Sgt. Bilko (film)
Encyclopedia
Sgt. Bilko is a 1996
comedy film
directed by Jonathan Lynn
and written by Andy Breckman
. It is an adaptation of the 1950s television series The Phil Silvers Show
(which itself is often informally called Sgt. Bilko or simply Bilko).
Ernest G. Bilko (played by Steve Martin
) is in charge of the motor pool at Fort Baxter, a small US Army base. Exploiting this position, he directs a number of scams ranging from gambling to renting out military vehicles. His commanding officer, Colonel
Hall, overlooks Bilko's money making schemes, as he is more concerned with his own affairs. Bad news begins when inspector Major
Thorn (played by Phil Hartman
), Bilko's rival, arrives at the camp and begins to cast scrutiny on Bilko's record.
Officially, Thorn is at Fort Baxter to conduct a general inspection of the base and determine if it should remain open. However, he is in fact determined to get revenge on Bilko to settle an old score the two have from Fort Dix, in which Thorn was nearly court-martialled in the midst of a fixed boxing match. Major Thorn, bitter and unprincipled, is not above breaking the law to ruin Bilko and relies more on illegitimate means than legitimate ones. Thorn also attempts to steal Bilko's long-time fiancee Rita, whom he has stood up on the altar more than a dozen times. Rita, despite being fond of Bilko, is tired of waiting for him to finally marry her and gives him thirty days to win her back or lose her for good.
Bilko, with the help of new arrival PFC Wally Holbrook, devises a means of avoiding Major Thorn's attempt to transfer him to Greenland. He rigs a demonstration of the base's malfunctioning hovertank, put on before a four-star general and numerous dignitaries. Since Thorn had deliberately tried to sabotage the tank the previous night, he confronts Bilko, Hall, and the general, loudly insulting Bilko and Hall and in the midst of his ranting confesses to sabotaging the hovertank. Major Thorn is immediately transferred to Greenland, and Sergeant Bilko is safe as chief of the motorpool once more.
However, by this time the last day of Rita's ultimatum has come. Just as Rita sadly begins to write Bilko off forever, she hears men outside her house, singing one of her and Bilko's favorite songs. Looking outside, she sees Bilko and his platoon on the lawn. Bilko asks Rita to marry him, and despite deliberately showing up late as Bilko did so many times, Rita does so.
exists in Kansas and the original television series was set in Kansas, the film takes place in California, presumably near (and in) the actual city of Roseville
in Placer County (adjacent to Sacramento
). This is evident from the frequent mentions of the City of Roseville, a California state flag in the office of Col. Hall, at the wedding ceremony ("by the power vested in me by the state of California") and mention of a trip to Lake Tahoe
(which would be difficult to do driving in a short weekend from Kansas, though technically not impossible). The IMDB movie site states filming took place in Sierra Madre, California
, near Los Angeles
.
. Its Tomatometer rating at Rotten Tomatoes
is 32%.
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Jonathan Lynn
Jonathan Lynn
Jonathan Lynn is an English actor, comedy writer and director. He is best known for being the co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.-Personal life:...
and written by Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman is a television and film writer and a radio personality. He is the co-creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series Monk on the USA Network, and is co-host of WFMU radio's long-running conceptual comedy program Seven Second Delay...
. It is an adaptation of the 1950s television series The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G...
(which itself is often informally called Sgt. Bilko or simply Bilko).
Plot
Master SergeantMaster Sergeant
A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in some armed forces.-Israel Defense Forces:Rav samal rishoninsignia IDF...
Ernest G. Bilko (played by Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
) is in charge of the motor pool at Fort Baxter, a small US Army base. Exploiting this position, he directs a number of scams ranging from gambling to renting out military vehicles. His commanding officer, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Hall, overlooks Bilko's money making schemes, as he is more concerned with his own affairs. Bad news begins when inspector Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Thorn (played by Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
), Bilko's rival, arrives at the camp and begins to cast scrutiny on Bilko's record.
Officially, Thorn is at Fort Baxter to conduct a general inspection of the base and determine if it should remain open. However, he is in fact determined to get revenge on Bilko to settle an old score the two have from Fort Dix, in which Thorn was nearly court-martialled in the midst of a fixed boxing match. Major Thorn, bitter and unprincipled, is not above breaking the law to ruin Bilko and relies more on illegitimate means than legitimate ones. Thorn also attempts to steal Bilko's long-time fiancee Rita, whom he has stood up on the altar more than a dozen times. Rita, despite being fond of Bilko, is tired of waiting for him to finally marry her and gives him thirty days to win her back or lose her for good.
Bilko, with the help of new arrival PFC Wally Holbrook, devises a means of avoiding Major Thorn's attempt to transfer him to Greenland. He rigs a demonstration of the base's malfunctioning hovertank, put on before a four-star general and numerous dignitaries. Since Thorn had deliberately tried to sabotage the tank the previous night, he confronts Bilko, Hall, and the general, loudly insulting Bilko and Hall and in the midst of his ranting confesses to sabotaging the hovertank. Major Thorn is immediately transferred to Greenland, and Sergeant Bilko is safe as chief of the motorpool once more.
However, by this time the last day of Rita's ultimatum has come. Just as Rita sadly begins to write Bilko off forever, she hears men outside her house, singing one of her and Bilko's favorite songs. Looking outside, she sees Bilko and his platoon on the lawn. Bilko asks Rita to marry him, and despite deliberately showing up late as Bilko did so many times, Rita does so.
Location
Though a Fort BaxterFort Baxter (Kansas)
Fort Baxter, also known as Fort Blair, was a small US Army post located in the southeast corner of Kansas near present-day Baxter Springs, Kansas. This was known as the Cherokee Strip. It was one of a few Kansas forts attacked by Confederate forces...
exists in Kansas and the original television series was set in Kansas, the film takes place in California, presumably near (and in) the actual city of Roseville
Roseville, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Roseville had a population of 118,788. The population density was 3,279.4 people per square mile...
in Placer County (adjacent to Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
). This is evident from the frequent mentions of the City of Roseville, a California state flag in the office of Col. Hall, at the wedding ceremony ("by the power vested in me by the state of California") and mention of a trip to Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
(which would be difficult to do driving in a short weekend from Kansas, though technically not impossible). The IMDB movie site states filming took place in Sierra Madre, California
Sierra Madre, California
The city of Sierra Madre is a municipality in Los Angeles County, California whose population was 10,917 at the 2010 census, up from 10,580 at the time of the 2000 census. The city is located in the Foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains below the southern edge of the Angeles National Forest. ...
, near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Cast
- Steve MartinSteve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
.... Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko - Dan AykroydDan AykroydDaniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
.... Colonel John T. Hall - Phil HartmanPhil HartmanPhilip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
.... Major Colin Thorn - Glenne HeadlyGlenne HeadlyGlenne Aimee Headly is an American actress of film, stage and television.-Early life:Glenne Headly was born in New London, Connecticut and her first years were spent living under the care of her mother in San Francisco and her maternal grandmother in Pennsylvania...
.... Rita Robbins - John Marshall JonesJohn Marshall JonesJohn Marshall Jones is an American actor and director. He is originally from Detroit, Michigan. He is perhaps best known as Floyd Henderson from the TV series Smart Guy...
.... Sergeant Henshaw - Pamela AdlonPamela AdlonPamela Fionna Adlon is a Jewish-American actress, voice actress, and producer. She is sometimes credited as Pamela Segall, Pamela S. Adlon and Pamela Segall Adlon...
.... Sergeant Raquel Barbella (as Pamela Segall) - Austin PendletonAustin PendletonAustin Pendleton is an American film, television, and stage actor, a playwright, and a theatre director and instructor.-Life and career:...
.... Major Ebersole - Chris RockChris RockChristopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
.... First Lieutenant Oster - Cathy SilversCathy SilversCathy Silvers is an American actress and author, and the daughter of legendary actor/comedian Phil Silvers. She is best known for her role as boy-crazy teenager Jenny Piccolo in later seasons of the iconic TV sitcom Happy Days...
.... First Lieutenant Monday (as Catherine Silvers) - Steve ParkSteve Park (comedian)Steve Park is a Korean-American comedian. Originally a stand-up comedian, his best known work includes being a cast member of In Living Color during the 1991-1992 season and the roles of Mike Yanagita in Fargo, Sonny in Do The Right Thing and Detective Brian in Falling Down...
.... Captain Moon - Debra Jo RuppDebra Jo RuppDebra Jo Rupp is an American film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role as Kitty Forman on the long-running Fox sitcom, That '70s Show...
.... Mrs. Hall - Richard HerdRichard HerdRichard Herd, Jr. is an American actor in television and film. He is well known in the science fiction community for his role in the 1983 NBC miniseries V and the 1984 sequel V: The Final Battle, as John, the Visitors' Supreme Commander...
.... General Tennyson - Dan FerroDan FerroDan Ferro is an American actor, best known for his role as Tommy Ortega in the 1980s television series Falcon Crest. He played an inept narcissistic soldier in 1996's Sgt. Bilko.He later appeared in the 2001 film Blow.-External links:...
.... Specialist Tony Morales - John OrtizJohn OrtizJohn Ortiz is an American actor and Artistic Director/Co-Founder of LAByrinth Theater Company.-Career:In 1993, John made his film debut as Al Pacino’s young cousin ‘Guajiro’ in Carlito’s Way. He went on to appear in over 30 films including El Cantante, Take the Lead, Before Night Falls, Amistad,...
.... Specialist Luis Clemente - Max CasellaMax CasellaMax Casella is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series The Sopranos, Doogie Howser, M.D., and as the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.-Life and career:...
.... Specialist Dino Paparelli - Daryl MitchellDaryl MitchellDaryl "Chill" Mitchell is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Dexter Walker on The John Larroquette Show, Leo Michaels on Veronica's Closet, and Eli Goggins on Ed....
.... Private First Class Wally Holbrook - Mitchell WhitfieldMitchell WhitfieldMitchell Whitfield is an American actor.He guest-starred in several episodes of Friends as Dr. Barry Farber, Rachel's orthodontist ex-fiancé whom Rachel left at the altar on their wedding day. He also appeared in Dharma & Greg; Murder, She Wrote; Diagnosis Murder and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...
.... Private First Class Mickey Zimmerman - Brian Leckner .... Private First Class Sam Fender
- Eric Edwards .... Private Duane Doberman
- Charles C. StevensonCharles C. StevensonCharles Clark Stevenson was an American politician. He was the 5th Governor of Nevada. He was a member of the Republican Party.-Biography:...
.... Minister - Travis TrittTravis TrittJames Travis Tritt is an American country music singer from Marietta, Georgia. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 2000s, he released two albums on Columbia Records and one for the defunct...
.... Himself - Steve Kehela .... Master Sergeant Stan Sowicki
Reception
The film holds a 5.2/10 rating at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
. Its Tomatometer rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
is 32%.