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
