MOVIEGOER

Cinemadicts get a chance to relax and laugh at the trials of an Army rookie, Private Hargrove, the boy around the corner, when they view "See Here, Private Hargrove," the latest take-off on Army life.

Unlike the pseudo GI celluloid tripe dished out by Abbott and Costollo. "Hargrove" is an easy to look at picture of a home town rookie who can't get "on the ball" but who has enough natural intelligence to add four and four and get more than a headache. Slapstick is present, of course, but is held to a minimum as poor Hargrove progresses from cleaning garbage cans at Fort Bragg, North Carolina to cleaning garbage cans aboard a convey bound for action.

Taken from the book of the same name, the movie tells of a slightly slap-happy draftee who can never do the right thing. He salutes back sergeants and smiles benignly at majors and colonels. Hargrove! Clean those garbage cans! Hargrove, played by Robert Walker, falls into the company of an ace goldbrick, Keenan Wynn, whose shrewdness is exceeded only by his ability to make a sucker of Hargrove. As a result of the goldbrick's efforts, the hard luck private accidently acquires a sweetheart, is transferred to a soft job, and then rejoins his old company when he learns that they are pulling out for overseas.

During the course of the film, Hargrove gets lost on maneuvers, picks up the general's coat by mistake and sees his typewriter bounce on the head of the C.O. Robert Walker turns in an excellent performance and his hilarious facial expressions of grief, futility, surprise, and resignation make him a fine choice for the title role.

The producers have taken Hargrove's best-selling book, cut out the overworked army gags, added a love interest, and come up with one of the happiest comedies of the year.