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This satire on suburban living doesn't seem as funny today as it probably was in the 1950s, but the all-star cast of Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Joan Collins are hard to keep your eyes off of. The story about a woman (Woodward) to busy doing good things for her community to notice a wolf in sheep's clothing (Collins) is after her husband (Newman) has several subplots.
Grace Oglethorpe Bannerman (Woodward) is every community's Joan of Arc, and every husband's nightmare. When she isn't trying to involve her husband Harry in some new local play or fundraiser, she's too busy with their two boys to notice that Harry is home. 
Harry is among the suburbia husbands who commute every day to the big city by train and hit the bar on the way home where all the husbands relax and laugh about their days. By the time he stumbles on the train, all Harry wants is a drink and to get lucky with his wife when he gets home. Fat Chance!
Paul Newman & Joan Collins
One day when Grace can't pick Harry up from the train, he gets a ride from Angela Hoffa (Collins) who is upset that her husband Oscar (Murvyn Vye) isn't on the train. While riding home with Paula, Harry notices Paula's perfume which leads to a flirtation on her part which Harry laughs off.
Meanwhile several subplots unfold. A military group is coming to the Bannerman's town to set up a base where they'll explore a secret project. Immediately Grace sets up a line of buggy-pushing mothers to block the entrance across the bridge. Harry is called back into the reserves and ends up on the wrong side of Grace's plan. A local teenager in town, played by a young Sandra Dee, is just learning what real kisses are all about and gets snagged by Grady Metcalf (Dwayne Hickman), one of the military men in town.
 
Dwayne Hickman Sandra Dee
When Harry has to go to Washington, D. C., on assignment, he surprised to learn Mrs. Bannerman has checked into his room and is waiting for him. He orders a magnum of champagne, a dozen roses and dances down the hall. But the lovely lady in a pink negligee on his bed is not Grace, but Angela. A mishap causes him to remove is suit jacket and pants as he tries to get rid of the stalking woman, and wouldn't you know - guess who shows up at the door.
The plot of this movie is way too silly. As Aubrey Solomon notes in his commentary about the movie, director Leo McCarey was a big fan of the screwball comedies such as his Duck Soup (1933) and Six of a Kind (1934). By the late 60s, however, this genre was not so popular. Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! is over the top and the actors all have to "put on" instead of act. There's a ridiculous scene that surely must be embarrassing to both Newman and Collins looking back on their career. They're both at Angela's house and totally drunk. Harry ends of swinging on a chandelier like a monkey and they spend a long time just laughing hysterically and falling down stairs. They not only look stupid they're totally unbelievable in the part.
Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward
I found the most interesting aspect of the film was watching Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward working together, as this was the year they got married. And no matter what you think of the film, watching the gorgeous and alluring Joan Collins for two hours is not hard to take at all.
Bonus Features:
- Audio Commentary with Film Noir Historian Aubrey Solomon - who talks about what life in suburbia in the 1950s was like, about Collins and Woodward's casting and about
Rally €˜Round The Flag, Boys! is part of Fox Home Entertainment's five-disc DVD the Joan Collins Superstar Collection, that includes Girl In The Red Velvet Swing (1955), Sea Wife (1957), Seven Thieves (1960) and Stopover Tokyo (1957).
Director: Leo McCarey
Writers: Claude Binyon, Leo McCarey, George Axelrod, Max Shulman
Cast: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Joan Collins, Jack Carson, Dwayne Hickman
Rating: Not Rated
Classic Movie Guide Rating: 2.5 out of 5
DVD Release Date: 07/10/2007
Run Time: 107 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Format: Color
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