''Private Snuffy Smith'' (reissued as ''Snuffy Smith, Yardbird'') is a 1942 American army comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring

Bud Duncan Bud Duncan (October 31, 1883 – November 25, 1960) was an American actor of the silent era, most known for his early work with silent film comedian Lloyd Hamilton. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1912 and 1942. Early life Duncan ...

comic-strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

character

Snuffy Smith ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance'', is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appearin ...

and

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

as his commanding officer. A sequel, ''

Hillbilly Blitzkrieg ''Hillbilly Blitzkrieg'' is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Roy Mack that was a sequel to ''Private Snuffy Smith''. The film is also known as ''Enemy Round-Up'' (American TV title). Plot Nazi spies mistake Snuffy Smith's moonshine for ...

'', was released later in 1942 and also featured Duncan and Kennedy. The comic strip's characters

Barney Google ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance'', is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appea ...

and Sparkplug the horse do not appear in the film.

Plot

Envious of the pay of $30 per month and free khaki britches and gold buttons of his friend Don Elbie, Snuffy Smith joins the U.S. Army with his dog Mr. Carson concealed by an invisibility potion. His company first sergeant is Ed Cooper, a former revenue agent who had unsuccessfully attempted to locate and destroy Snuffy's

still A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been used ...

. Don has invented a new

rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...

that he hopes may be of use to the army. General Rosewater hopes to test the rangefinder in

war game A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

s with a rival general. A pair of

fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

ists hope to steal the rangefinder but are defeated by Snuffy's wife Lowizie, his invisible dog and his

hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

neighbors.

Cast

, Camp Yardbird *

as 1st Sgt. Ed Cooper *

Sarah Padden Sarah Ann Padden (16 October 1881 – 4 December 1967) was an English-born American theatre and film character actress. She performed on stage in the early 20th century. Her best-known single-act performance was in ''The Clod'', a stage pro ...

as Lowizie Smith *

J. Farrell MacDonald John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...

as Gen. Rosewater *

Doris Linden Doris may refer to: People Given name * Doris (mythology) of Greek mythology, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys * Doris, fictional character in the Canadian television series '' Caillou'' and the mother of the titular character *Doris (singer) (bo ...

as Cindy *

Jimmie Dodd James Wesley Dodd (March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964) was an American actor, singer and songwriter best known as the master of ceremonies for the popular 1950s Walt Disney television series ''The Mickey Mouse Club,'' as well as the write ...

as Pvt. Don Elbie *

Andria Palmer Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' in Apulia (southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Foggia) a ...

as Janie *

Patrick McVey Patrick McVey (March 17, 1910 – July 6, 1973) was an American actor who starred in three television series between 1950 and 1961: ''Big Town'', '' Boots and Saddles'', and ''Manhunt''. Early life McVey was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His ...

as Lloyd *Frank Austin as Saul

Soundtrack

* "Time's a-Wastin" by Ole Olsen,

Chic Johnson Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson (March 15, 1891 – February 28, 1962) was the barrel-chested half of the American comedy team of Olsen and Johnson, known for his strangely infectious, high-pitched "Woo-Woo" laugh. Background Johnson was born of S ...

Jay Livingston Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison, March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a song-writing duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote music and Evans t ...

and

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and song-writing duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films. Evans wrote the lyrics and Living ...

, sung by Jimmie Dodd *"The Yard Bird" by Jimmie Dodd, sung by Jimmie Dodd *"I Don't Know What to Do Blues" by Jimmie Dodd, sung by Jimmie Dodd

External links

* * 1942 films 1942 romantic comedy films Monogram Pictures films Films directed by Edward F. Cline Films based on comic strips Live-action films based on comics Military humor in film American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{romantic-comedy-film-stub