''Hay Foot'' is a 1942 American

military comedy A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the olde ...

, a sequel to ''

Tanks a Million ''Tanks a Million'' is a 1941 American film directed by Fred Guiol. It was the first of Hal Roach's Streamliners, short films under an hour designed for the lower half of a double feature. The two leading characters, whiz-kid sergeant Doubleda ...

'' which brings back most of the characters from that film. The two leading characters, sergeant Doubleday (played by

William Tracy William Tracy (December 1, 1917 – June 18, 1967) was an American character actor. Early life and career Tracy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is perhaps best known for the role of Pepi Katona, the delivery boy, in ''The Shop ...

) and his rival Sergeant Ames (

Joe Sawyer Joe Sawyer (born Joseph Sauers, August 29, 1906 – April 21, 1982) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1927 and 1962, and was sometimes billed under his birth name. Early life Sawyer was born August 29, 1 ...

), would go on to feature in six more films. This was one of

Hal Roach's Streamliners Hal Roach's Streamliners are a series of featurette comedy films created by Hal Roach that are longer than a short subject and shorter than a feature film, not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the 29 features that Roach produced for United ...

, films less than an hour designed to fill out a double feature bill.

Fred Guiol Fred Guiol (February 17, 1898 – May 23, 1964), pronounced "Gill," was an American film director and screenwriter. Guiol worked at the Hal Roach Studios for many years, first as a property man, later as assistant director and finally writer and ...

directed seven of the eight Doubleday/Ames films, the exception being 1951's ''As You Were''.

Plot

Dodo Doubleday, the raw recruit who quickly made sergeant's rank due to his encyclopedic mind and a few lucky accidents, has been inexplicably reduced from first sergeant to

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervi ...

and has resumed being

orderly In healthcare, an orderly (also known as a ward assistant, nurse assistant or healthcare assistant) is a hospital attendant whose job consists of assisting medical and nursing staff with various nursing and medical interventions. The highest ro ...

to his

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

al commander Colonel Barkley. Sergeant Ames is still a buck sergeant who hates Dodo because he advanced to outrank Ames within Dodo's first 24 hours in the army. Dodo's former comrade in arms Charlie Cobb is also a buck sergeant. As both Cobb and Ames are the best

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than- ...

in the regiment but constantly boast of their prowess, Colonel Barkley seeks to find an expert who can outshoot them. Though possessing a

photographic memory Eidetic memory ( ; more commonly called photographic memory or total recall) is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only onceThe terms ''eidetic memory'' and ''pho ...

that enabled him to advance from private to senior non-commissioned officer in less than 24 hours, Dodo has one weakness: though his book knowledge enables him to give lectures on weapons disassembly and

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially ranged weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets or the like; the science or art of designing and a ...

, he is gun shy and an incompetent marksman. After nearly shooting several of his fellow soldiers on the pistol range, with the actual target being the safest place to hide, Dodo is ordered to go into the woods to practice. There his missed shots impress the picnicking colonel and his daughter Betty when Dodo accidentally shoots a hawk through the eye whilst in flight and after the colonel catches a fish who breaks the line and is in the process of rolling back into the water, an accidental discharge from Dodo's pistol shoots the fish through his eye. Eager to deflate the boasting Ames and Cobb, the colonel bets a month's pay that Dodo can outshoot Ames and Cobb. Ames and Cobb's hatred of Dodo increases when in the interests of promoting democracy in the United States Army, Betty invites Dodo to dinner at the colonel's quarters, but Ames and Cobb believe they have been invited as well.

Cast

as Sergeant "Dodo" Doubleday *

as Sergeant Ames *

James Gleason James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold." Life and career Gleason w ...

as Colonel J. A. Barkley * Noah Beery Jr. as Sgt. Charlie Cobb *

Elyse Knox Elyse Knox (born Elsie M. Kornbrath, December 14, 1917 – February 16, 2012) was an American actress, model, and fashion designer. Early life Knox was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Austrian immigrants Hermine Sophie (née Muc ...

as Betty Barkley * Douglas Fowley as Captain Rossmead * Harold Goodwin as Lieutenant Caldwell

External links

*
''Hay Foot''
at

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*
Hay Foot
at

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Hay Foot
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

* 1942 films 1942 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films United Artists films Military humor in film World War II films made in wartime Films scored by Edward Ward (composer) Films directed by Fred Guiol 1940s English-language films {{romantic-comedy-film-stub