Mr. Walkie Talkie

The character of Sgt. Doubleday is one you'll like. William Tracy portrays a guy with a photographic memory and is the nemesis of a fellow Sgt.. Not full of belly laughs, but good humor regarding the fixes these two army guys keep getting into. Could compare, loosely, with Willie and Joe at the Front.

This is the last of eight Sergeant Doubleday films--all of which starred William Tracy. And, like so many other films in the series, it is inconsistent--with Doubleday suddenly a Sergeant--no longer a Master Sergeant like he was in the last film (a much higher rank). This sort of rank change back and forth was common in the series, but military folks watching these films are sure to spot this. Plus, considering how well he did in the previous film, you'd think he'd be a lieutenant or even a general by now!

This episode, like the last, finds Sergeant Ames hating Sergeant Doubleday (which is odd--as in the middle films, they were friends!). He hates him so much that he's HAPPY when he's transferred to fight in the Korean War--showing that Ames is indeed insane. But, Ames smiles and seems thrilled to be in combat because Doubleday is still back in the States. This is all a bit creepy, as having someone ENJOY being in this war must have seemed very strange to the folks in the theaters! Not surprisingly, after a while Doubleday just happens to drop in on Ames (literally) and the two are reunited. What's next? See it for yourself.

This film is showing the series' age. There isn't a whole lot new in this one but the shortcomings are pretty obvious. Rarely does the film look like Korea--mostly because everyone is so old! Even the enemy soldiers look positively geriatric. There also is a limp piano sequence where Tracy's hands don't even approximate someone actually playing the piano. And, there's a duck--yes, a duck. Why is the duck such a prominent star in the film--probably because otherwise it's all pretty tired. Not a terrible movie but not a particularly good one, either.

These have got to be the most harmless bunch of army men the world has ever seen. They're on automatic about firing at the enemy but they'd never intentionally harm one. They can't even harm a duck. A pacifist film for the Korean war. Even the Asians are treated well, in fact they're in the army with the Americans fighting against others from the North (was it the North?) Why is this film made in Britain? It's cute to see the obligatory girl scene for the buddy movie genre, which over the last ten years has traditionally taken the boys to a strip club, in this film take the form of a visit from a USO entertainer. She sings about loving men from the armed forces (collectively) because she loves the force of their arms. A great double feature with Apocalypse Now!

It looks like this was the last of six films featuring the Hal Roach team of Sgts. Dorian "Dodo" Doubleday and William Ames.