Warner Bros. | 1958 | 119 mins. | Not Rated
Based on the 1954 best-seller by Mac Hyman, No Time for Sergeants first appeared on an episode of The United States Steel Hour television series in March of 1955. Andy Griffith appeared as Will Stockdale and Myron McCormick as Sergeant Orville King. Ira Levin (Deathtrap) had adapted the novel into a play, which opened on Broadway at the Alvin Alley Theater on October 20, 1955. Produced by Maurice Evans and directed by Morton DaCosta, Griffith and McCormick again starred, and Don Knotts made his Broadway debut as Corporal Manual Dexterity. The play was a huge success, running 796 performances before closing, and Griffith receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor.
After his unforgettable film debut as Larry ‘Lonesome’ Rhodes in Budd Schulberg’s A Face in the Crowd (1957), Griffith reprised his role as Will Stockdale in the film version of No Time for Sergeants. A backwoods country bumpkin, Will Stockdale has been accused by the by the government of being a draft dodger. But as it turns out, Pa Stockdale (William Fawcett) had hidden the notices from his son to keep him from leaving home and suffering embarrassment. Shackled in handcuffs, Stockdale joins an interesting mix of guys on their way to basic training for the Air Force. Among them is the obnoxious Irving S. Blanchard (Murray Hamilton), who having undergone R.O.T.C. training, volunteers to be the group’s leader. Will, a happy-go-lucky fellow who’s never been away from home, assumes that R.O.T.C. has to be some kind of disease.
Will finds a friend in the smaller Ben Whitledge (Nick Adams). Every bit as clueless as Will, Ben longs to carry on his family’s proud legacy in the infantry. Ben has six brothers who served in the infantry, and as such he’s convinced that’s where the action is. He wants no part of the Air Force, lamenting that the rank of “Airman” is “like something from a funny book.” He talks about how, “In the War Between the States, it was the infantry that did the fighting.” Of course, he doesn’t seem to realize planes hadn’t been invented yet.
Reprising his Broadway role, Myron McCormick plays boot camp sergeant Orville C. King. A career military man nearing retirement, King just wants to go about his business and nit make waves. Unfortunately, it’s never quiet with Will Stockdale around. No matter how simple a task King asks Will to complete he manages to screw it up—he even manages to make a mockery out of saluting—but happy guy that Will is, he sees the bright side in everyone and everything. Of course, Will doesn’t realize that through a series of mistakes and missteps, he’s managed to ruin Sergeant King’s retirement plans.
No Time for Sergeants features a host of talented comedic character actors: the always amusing ‘straight man’ James Millholin as a psychiatrist, Don Knotts (in his film debut) as a dexterity tester, Western genre regular Dub Taylor, future M*A*S*H co-star Jamie Farr as a pilot, Raymond Bailey, four years before he would play TV banker Mr. Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, and Dick Wessel (uncredited) as a drunken infantryman. Howard and Sydney Smith play former West Point rivals now Generals at odds with each other until they must collaborate to save themselves and the Air Force one last embarrassment.
As Andy Griffith Show fans undoubtedly know, Griffith has a talent for playing laid back, country-fried characters. There’s little doubt he took a little bit of Will Stockdale with him when he made his debut as Andy Taylor in 1960. While Taylor wasn’t nearly as dimwitted, he definitely had the same kind of homespun, country charm. To that end, I would encourage any fans of Andy Griffith or The Andy Griffith Show to give No Time for Sergeants a try.
Shown in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, this black and white transfer looks pretty good. There s couple of occasions where I noticed digital anomalies, but for a film made in 1958, I was pleasantly surprised. The Dolby Digital 1.0 soundtrack won’t exactly blow you away, but it does the job. All dialogue is clear and concise.
English, French, and Spanish subtitles are available.
There are no special features included.
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