They Shall Not Pass (4 Dec. 1964)

Sgt Carter's platoon takes part in war games, and Gomer's naive ways cause more problems than Sgt Carter can handle. Will Gomer's actions get Carter the boot?

Director:

Howard Morris

Writers:

Richard Powell, Aaron Ruben (created by)

Stars:

Jim Nabors, Frank Sutton, Ronnie Schell

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Jim Nabors	...	Pvt. Gomer Pyle
Frank Sutton	...	Sgt. Vince Carter
Ronnie Schell	...	Duke
John Stephenson	...	Major Stone
Mark Slade	...	Eddie
Forrest Compton	...	Captain Brinson
Jerry Catron	...	Lieutenant
Tommy Leonetti	...	1st Marine
Charles Walsh	...	Borkowski
Peter Hale	...	Sloan

Storyline

Sgt Carter's platoon takes part in war games, and Gomer's naive ways cause more problems than Sgt Carter can handle. Will Gomer's actions get Carter the boot?

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 December 1964 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ashland Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Gomer Pyle: Quallerbattoo!
Sgt. Carter: It's a SECRET password. DON'T ANNOUNCE IT TO THE WHOLE WORLD!

User Reviews

Another great episode

A great example of what comedy should really be like. It keeps you laughing from the beginning to the very end!

Out in the field for war games, Sgt. Carter almost immediately loses his platoon, mostly due to Gomer falling for an enemy trick. The umpire appears, tagging nearly everyone as "dead", and the sergeant is left with no one to capture and destroy an enemy-held bridge but himself...and Gomer, who he very much WISHES were dead ("PLEASE, sir, couldn't HE be dead?...I mean, I'D kill him...I mean, I'D tag him 'dead', sir...!")

Carter sends Gomer back carrying Eddie (the only one left alive but tagged as "wounded" and unable to walk), while he himself goes in after the bridge. But Gomer gets turned around, and winds up at the bridge, instead. Carter, who has somehow lost his explosives and is furious that Gomer is back, decides to carry Eddie home himself so he can pick up more explosives to knock out the bridge. He leaves Gomer to guard it, with strict orders to not let ANYONE by without the password.

A lieutenant shows up and demands to be allowed across the bridge. He's not wearing the enemy armbands, but without the password, Gomer won't let him pass. He steps into one of the rabbit traps Gomer has been building, and winds up hanging by his heels. Carter, returning, is horrified at the sight ("PYLE, is that a LIEUTENANT you've got strung up in that tree?"), immediately steps into one himself, and winds up hanging next to him. As they both angrily demand to be cut down, Gomer protests that he COULDN'T let anyone across the bridge, as it wasn't safe (he tosses a large stone into the middle of it & the bridge collapses into a pile of rubble- he had removed all the ropes from it to build his traps!) The umpire shows up again, tags the bridge destroyed, declares that the upside-down lieutenant is an enemy spy that will be tagged "captured and executed", and calls Gomer a 'good man', obviously skilled in jungle warfare...then winds up in a trap himself ("I didn't know how many of the enemy there'd be so I built a whole lot of these...")

Sgt. Carter and his men are awarded the coveted "Golden Boot" trophy for best platoon, and Carter asks that Pyle's contribution be officially noted. Gomer's platoon-mates gather around to congratulate him, asking how he did it- Gomer takes a misstep and winds up hanging upside-down, spouting the password, and declaring "gee, these things work good...!" Does is get any better than this?