A pity this very funny film has slipped into some sort of limbo lately, though it was common TV fare not too many years ago. It shows just how imaginative a director Jack Webb really was: the picture is full of delightful little directorial touches (most of them quite amusing). The casting of many familiar TV faces was a smart move for it gave nice roles to such stalwarts as Don Knotts, Louis Nye and Joe Flynn, to name a few.Very highly recommended as a most pleasant comedy.It is also a pity that some writers, like the previous reviewer, have to slander Webb's reputation by accusing him of homosexuality. It's a common libel applied to people who are conveniently dead and cannot defend themselves. I wont, of course, even dignify the writer's accusation by answering it, but will only say that Mr Webb's life and life's work speaks for itself.

I had to note that the title character is none other than the producer of the Bad Film classics Wild Guitar, Eegah (also director) the Thrill Killers, and the Choppers. He is also the Dad of "star" Arch Hall Jr. Another great Webb film, and the only one he did with Mitchum. Webb should be better known for his film and radio work.

This movie combines features of the WWII Aviation Cadet program (Preflight), Civilian Pilot Training Program, and O.C.S. It is not like any of them as An Officer and a Gentleman is not like any USN program. However, I would think that the writer had been in one of the programs to get it so right as to how the guys interact with each other and with the military. I am the product of such a program (Aviation Cadets) and saw much to identify with. From the writer's list of credits, covering ever year of WWII it doesn't seen that he could have been in the military. Still, he got it right. The first time I saw the movie I thought the spy subplot was a stupid filler but I enjoyed it much more in later viewings.

By 1960, "Dragnet" had been cancelled, and so had all of Mark VII LTD's other TV series. Webb's intention was to do theatrical films from now on. Then he made this film."The Last Time I Saw Archie" is a series of comedy vignettes hooked on a true life situation - a stateside camp consisting of "leftovers" from a program designed to train pilots too old for combat duty during WWII. (The program was cancelled because the war was winding down.) Robert Mitchum plays Pvt. Archie Hall, a schemer who manages to convince everyone around him that he's more important than his rank indicates. Webb is Pvt. Bill Bowers (the same man who wrote the screenplay), the buddy who goes along for the ride. During the course of the film, Archie avoids all the mundane duties of military life, finds girlfriends for himself and Bowers, and secures an unrestricted pass and a private jeep.FACTOID: The film was Webb's most expensive production; it cost about $2 million. It was also his biggest flop, grossing about $1.2 million. Webb would never again make a theatrical feature. Five years later, he'd be back to playing Sgt. Friday.