverance through the trials of boot camp, motor pool training, and OCS school (though the examples that they show are weak).It is a little difficult to suspend reality far enough to buy the notion that Lana Turner could become dedicated to life in the WACs, having arrived by way of Park Avenue, but an effort is made by the screenwriter to show her recognition of the shallow and narcissistic lifestyle that she found there. It occurs rather late in the film, however.Still, for WWII movie buffs, and fans for the movies of the forties, this one is a must see.