No Time for Sergeants (1958)
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82% of users liked it
(1,006 ratings)
Mac Hyman's hilarious barracks novel No Time for Sergeants was adapted for TV by Ira Levin in 1955, with newcomer Andy Griffith as bumptious Air Force draftee Will Stockdale. This TV version was soon afterward transformed into a Broadway play, and then a movie, again with Griffith in the lead.… More Mac Hyman's hilarious barracks novel No Time for Sergeants was adapted for TV by Ira Levin in 1955, with newcomer Andy Griffith as bumptious Air Force draftee Will Stockdale. This TV version was soon afterward transformed into a Broadway play, and then a movie, again with Griffith in the lead. Brought to the Air Force base in handcuffs because his farmer father has been hiding his draft notices, good-natured Will becomes the target of ridicule for the other transcripts. Especially nasty is Private Irvin (Murray Hamilton), but Will is able to forgive him because he knows that Irvin is suffering from some mysterious disease called ROTC. Will's best pal is hot-headed private Ben (Nick Adams), who wants to be transferred to the Infantry and convinces Will to try for the same goal. Slowly becoming aware that the trusting, naïve Will may prove to be a troublemaker, career sergeant King (Myron McCormick), who wants nothing more out of life than a little peace and quiet, tries to keep Stockdale out of mischief by appointing him "PLO" -- Permanent Latrine Orderly, a dubious distinction in which Will takes enormous pride. Later on, King tries to pull strings to get Will transferred, succeeding only in losing his sergeant's stripes. The story goes off on a zany tangent when Will and Ben find themselves on a crippled plane in flight. They manage to escape with their lives, but all evidence suggests that they've been killed in the plane's crash. Imagine the dismay of newly reinstated Sergeant King when Will and Ben show up in his office -- just as the entire base is gathered for a memorial service for the two "fallen heroes." Featured in a minor role as a "coordination officer" is Griffth's future TV cohort Don Knotts, while Sammy Jackson, who played Stockdale in a 1964 sitcom version of No Time for Sergeants, shows up in an unbilled bit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Mervyn LeRoy
- Written By
- John Lee Mahin
- Genres
- Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- May 29, 1958 Wide
- On DVD
- May 4, 2010
- Studio
- Warner Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
Even today, more than 50 years after No Time for Sergeants was made, the film works as a comedy. Bottom line, it made me laugh.
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David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...a lamentably uneven piece of work that's rarely as compelling as its star's magnetic performance.
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Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat
No Time For Sergeants is ripe for re-discovery by a new generation, and ripe for re-visiting by those who remember it fondly.
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Cast
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Andy Griffith
as Will Stockdale (Narrator)
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Nick Adams
as Ben Whitledge
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Myron McCormick
as Sgt. King
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Murray Hamilton
as Irvin Blanchard
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Howard I. Smith
as Gen. Bush
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Will Hutchins
as Lt. Bridges
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Sydney Smith
as Gen. Pollard
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Don Knotts
as Corporal Brown
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Jean Willes
as W.A.F. Captain
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Bartlett Robinson
as Captain
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Henry McCann
as Lieutenant Cover
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Dub Taylor
as Draft Board Man McKinney
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William Fawcett
as Pa Stockdale
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Raymond Bailey
as Colonel
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Malcolm Atterbury
as Man with Applications
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Ben Baker
as Abel
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Dan Barton
as Tiger
- Ed Begley Sr.
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Fred Coby
as Sentry
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Francis De Sales
as Supervising Sergeant
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Jamie Farr
as Lt. Gardella
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Rad Fulton
as Inductee
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Peggy Hallack
as Rosabelle
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Thomas Brown Henry
as Senator
- Sammy Jackson
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Tom McKee
as Charles the Aide
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James Millhollin
as Psychiatrist Maj. Demming
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Jack Mower
as Sheriff
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George N. Neise
as Baker
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Mary Scott
as Cigarette Girl
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Verne Smith
as Announcer
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Dick Wessel
as Infantryman
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Charles Lane
as Dave (draft board driver)
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John Close
as MP
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Bob Stratton
as Lt. Kendall
- Margaret Mason
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Robert Sherman
as Oculist
