No Time for Sergeants (1958)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Mac Hyman (novel)
Ira Levin (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

27 June 1958 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Will Stockdale is a country bumpkin drafted into the Air Force and too dumb to realize he's driving everyone around him crazy -- no one more than Sgt. King.

Plot Keywords:

Hillbilly | U.S. Air Force | Jump From Airplane | Basic Training | Missile

Cast

Andy Griffith	...	Pvt. Will Stockdale
Myron McCormick	...	Sgt. Orville C. King
Nick Adams	...	Pvt. Benjamin B. 'Ben' Whitledge
Murray Hamilton	...	Irving S. Blanchard
Howard Smith	...	Maj. Gen. Eugene Bush
Will Hutchins	...	Lt. George Bridges (pilot)
Sydney Smith	...	Maj. Gen. Vernon Pollard
James Millhollin	...	Maj. Royal B. Demming (psychiatrist)
Don Knotts	...	Cpl. John C. Brown (Dexterity)
Jean Willes	...	WAF captain
Bartlett Robinson	...	Captain
Henry McCann	...	Lt. Cover
Dub Taylor	...	McKinney (draft board man)
William Fawcett	...	Pa Stockdale
Raymond Bailey	...	Base Colonel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thomas Browne Henry	...	Senator (unconfirmed)
Jack Mower	...	Sheriff (unconfirmed)
Robert Sherman	...	Lt. James Miller (oculist) (unconfirmed)
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Bus driver carrying applicants (uncredited)
Benny Baker	...	Capt. Jim Able (Gen. Bush's aide) (uncredited)
Bill Baldwin	...	Announcer on Loudspeaker (voice) (uncredited)
Dan Barton	...	Tiger (uncredited)
John Bradford	...	Radio Sergeant (uncredited)
Wade Cagle	...	Inductee (uncredited)
John Caler	...	Inductee (uncredited)
David Carlile	...	Inductee (uncredited)
Robert Christopher	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Donald R. Clark	...	Guitar-playing inductee (uncredited)
John Close	...	Military Policeman (uncredited)
Fred Coby	...	Sentry (uncredited)
Francis De Sales	...	Sgt. T.C. Payne (test supervisor) (uncredited)
Jamie Farr	...	Lt. Gardella (co-pilot) (uncredited)
Paul Hahn	...	Corporal (uncredited)
Peggy Hallack	...	Rosabelle McKinney (uncredited)
Robert Hover	...	Inductee (uncredited)
Clark Howat	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
Robert F. Hoy	...	(uncredited)
Sammy Jackson	...	Inductee (uncredited)
Jack Mann	...	Psychiatrist Corporal (uncredited)
Tom McKee	...	Charles (aide) (uncredited)
George N. Neise	...	Baker (Gen. Bush's aide) (uncredited)
Mary Scott	...	Purple Grotto cigarette girl (uncredited)
Robert Sherwood	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
Robert Shield	...	Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Verne Smith	...	Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Bob Stratton	...	Lt. Kendall (uncredited)
John Truax	...	Driver (uncredited)
Sailor Vincent	...	Fighter in Bar Scene (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	Drunk infantryman at Purple Grotto (uncredited)
James Westmoreland	...	Inductee (uncredited)
Albert 'Ace' Williams	...	Sentry (uncredited)

Directed by
Mervyn LeRoy

Writing credits
Mac Hyman		(novel)
Ira Levin		play and
John Lee Mahin		writer

Produced by
Mervyn LeRoy	....	producer
Alex Segal	....	producer

Original Music by
Ray Heindorf

Cinematography by
Harold Rosson

Film Editing by
William H. Ziegler

Art Direction by
Malcolm Brown

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dick Moder	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Stanley Jones	....	sound

Special Effects by
Louis Lichtenfield	....	special effects

Other crew
Albert 'Ace' Williams	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

This was Don Knotts' first film. He met Andy Griffith when Knotts had a small part in Broadway's "No Time For Sergeants". Griffith remembered Knotts when he was looking for someone to play bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960). The two formed a lifelong friendship, with Knotts later making guest appearances on Griffith's TV series "Matlock" (1986). In 2006, Griffith even broke the news of Knotts' passing to the media.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The movie has Will and Ben being drafted into the Air Force and seeking transfer into the Army infantry. At the time the movie was made, by law, draftees were automatically assigned to the Army for two years (i.e. Elvis); the Air Force has never had to use the draft since it became a separate branch of the service in 1947. The original novel and play that the movie is based on did have Will drafted into the Army during WW II and seeking to transfer to what was then the Army Air Force.

Quotes:

[Will and Ben have made it back to the base and see the troops massed on the field]
Will Stockdale: How 'bout that. It's some kind of real big ceremony.
Benjamin B. Whitledge: Look... the flag - it's at half-mast. It's a funeral ceremony, that's what it is! Lt. Bridges and them others they didn't get out of the plane. Now we got that on our heads, too.
Will Stockdale: Aw, now, Ben, they warn't so easy-going they wouldn't know they was on fire!

Movie Connections:

Remake of "The United States Steel Hour: No Time for Sergeants (#2.14)" (1955)

Classic, funny stuff!

This movie is on my list of my favorite funny movies of all time. I 've lost count of how many times I've seen it, yet each time I view it, I laugh out loud all over again. It's side-splitting humor without crudeness and vulgarity - a quality that today's movies sadly lack. One of my favorite scenes is where all the draftees are being inducted - particularly where Will comes to the aid of his buddy Private Whitledge. I don't know if this is the first film pairing of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, but their chemistry is readily apparent, in the scene where Private Stockdale is having his manual dexterity tested. I live in the southern Appalachians and I never felt once like this movie was derogatory and condescending towards mountain people. Yes, Andy Griffith's Will Stockdale was extremely naive, but he was never portrayed as being less of a human being because he was from the southern mountains and less experienced in life. I always felt like Private Stockdale's naiveté enabled him to approach things from a different perspective (albeit unknowingly) and come up with quite unique solutions. Andy Griffith was, and is, a master at portraying this kind of character.