No Time for Sergeants (1958)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

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

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

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:

A live TV production starring Andy Griffith had previously been telecast on "The United States Steel Hour" (1953) on March 15, 1955 -"The United States Steel Hour: No Time for Sergeants (#2.14)" (1955).

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 are waiting in the General's office and hear the ceremony over the P.A]
Voice of announcer: General Bush has just taken his place on the reviewing stand. And now the four lieutenants who braved the atomic blast and will receive the air medal are bravely mounting the platform.
Benjamin B. Whitledge: The lieutenants? They're alive! They're gettin' medals! They're heroes!
Will Stockdale: Gollee!
Benjamin B. Whitledge: If we'd a stayed on the plane, we'd a been heroes.
Voice of announcer: It is a solemn moment, ladies and gentlemen. The many visiting dignitaries standing at attention; the flag at half-mast in honor of the two men who gave their lives in Operation Prometheus: Privates Stockdale and Whitledge.
Will Stockdale, Benjamin B. Whitledge: [together] Stockdale and Whitledge?
Voice of announcer: Yes. Stockdale and Whitledge... names that will live as long as men are free.
Will Stockdale: We are heroes, Ben!
Benjamin B. Whitledge: But we ain't dead!
[...]

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.