A sheltered young high-society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a trickier situation than she ever expected.A sheltered young high-society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a trickier situation than she ever expected.A sheltered young high-society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a trickier situation than she ever expected.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 1 win & 6 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGoldie Hawn signed onto Private Benjamin in June 1979 and went through boot camp training for six weeks.
- GoofsWhen the girls are in the war games and capture the Red Team truck the Sgt throws the keys away. Army vehicles do not require keys to start. The ignition is hardwired to a start button on the dash. EDIT: Every vehicle in the Army then required a key. If the vehicle did have a starter button (a switch on floor akin to the old headlight dimmer switches in cars) it would still be secured when parked by a chain welded to the floor and running up through the steering wheel and secured with a padlock. You can start it, but you can't steer it unless you have the key. Throwing away the key isn't a factual mistake.
- Quotes
[after sex]
Judy Benjamin: Now I know what I've been faking all these years.
Henri Tremont: That was your first?
Judy Benjamin: And second.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue:
When Judy Benjamin was eight years old, she confessed her life's desire to her best friend.
"All I want," Judy whispered, "is a big house... nice clothes, two closets, a live-in maid, and a professional man for a husband."
Today, all of Judy's dreams come true.
- SoundtracksHava Nagila
(uncredited)
Israeli folk song
played at Judy and Yale's wedding reception
Featured review
Hawn's string of successes in the 1980's, Swing Shift, Overboard, Protocol, Seems Like Old Times, and Private Benjamin, are among my favorite comedies of all time. She has timing, presence, and character galore, and this one may just be at the top of my Goldie Hawn list.
The cast is extraordinary. Eileen Brennan is a showstopper as the, shall we say, less than feminine company commander and Benjamin's nemesis, but that's not the start of it. There's an embarrassment of talent here. Craig T. Nelson as the amorous Capt. Woodbridge, Armand Assante as the even more amorous Henri Tremont who sexes Benjamin up, and the still more amorous Albert Brooks, the husband who dies sexing her up, are all stellar. But Sam Wanamaker (see The Competition) and Robert Webber (both sadly deceased) are male role models who may not exactly set the bar very high as father figures, but add a delightful pseudo-machismo as counterpoint to all the talented women.
Mary Kay Place seems so young as a fellow recruit, even more so than in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which is a nice segue to the fact that this, like many Hawn movies, draws from a distinguished television pedigree to deliver its surprising success.
This is one of those perfect little movies that I pull out of the DVD closet several times a year like visiting with an old friend, and it just occurred to me why. It's not nihilistic or deconstructionist or multi-plotted or any of the other crap that has supplanted story and dialog in too many movies since. It's sad that the only available version of the DVD is in pan and scan, as with some other great movies of this era, but I keep hoping for a widescreen release.
Favorite Line: "There are mine fields out there. Most of them are inert. However, some are ert." My recommendation: Enlist with Judy. You could use a good laugh.
The cast is extraordinary. Eileen Brennan is a showstopper as the, shall we say, less than feminine company commander and Benjamin's nemesis, but that's not the start of it. There's an embarrassment of talent here. Craig T. Nelson as the amorous Capt. Woodbridge, Armand Assante as the even more amorous Henri Tremont who sexes Benjamin up, and the still more amorous Albert Brooks, the husband who dies sexing her up, are all stellar. But Sam Wanamaker (see The Competition) and Robert Webber (both sadly deceased) are male role models who may not exactly set the bar very high as father figures, but add a delightful pseudo-machismo as counterpoint to all the talented women.
Mary Kay Place seems so young as a fellow recruit, even more so than in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, which is a nice segue to the fact that this, like many Hawn movies, draws from a distinguished television pedigree to deliver its surprising success.
This is one of those perfect little movies that I pull out of the DVD closet several times a year like visiting with an old friend, and it just occurred to me why. It's not nihilistic or deconstructionist or multi-plotted or any of the other crap that has supplanted story and dialog in too many movies since. It's sad that the only available version of the DVD is in pan and scan, as with some other great movies of this era, but I keep hoping for a widescreen release.
Favorite Line: "There are mine fields out there. Most of them are inert. However, some are ert." My recommendation: Enlist with Judy. You could use a good laugh.
- How long is Private Benjamin?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $9,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $69,847,348
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,739,769
- Oct 12, 1980
- Gross worldwide
- $69,847,348
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