Sarge Goes to College

As a young boy, sick and home from school, I happened on this wonderful musical that really touched me. I was probably 11 or 12 years old and watched in my living room in Pomona, NY on my very small family Motorola TV some older kids sitting on a stage, singing into a phone to their friend in the hospital. I never saw the film again but as I grew up, I thought about it from time to time. When I turned fifty (10 years ago)I sort of became obsessed with the idea of finding that film. The only thing I knew about it was the scene that I mentioned above and the fact that Candy Candido was in the film (Candy was married to Anita Gordon who "sang" the part of Linda on the record titled 'Linda" with Buddy Clark... My favorite childhood song... but that is another story...). After about six years of searching and with the help of IMDb, I finally identified my lost film and through the help of Linda Kay who runs the Frankie Darro fan site, I was finally able to have a copy of the film. I love the film and will always cherish it.... SRD

"Sarge Goes to College" was the fifth in the series of musicals in the "Teen-Agers" series produced by Will Jason for Monogram distribution. "Freddie Stepped Out", "Junior Prom", "High School Hero" and "Vacation Days" preceded this one, and it was followed by "Smart Politics" and "Campus Sleuth" as part of the series. The same production company did an eighth film, featuring the same players who were regulars in this series---Stewart, Preisser, Mills and Neill---but it was a musical sudser in which all of the character role names were also changed, and was not even advertised as part of the series. The series was modeled on most of the B-musicals that Universal Pictures did circa 1938-45 in that the music featured what was basically hot and current in pop and western music at the time, and filled the void left when Universal Pictures moved uptown and became Universal-International, and did away with their B-production units.Or, said they did. A lot of what came later from Universal-International would have made their former B-units blush and cry. The main difference was that the Teen Ager series featured continuing characters, and Universal's B-musicals did not.

This one has, in and around the music, Sarge (Alan Hale Jr.) wounded in overseas combat service (WW II), requires an operation, and Navy psychiatrist Captain R. S. Handler (Selmer Jackson), recommends to Marine Captain (Russ Morgan) and Colonel Winters (William Forrest)that Sarge be given a few weeks rest before hospitalization. Through Dean McKinley (Monte Collins)of San Juan Junior College, Sarge enters the school on a temporary basis. The Teen-Agers are rehearsing a school show and Freddie (Freddie Stewart) is worried because they have no band. Freddie, Dodie Rogers (June Preisser) and Betty Rogers (Noel Neill)find Sarge asleep in the park, and the girls put him up at their house when they learn he can't find a room. (Not to worry, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers,Harry Tyler and Margaret Bert, are on hand to ensure that Sarge isn't pulling a hanky-panky scam on their daughters.) Betty has a row with boyfriend Roy (Frankie Darro), and in order to make him jealous gets Freddie to invite her to the school dance after telling Freddie that his main squeeze Dodie is going with Sarge.

Many misunderstandings follow but all is well when Sarge gets his marine captain (Russ Morgan) to bring his band over to the school for the school's BIG SHOW.