Will Stockdale (Andy Griffith) is a well-intentioned, but not too bright, young Georgia man drafted into the Air Force. Despite all his good intentions, Will is too dumb to realize that his efforts to do good and make nice result in disaster, especially for nerdish new associate Ben Whitledge (Nick Adams) and their harried sergeant Orville C. King (Myron McCormick). King does everything in his power to get this amiable nuisance out of his life.
Beginning as a novel by Mac Hyman, this was then turned into a hit Broadway play by writer Ira Levin (of later "Rosemary's Baby" fame). John Lee Mahin scripted this feature film version, which has many bright moments, and a respectable amount of laughs, but which also goes on long enough that it does lose some momentum.
Still, the cast certainly can't be faulted. Griffith and McCormick had originated their parts on stage, and are both superb. Griffith is so danged clueless but also so danged engaging that you can't hate him at all. (You'd sure hate to have to deal with him, though.) Another veteran of the stage version was Don Knotts, here making his feature debut, in the role of a frazzled "manual dexterity tester". Griffith and Knotts became lifelong friends, and when it came time to cast Barney Fyfe for Griffiths' later legendary TV series, it was his old pal Knotts he thought of first. Adams is just perfect as the neurotic, high-strung Whitledge who, more than anything, wants to serve in the infantry like other family members had before him. Other familiar faces lend their valuable assistance, too: future "Jaws" mayor Murray Hamilton as the scheming bruiser Irving, and Howard Smith, Will Hutchins, Sydney Smith, James Millhollin, Jean Willes, Dub Taylor, and Raymond Bailey. And recognize the co-pilot on the plane in the last half hour? Indeed, it's Jamie Farr from the "MASH" TV series.
Directed efficiently by Mervyn LeRoy, "No Time for Sergeants" does have some great scenes and gags, such as the bar scene, or the part where the toilet lids flip up in unison to salute the base Captain (Bartlett Robinson). Griffiths' agreeable stupidity and eager-to-please nature is the glue that holds it all together.
Seven out of 10.
Beginning as a novel by Mac Hyman, this was then turned into a hit Broadway play by writer Ira Levin (of later "Rosemary's Baby" fame). John Lee Mahin scripted this feature film version, which has many bright moments, and a respectable amount of laughs, but which also goes on long enough that it does lose some momentum.
Still, the cast certainly can't be faulted. Griffith and McCormick had originated their parts on stage, and are both superb. Griffith is so danged clueless but also so danged engaging that you can't hate him at all. (You'd sure hate to have to deal with him, though.) Another veteran of the stage version was Don Knotts, here making his feature debut, in the role of a frazzled "manual dexterity tester". Griffith and Knotts became lifelong friends, and when it came time to cast Barney Fyfe for Griffiths' later legendary TV series, it was his old pal Knotts he thought of first. Adams is just perfect as the neurotic, high-strung Whitledge who, more than anything, wants to serve in the infantry like other family members had before him. Other familiar faces lend their valuable assistance, too: future "Jaws" mayor Murray Hamilton as the scheming bruiser Irving, and Howard Smith, Will Hutchins, Sydney Smith, James Millhollin, Jean Willes, Dub Taylor, and Raymond Bailey. And recognize the co-pilot on the plane in the last half hour? Indeed, it's Jamie Farr from the "MASH" TV series.
Directed efficiently by Mervyn LeRoy, "No Time for Sergeants" does have some great scenes and gags, such as the bar scene, or the part where the toilet lids flip up in unison to salute the base Captain (Bartlett Robinson). Griffiths' agreeable stupidity and eager-to-please nature is the glue that holds it all together.
Seven out of 10.