Soldier in the Rain

Directed by Ralph Nelson, Soldier in the Rain explores the friendship between two soldiers in the United States Army, Jackie Gleason’s Master Sergeant Maxwell Slaughter and Steve McQueen’s Sergeant Eustis Clay. There’s ultimately not much more to the picture than that brief synopsis in terms of plot, as filmmaker Nelson, working from Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards’ screenplay, delivers a meandering, lackadaisical narrative revolving almost entirely around the protagonists’ uneventful exploits – with, for example, much of Soldier in the Rain‘s first half devoted to Clay’s wheeling and dealing among his various enlisted cohorts. It’s clear then that the movie’s tolerable (yet hardly engrossing) atmosphere is due almost entirely to the efforts of its talented stars, as both Gleason and McQueen turn in relaxed, engaging work that generally goes a long way towards elevating the less-than-captivating material. (McQueen, in particular, delivers a loose and lighthearted performance that remains an obvious highlight within the proceedings.) And although the inclusion of an icky subplot detailing Slaughter’s reluctant wooing of Tuesday Weld’s 18-year-old Bobby Jo does little to alleviate the arms-length vibe, Soldier in the Rain closes with a surprisingly compelling closing stretch that boasts an electrifying barroom brawl and a heavy emphasis on the touching bond between Gleason and McQueen’s respective figures – which cements the film’s place as a thoroughly erratic yet sporadically rewarding little drama.

**1/2 out of ****

Leave a comment