Tanks a Million (1941)

Despite quite an impressive feat of memory on the radio, “Dodo” (William Tracy) looks every inch the hapless type when he joins the US Army, and the already accident-prone “Sgt. Ames” (Joe Sawyer) has his eyes on him for some fun. Before he gets the chance, though, this fella manages to impress one of the officers with his astonishingly precise knowledge of the military code and is soon given three stripes and command of a disparate platoon who have little interest in following his orders. This has to be manna from heaven for his new nemesis, especially when the Major (William Gould) catches the squad barefoot on parade. “Dodo” is quick-witted, though, and concocts the first of many responses that save his bacon, and ultimately, that of his squaddies too. It is a bit of a one-joke film at the start, and is probably quarter of an hour too long, but there is quite a fun dynamic between Tracy and both Sawyer and James Gleason who appears towards the end as their colonel, with a slightly more cerebral series of slapstick army humour than I was expecting. It is cheap and cheerful comedy fodder that you are unlikely to ever remember, but it’s enjoyable enough.