I noticed there are some serious disagreements about this film--and I can certainly see why. While it is a comedy, its broadness will appeal to some and drive others away. In many ways, it plays like a 1960s sitcom--a kooky one at that. In fact, in many ways it's almost like an "F-Troop" movie, though the humor isn't quite THAT broad.
Glenn Ford plays the second in command in a company of slackers fighting for the Union Army during the Civil War. They are all slackers because their commanding officer (Melvin Douglas) is a lazy incompetent who just wants to do his time, save his skin and do the absolute least necessary. Eventually, this laziness and cowardice results in both these officers and some of their men being court martialed. But, to keep morale strong, instead of having them shot, they ship them West--to keep them out of trouble. And, at the same time, they give the two officers all the assorted riff-raff they can muster--arsonists, psychos, idiots and jerks.
Inexplicably, the Confederates think this company of men begin sent West is part of some important move by the Yankees and send their best spy, Stella Stevens, after them. Stevens is a prostitute and she blends in well with the rest of the girls working for the Madame (Joan Blondell). And, as the horrible company moves westward, the hookers (a term coined during the Civil War) follow Even more inexplicably, the troops end up with important task to protect a gold shipment. And not surprisingly, the men are ill-suited for the job--and a kooky bucking horse scene results as these infantry men are pressed into cavalry duty.However, the most inexplicable aspect of all this is is that Ford KNOWS Stevens is a spy--and yet does not arrest her or take any real precautions to stop her once the gold arrives.
For me, this movie represents the period of Glenn Ford's career that I am not particularly fond of and tend to avoid. With films like "The Gazebo", "The Imitation General" and "Advance to the Rear", he'd pretty much abandoned his tough-guy image I loved from such classics as "Gilda" and "The Big Heat". And, I think it's a shame as he was a very good actor (even in this film). Why did I dislike this style of film? Well, kooky sound effects and music abound throughout the film--like slide whistles, 'dings' and 'boing' sounds (uggh). Frankly, an episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies" is far more subtle and less kooky than this! Some may like it--I certainly didn't and felt the film was a bit painful to watch at times.
