When a private (Joe Sawyer) with an incredible memory for detail is quickly promoted to sergeant, his former drill instructor (William Tracy) is instantly incensed. Sawyer could run into a hornet's nest and only be handed a bottle of honey, while the hornets would spill the honey on Tracy so he would be attacked by a bear. That is the basic premise of a series of streamlined "B" features produced by Hal Roach that always had them at odds even though Tracy would often pretend to be Sawyer's pal in order to get something out of them. The first of the series is a hysterically funny farce that shows Sawyer on a quiz show before heading off to basic training where he instantly impresses the commanding officer with his memorization of an army guide. This sets up an instant one-sided rivalry from Tracy towards Sawyer, and when a new commanding officer (James Gleason) arrives, Tracy utilizes this as a ploy to get Sawyer in trouble by arranging for him to become Gleason's orderly. But when you've got an invisible angel on your shoulder like Sawyer does, it's obvious that Tracy's plotting will simply blow up in his face.
At under an hour, this fast-moving comedy is extremely amusing even if it doesn't represent a realistic military life. Still, it's hysterical to watch the unaware Sawyer getting the best of Tracy's scheming against him, resulting only in his rising higher than the basically dumb Tracy could hope to imagine. There's a recurring joke of a frustrated Tracy running smack into his commanding officer, usually after getting brief satisfaction of seeing Sawyer about to fail but due to a last second savior coming out of it looking even better than before. At first, the recruits under Sawyer's command seem to be against him as well, but after quick thinking saves them from the guardhouse, they change their loyalty, frustrating Tracy even more. That makes this payback towards Tracy even more delicious because the naive Sawyer wins simply out of luck than the type of ruthlessness which Tracy utilizes against him and makes him the type of hero you can truly root for.
While there's a bit of a romantic plot line here (with pretty Elyse Knox), the focus is on army life, and that suits the story just fine. When the irascible Gleason comes in half way through the film, Tracy's plotting seems to take an extremely mean-spirited turn, but by this time, you know that it's all gonna go in the opposite direction of what he wants to happen. Sawyer risks court martial when he accidentally ends up in Gleason's uniform and because of a misunderstanding ends up giving a speech which Gleason was meant to give. The actors play well off of each other, and even if Tracy is a bit too glad in his over-the-top meanness, it wins him more laughs than hisses, because it's just too fun to watch it all come back at him.
At under an hour, this fast-moving comedy is extremely amusing even if it doesn't represent a realistic military life. Still, it's hysterical to watch the unaware Sawyer getting the best of Tracy's scheming against him, resulting only in his rising higher than the basically dumb Tracy could hope to imagine. There's a recurring joke of a frustrated Tracy running smack into his commanding officer, usually after getting brief satisfaction of seeing Sawyer about to fail but due to a last second savior coming out of it looking even better than before. At first, the recruits under Sawyer's command seem to be against him as well, but after quick thinking saves them from the guardhouse, they change their loyalty, frustrating Tracy even more. That makes this payback towards Tracy even more delicious because the naive Sawyer wins simply out of luck than the type of ruthlessness which Tracy utilizes against him and makes him the type of hero you can truly root for.
While there's a bit of a romantic plot line here (with pretty Elyse Knox), the focus is on army life, and that suits the story just fine. When the irascible Gleason comes in half way through the film, Tracy's plotting seems to take an extremely mean-spirited turn, but by this time, you know that it's all gonna go in the opposite direction of what he wants to happen. Sawyer risks court martial when he accidentally ends up in Gleason's uniform and because of a misunderstanding ends up giving a speech which Gleason was meant to give. The actors play well off of each other, and even if Tracy is a bit too glad in his over-the-top meanness, it wins him more laughs than hisses, because it's just too fun to watch it all come back at him.