Will and Ben are assigned to gunnery school. King returns and is confronted by the Colonel. As the Colonel conducts his inspection, a drunk Sgt. Will returns to the barracks and helps Ben prepare for inspection. Will is accustomed to drinking moonshine laced with kerosene and stays sober as Sgt. King has the men carry Will out of the barracks to the Purple Grotto bar where they try to get the 'guest of honor' drunk. King worries that Will has failed the eye test. King points out the new captain, Will says he doesn't see a woman, just a captain. Ben tells Will he shouldn't notice whether a captain is a man or a woman. Will can't believe there's a women's air force.

He then meets with the psychiatrist who is unable to provoke the amiable Will.Ī WAC captain scolds Will and Ben for rough-housing. King credit for making him permanent barracks orderly. The Captain inspects the barracks and has never seen them so clean. Will spends a week cleaning, polishing, and painting the entire barracks. King assigns Will as the permanent barracks orderly. King that he and Ben are leaving because they prefer to be in the infantry. Will and Ben are assigned to the air force and take a train to their new barracks. On learning that Irving's not sick, Will confronts him and 'busts him up some.' Irving has been put in charge of the barracks even though, according to Will's understanding, Irving has been 'sick with ROTC for a whole year.' Ben Whitledge, a short, skinny soldier with glasses and an ill-fitting uniform, becomes Stockdale's bunk mate. He introduces the audience to the barracks. Will is an unsophisticated 'plowboy' from Georgia. He plays the Jew's harp and sings as the opening credits play. The play opens with Will Stockdale sitting on a bench and explaining the circumstances under which he was drafted into the military. Robert McQuade, Ray Johnson, Don KnottsĪ Lieutenant. Cecil Rutherford, Robert McQuade,īen Whitledge. Sergeant King, Will's nemesis, is determined to dampen the young soldier's enthusiasm, but Will - even in his long stint as latrine orderly - consistently prevails and unknowingly confounds the gruff sergeant at every turn. This odd duo is assigned to the elite air force, though they would rather serve in that most glorious and revered branch of the army - the infantry. In the barracks, the hapless hero meets little Ben Whitledge, a fellow trainee who thinks he deserves a medal simply because his grandfather fought under Stonewall Jackson. Presented by Maurice Evans in association with Emmett RogersĬountry bumpkin Will Stockdale is drafted and sent to Fort Thompson, Georgia for training. Roddy McDowall in the play, 'No Time For Sergeants'

No time for sergeants mac hyman