No Time for Sergeants **** (1958, Andy Griffith, Myron McCormick, William Fawcett, Murray Hamilton, Nick Adams, Don Knotts, Will Hutchins) – Classic Movie Review 11,634

Director Mervyn LeRoy’s 1958 Warner Bros black and white comedy film No Time for Sergeants stars Andy Griffith, Myron McCormick, William Fawcett, Murray Hamilton, Nick Adams, Don Knotts and Will Hutchins.

Ira Levin’s play about a Georgia country boy, Will Stockdale (Griffith), called up into the United States Air Force, gets a flat and stagey treatment. But the endlessly amusing script and memorable performances of Griffith and McCormick as the sergeants (repeating their Broadway successes) keep it extremely entertaining. Among the very good cast, Knotts stands out as corporal John Brown.

First edition cover.

It began life as a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, and then it became a 1955 American TV play on The United States Steel Hour, before the popular Broadway play and the 1958 film. A TV series followed in 1964, starring Sammy Jackson.

It features most of the original Broadway cast but Roddy McDowall rejected re-creating his stage role as Benjamin B Whitledge and he was replaced by Warner Bros contract player Nick Adams as Stockdale’s fellow military draftee. Murray Hamilton also joined the cast as Irving S Blanchard.

The film was a major hit, earning $7.5 million in US and Canada cinema rentals, and launched the careers of Griffith, Adams and Knotts.

The cast are Andy Griffith as Pvt. Will Stockdale, Myron McCormick as M/Sgt. Orville C. King, Nick Adams as Pvt. Benjamin B. Whitledge, Murray Hamilton as Irving S. Blanchard, Howard Smith as Maj. Gen. Eugene Bush, U.S. Air Force, Will Hutchins as Lt. George Bridges (B-25 pilot), Sydney Smith as Maj. Gen. Vernon Pollard, U.S. Army, James Millhollin as Maj. Royal B. Demming (psychiatrist), Don Knotts as Cpl. John C. Brown (dexterity tester), Jean Willes as WAF Captain, Bartlett Robinson as Captain, Henry McCann as Lt. Cover, Dub Taylor as McKinney (draft board man), William Fawcett as Pa Stockdale, Raymond Bailey as Base Colonel, Jamie Farr as Lt. Gardella B-25 (co-pilot), Howard Smith, James Millhollin, Bartlett Robinson, Edward Everett Horton, Thomas Browne Henry, Jack Mower, Malcolm Atterbury, Benny Baker, Rad Fulton, Dan Barton, Donald Clarke, Charles Lane, Mary Scott, Bob Stratton, Dick Wessel, George G Neise, and Robert F Hoy.

Ira Levin’s first adaptation of the novel appeared live on American TV on 15 March 1955 on The United States Steel Hour, a TV anthology series, and starred Andy Griffith as Will Stockdale. An expanded version of the play, also written by Ira Levin, opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on 20 October 1955, again starring Griffith.

Four comics were inspired by No Time For Sergeants.

Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,634

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com

The four comics inspired by No Time For Sergeants.