Another thing I liked about this movie is that even though Buster is playing his "Elmer" character he appears more three dimensional in this one instead of the always to be walked over character in "Free and Easy" which, in my opinion, had the saddest ending of any Buster movie - he didn't even get the girl!!! He did in "Doughboys" though - feisty Sally Eilers was cute and seemed a perfect leading lady for Buster. Buster drew on his own experiences as an entertainer with the American forces during 1918. He plays Elmer J. Stuyvesant, a wealthy loafer who only has eyes for Mary (Eilers) but she won't give him a second look. "You Rolls Royces think that every girl in the store is just waiting to go places with you"!! When he mistakes an Army Recruitment Office for an employment agency he suddenly finds himself a doughboy!!
Elmer goes through basic training with a minimum of laughs. Blustering over the whole army was Edward Brophy as a very unfunny loud mouthed Sergeant, appropriately called "Brophy". There didn't seem to be any chemistry between him and Buster, as was the case with Elmer's army buddy, Nescopeck (Cliff Edwards), which was odd considering Buster and Edwards were cronies in real life. As with most of his movies, even the very poor ones, there is always one outstanding scene. At the end of the song "Sing", Buster, dressed in drag, launches into an Apache dance. This is the old Buster, incredibly graceful and athletic, as he is thrown around the stage without the need of any banal dialogue.
That whole sequence is the movie's highlight, not only does Buster get a chance to perform some of his quality comedy but Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards puts his unique spin and phrasing on a very catchy song. I didn't know Sally could dance - but she performed a very cute dance and, to me, she would be the reason I would want to watch this movie again. And there is also an amazing singer who stands up amongst the soldiers and gives an unforgettable rendition - half jazz, half operatic - I can't find his name anywhere but boy, can he - SING!!!
I also couldn't find Ann Sothern (she was supposed to fall off a bike but obviously that scene had been deleted) or Ann Dvorak among the chorus girls. Sally Eilers was contracted to MGM although she didn't stay long. She and Mayer clashed over her salty vocabulary and she then moved to Fox for more important pictures.
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