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The
WAC From Walla Walla
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1952
Directed by: William
Witney
Starring: Judy
Canova, Stephen Dunne, George Cleveland, Irne Ryan
Alfalfa portrays: Private
Cronkheit, an inept member of an army drill squad
Alfalfa's screen time: 1:32
Lines of dialogue spoken by Alfalfa: 4
This comedy is a vehicle for Judy Canova, who
plays the title character, a bumbling, goodhearted country girl who
tries to turn her life around by joining the WACs.
Alfalfa's appearance comes about three-fourths of the way through
the picture, as a member of an army squad who is about to run an obstacle
course. The squad's drill sergeant is anxious for his charge to finish
the course in a timely manner, but the problem is that one of the
soldiers—Cronkheit (one guess who plays Cronkheit) obviously
does not seem up to the task.
The
sequence opens as Judy Canova, on a training mission of her own,
gets separated from her company and wanders into the same training
grounds as Alfalfa's squad. Canova has the same basic build as the
still-slender Alfalfa, and dressed in her army fatigues and with
her helmet pulled down low, her gender is not immediately apparent.
We then are presented with Alfalfa's scene:
Sergeant:
Button them buttons...tighten up the chinstraps...there's machine
gunners hidden on the other side of that rock. They're just waitin'
for you tough guys—and they're shootin' live ammunition! So
keep your bubbles [heads] down. [He raps a flinching Alfalfa on
the helmet with a thin stick] Dig? [He smacks Alfalfa on the back
of the knees with the stick] And dig!...Sergeant O'Toole of "G"
Company's got a squad that made this obstacle course in five minutes
flat, and I made a personal bet that one of my squads'll do better.
None of the others could—so it's up to you! [glares
at Alfalfa]
Alfalfa [smiling nervously,
slightly hesitant]: This course
is five minutes?
Sergeant: You heard me—it means every man across the
finish line [Alfalfa nods, then the sergeant moves down the line
and consults about Alfalfa with another soldier, presumably the
platoon leader] That Cronkheit kid ain't got the yokes to climb
into bed—I'm makin' you guys responsible to see that he finishes.
Soldier: OK, Sarge—we'll see that he gets over that
finish line—won't we, gang? [rest of squad murmurs concurrence].
The sergeant gives the "right face"
order and tells the squad that if they beat the five-minute target
time, he'll give them a reward.
Alfalfa: What if we don't
beat the five minutes?
Sergeant
[buries his face in his hand in mock anguish]: It's too
horrible...
The squad begins negotiating the obstacle
course. As Alfalfa runs by, the sergeant gives him a swift kick
in the seat of the pants to spur him on. The sequence then shifts
to a shot of Judy Canova, wandering blissfully into a mortar ditch.
Simultaneously, Alfalfa's squad is leaping across the same ditch
as part of their obstacle course. All of the soldiers make it across
except Alfalfa, who falls into the ditch with Canova.
Alfalfa [grabbing Canova, thinking
she is another member of his unit]:
Come on, couldn't you make it either?—let me give you a hand!
Alfalfa boosts Canova out of the ditch and
then two soldiers grab her by the elbows, thinking she is Cronkite
(Alfalfa). Canova is carried off by the two soldiers, and Alfalfa
sticks his head out of the ditch and calls out after them.
Alfalfa:
Hey fellas, wait a minute—that isn't—this is me
!
Throughout the rest of the obstacle course,
the squad totes Canova around like a loaf of bread, thinking they
are helping Alfalfa finish the course. With the soldiers' assistance,
Canova is carried across the finish line along with the rest of
the squad, who collectively finish the course in a "record
time" of four minutes and twenty-eight seconds.
Also notable in "WAC From Walla Walla" is the appearance
of Irene Ryan, who would of course go on to play "Granny"
in "The Beverly Hillbillies". Ryan plays the strict but
kindly commander of Canova's training outfit.
Irene
Ryan
Alfalfa's appearance is typical of his grownup
film work. Although he doesn't have significant screen time, or
a significant number of lines, he makes the most of his role, portraying
an inept underdog who is the butt of the drill sergeant's ridicule.
Alfalfa is especially amusing when the sergeant is giving his instructions
prior to the running of the obstacle course. As the sergeant barks
out his orders, Alfalfa (who is in the front row, virtually nose-to-nose
with the sergeant) flinches almost imperceptibly, yet still manages
to chirp out his cheerful inquiry about what will happen if the
squad doesn't make the course in the allotted time.
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