Clipped Wings

A fast, loose, sloppy and uninspired story incorporating slapstick for its own sake that does not hold together well. Its depiction of man-hungry women sorely dates the story most of all. Sach (a.k.a. Horace Debussy Jones) joins the Air Force, which misassigns him to a women's barrack, where attractive females are so unbelievably starved for men that they accept his presence eagerly and hungrily, hanging onto his every word despite his physical weakness and quite less than handsome looks. The misassignment is due to his being mistaken for another "H. Jones," a WAC rookie who never shows up in the story.

Now seventy years after its original release, this seems a missed opportunity to introduce a strong female character, a woman who wants equal treatment and the chance to prove herself equal to it (believing she's been barracked among men as a deterrent rather than by mistake and keeps her sex on the down-low), and who might later figure in helping Horace in some way. That would be interesting. That would be screwball comedy. That would be modern. As is, though, it's a character whose physical presence never shows up to straighten things out, which adds to other story details that make the day-to-day functions of the U. S. Air Force -- known for recruiting among the highest IQs -- appear stupid and desperate for an overhaul.