Sergeant Murphy

Sergeant Murphy (1938)

** (out of 4)

Ronald Reagan, in his third film, plays Pvt. Dennis Reilley, a somewhat timid guy who joined the Army to be with his best friend, Sergeant Murphy, who just happens to be a horse. Reilley is about to get out of the Army and he wants his friend to come with him so he must find a way to get the horse kicked out. This "B" picture from Warner really doesn't have anything bad in it but at the same time there's nothing good in it either. I'm sure this film would have been forgotten more than it already is if it weren't for Reagan having the leading role, although one could argue that the film does belong to the horse. At 58-minutes the thing moves fairly quickly but there's not too much that happens at any point. The so-called laughs of Reagan trying to get the horse kicked out of the Army features zero laughs. The second half of the film where he tries to win the girl (Mary Maguire) isn't any better and of course it leads to a very predictable ending. Reagan's performance, like the film, isn't bad but it's not good either. I think he does a fairly good job for his third film and the fact that he didn't have to much to work with. He certainly has a swagger about him but his comic timing isn't quite there.