Another one of these countless coarse comedies praising the joy(?) of the military service in the thirties;this one ,in spite of old-fashioned ditties which urge to viewer to use the "fast forward " button several times,is closer to "Theatre De BOulevard " à la Feydeau than your usual "barracks movie" ;most of the time it takes place outside the military zone,thus we are spared ,at least in the second part,the punishments,the fatigue parties and (for a while) the grumpy warrant officer (it's Pierre Larquey's turn).
The story is built around eponymous privates names ;two of them are called "Lafleur" and that accounts for numerous mistaken identities,with a lot of ladies involved ,which only makes the matters worse.Fernandel is Fernandel-the-grunt ,a part he often played in that era.Some good moments with the famous actor and his would be not-so -attractive wife ,romantically in love with the lieutenant,and the unfortunate sergeant ,in need of beds for the reservists and who sends as many privates as he can in clink before winding up himself in the nick. .
