This was Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's first movie for a major studio. Their previous films had been released by MGM but not made by the studio, and they were confounded by the ways of the Hollywood studio system. All of their previous films had been shot in sequence and had been directed, edited and supervised by an uncredited Stan Laurel; Fox did not allow him such creative activity. In later years Laurel continually and bitterly recalled the shabby treatment he and Hardy received from Fox and MGM.
This movie was Twentieth Century-Fox's attempt to capitalize on the success of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's wartime comedy smash-hit Buck Privates (1941). The movie's initial script even includes a reference to the A&C film. According to Stan Laurel's daughter Lois Laurel, during the filming of "Buck Privates" Costello even came to Laurel several times to ask his advice on comedy matters.
When it was released in October 1941, the film was seen as very dated with its focus on a cavalry unit, as the Fall of France and the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union had demonstrated the clear superiority of tanks in warfare.
The last active Army Horse Cavalry Units were disbanded in 1940 but some National Guard units survived till 1942. This could very well be the last Cavalry movie with real cavalrymen.
When Stan and Ollie signed with Fox ,Stan asked to be consulted on the scripts and he was assured that all would be okay. On completion of the film there was an option for them to make more. Fox was a much bigger operation than that of Hal Roach, and the technicians had none of the dedication that the Roach employees had and they had no idea of the kind of comedy the boys did. There was also the problem that Fox considered the boys to be in the 'B' film category which meant smaller budgets. While the writer of the film, Lou Breslow, happily consulted with Stan and Ollie on the script, this didn't happen with their other Fox films and despite the consultation they are depicted as a couple of dopes which had never happened with Roach. Production meetings were held without Stan and Ollie. The director of photography was Glen MacWilliams, a friend of Ollie's from the old days, who was involved with all areas of production and while he pointed out that their facial makeup made them look ten years older than what they were, nothing was done about it. Further problems were that Stan wanted the film shot in sequence, which was what they were used to and with no rehearsals so that they had spontaneity and creativity but all this was refused. Furthermore, the director did not respond to their innovations and Stan was not allowed to take part in the editing. Despite all this the film became one of the biggest commercial successes of their career.