Daily Archives: August 28, 2016

No Time for Sergeants
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Written by John Lee Mahin from a play by Ira Levin and a novel by Mac Hyman
1958/USA
Warner Bros.
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Sergeant King: Why ain’t you dead?

Will Stockdale: No excuse, sir![/box]

Andy Griffith comes off a bit more like Gomer Pyle in this one.  There are some genuinely funny moments among some over-broad comedy.

Will Stockdale (Griffith) is a backwoods country bumpkin whose daddy has been tearing up all the letters directed to him by the draft board.  Finally, the local rep comes out to fetch him in person.  Stockdale has no objection to serving but he is taken away in handcuffs anyway.

He is sent to the Air Force for classification along with some real characters.  He adopts Ben Whitledge (Nick Adams) as his best buddy and sticks to him like glue.  The gung-ho but hapless Be, has always dreamed of being in the infantry and desperately wants a transfer.  Irving S. Blanchard, a blowhard who lords his year of ROTC over the other men, will be a major thorn in Will’s side.

When they get to camp, Will unknowingly does everything possible to drive Sgt. Orville King crazy.  He finally thinks he has gotten rid of this buffoon by naming the proud Will Permanent Latrine Orderly – PLO.  His ruse backfires on him and he is finally given only a short time to get Will through all his various examinations in time to move on with the rest of his cohorts.

The Ben and Will are sent on to gunnery school.  The film then follows their misadventures in the Air Force.

This film has a really strong first half through Will’s time as a raw recruit.  It’s all pretty funny and would probably be even funnier to anyone who had gone through the experience. This is not basic training and Sgt. King is not a drill sergeant but more a tired babysitter who would basically prefer to be left alone.  The bit that made me laugh out loud was Don Knotts as a manual dexterity examiner — hilarious.  I thought the time in the regular Air Force was too silly to be really funny and overstayed its welcome.

Trailer

The Blob
Directed by Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.
Written by Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker from an original idea by Irvine H. Millgate
1958/USA
Tonylyn Productions Inc./Valley Forge Films/Fairview Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Lieutenant Dave: Just because some kid smacks into your wife on the turnpike doesn’t make it a crime to be 17 years old.[/box]

A ton of campy fun featuring a star-making performance for the world’s oldest, and coolest, teenager – Steve McQueen.

During a make-out session with girlfriend Jane, earnest Steve Andrews (McQueen) spots a star falling close by.  They go to investigate but fail to find it.  An old hermit, does, however and is promptly attacked by the molten center of the rock.  The teenagers hear his screams and take him to the doctor.

Soon hermit, doctor, and nurse are no more.  It turns out the alien being feeds on warm-blooded creatures and grows exponentially.

[box] Beware of the blob, it creeps/ And leaps and glides and slides/ Across the floor/ Right through the door/ And all around the wall/ A splotch, a blotch/ Be careful of the blob — Lyrics by Mac David[/box]

Steve goes for the police, but they think this is a prank.  He does manage to convince his fellow teenagers though.  They try to protect their small town from certain destruction.

This has everything one could possibly ask for in one of these things.  It is tame by today’s standards perhaps but I think this is one of its charms.

The production history is as interesting as the film itself.  The Criterion Collection DVD contains two commentaries, one by the producer and a film historian and the other by the director and one of the actors.  The producer was a local distributor of B films who believed he could do better.  He thought sci-fi and juvenile deliquent films did best and found a religious and educational film studio to help him realize his vision.  It succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams when Paramount picked it up as part of a double feature with I Married a Monster from Outer Space.  The theme song cracked the Billboard Top 40.

Trailer

Burt Bacharach theme song