The Rookie

The Rookie (1959)

America's newest laugh-makers!

A manic young radio network employee enlists in the army at the end of WWII and finds himself the only new recruit at basic training camp. Military comedy.

Date of release
1959-12-01
TMDB
10.0 / 10 (1)
Runtime
1h 24m
Genres
Comedy
Director
George O'Hanlon

Casting

Interesting facts

The Rookie is a 1959 American comedy film directed by writer-comedian George O'Hanlon and presented in CinemaScope. It was the first film starring the comedy team of Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall; they also appeared together in the 1962 film Swingin' Along.

Production

The Rookie was the first film in which Noonan and Marshall, who had appeared on television and in nightclubs during the late 1940s and 1950s, had starring roles. Their only previous film work had been a guest appearance in the all-star revue Starlift in 1951.

The Rookie was intended to be the first in a series of films starring Noonan and Marshall, who were being billed as the "new Abbott and Costello" by the studio. The two also played the Japanese sailors who encounter the American soldiers on the deserted island.

The Rookie was produced by Robert L. Lippert at 20th Century-Fox on a budget of only $158,000. Peter Marshall would later recall that the television program Adventures in Paradise was the only other production being filmed at Fox during that time, and he thought the lack of activity made the studio feel like a "ghost town."

Lippert was enthusiastic about The Rookie: "Do you realize this is the first time in movie history that we've been without a male comedy team?" He said Julie Newmar was in the film for "oomph".

Filming took place in August 1959 under the title The Last Rookie. Lippert said he spent $250,000 to sell the film.

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