Imagine a protagonist who uses weapons of mass destruction against innocent civilians and the film is made as a comedy. Half a century ago, various strange chemicals were apparently consumed in Hollywood offices, and that may explain the creative decisions that led to Whiffs, a 1975 film directed by Ted Post. Its protagonist, Private Dudley Frapper (played by Elliott Gould), is no stranger to various exotic chemicals himself. For fifteen years he loyally served in the US Army as a human guinea pig for bacteriological and chemical warfare experiments. These had predictably dire effects on his general state of health, including impotence, which strains the relationship with his girlfriend, the comely Army nurse Lt. Scottie Hallam (played by Jennifer O’Neill). Things get even worse when his superior officer, Colonel Lockyer (played by Eddie Albert), informs him that his condition makes him unsuitable for further tests, so he is discharged from the Army and receives meagre disability compensation which isn’t enough to make ends meet.
Dudley has problems keeping jobs because of his disability, but an accidental encounter with “Chops” Mulligan (played by Harry Guardino), a career criminal who took part in the experiments to win early parole, gives him an idea for solving his financial problems. The two men steal incapacitating chemical agents from Dudley’s old base and later use them to commit robberies. Their most audacious plan, which involves a crop-dusting biplane and the gassing of an entire city, will bring them to the attention of Colonel Lockyer and his chemical warfare unit.
This film is one of the more obscure from its era, despite being nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. Its obscurity can only partially be explained by its somewhat questionable premise. The environmentally conscious audience of today is less friendly to plots involving chemicals that could have long-lasting negative effects on people than it was in an age before the effects of compounds like Agent Orange became widely known. In the mid-1970s, on the other hand, the idea of using a weapon that makes people “get high” was thought to be attractive to a Baby Boomer audience. Whiffs tries to exploit the anti-militaristic and anti-establishment sentiments created by the Vietnam War, and the film leans heavily on the anti-military classic MASH, which featured Elliott Gould in one of his most popular and iconic roles. With a proper script and carefully dosed black humour and irony, the concept could have worked, but screenwriter Malcolm Marmorstein fails to deliver, except in the first part when we are introduced to the protagonist and his grotesque predicament. Gould and the rest of the cast do the best that can be done with an inept plot and characterisation, and Godfrey Cambridge must be commended for a humorous performance in the role of an overenthusiastic crop-dusting pilot. Some actors are, however, worse than others, and that includes Jennifer O’Neill, who lacks chemistry with Gould, despite the two being a real-life couple during production. Director Ted Post, best known for his television work, does uninspired but solid work, and Whiffs passes relatively quickly, not allowing the audience to fathom how truly dreadful this film could have been.
RATING: 4/10 (++)
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