This has to be one of the best military comedies ever, and (even though I seldom hear it mentioned) the inspiration for Gomer Pyle. (Of course, non-fans of Gomer think of it as a POOR version of this story, but I've always liked both.) I've always noticed partly the same thing as "theowinthrop" - that, unlike a lot of stories about naive, innocent characters, it doesn't really try to point to a lesson. In fact, the characters never really "grow." And in fact, it ends up very much the way it starts - all of which is just fine, really. This movie has about all you could ask for in its cast. Along with the main actors, it has people like James Milhollin playing one of his great uptight characters and Howard Smith playing one of his comical authority figures. Griffith, Adams and McCormick were great in their roles, you get to see Griffith and Don Knotts together long before their show, and you get to see Jamie Farr in a military comedy long before MASH. And then there's Murray Hamilton. To me, THIS was that actor's best part (never mind Jaws and The Graduate!). It took me a long while to realize how much of a stock character "Irving" is in army comedies - the overly "cool" member of the group, often a southerner (especially in ' 50s and early ' 60s ones). But Hamilton made the part just right.
Review of No Time for Sergeants
