Daily Dialogue — September 21, 2016

BARNICKE: Where the hell have you been, soldier?
WINGER: Training, sir!
PLATOON: Training, sir!
BARNICKE: What kind of training, son?
WINGER: Army training, sir!
PLATOON: Army training, sir!
WINGER: Platoon, just like last night, only better! And right shoulder, ho! Order, ho! Side step right! Why does a chicken cross the road?
PLATOON: To get from the left to the right.
WINGER: Right.
PLATOON: Left. Hey. Hut.
WINGER: He stepped out of rank, got hit by a tank.
PLATOON: He ain’t no chicken no more. No!
WINGER: Left flank, left! Queen Anne salute! Three, five, seven! Razzle-dazzle!
PLATOON: Hut, two, three, four! Hut, two, three, four. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, sir!
BARNICKE: Where’s your drill sergeant, men?
WINGER: Blown up, sir!
PLATOON: Blown up, sir!
STILLMAN: Yes, Sir. These are Sergeant Hulka’s men. He was injured during basic training.
BERNICKE: I see. So am I to understand that you men completed your training on your own?
WINGER: That’s the fact, Jack!
PLATOON: That’s the fact, Jack!
BERNICKE: Captain.
STILLMAN: Yes, sir?
BERNICKE: These are exactly the kind of go-getters I want working on my EM-50 project in Italy.
STILLMAN: Oh, but, sir, these men are–
BERNICKE: Don’t “but” me, captain. I want them on the plane tonight.
WINGER: Gentlemen, it’s party time, Italian style!

— Stripes (1981), written by Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, and Harold Ramis

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Military Moments, suggested by Will King who also proposed today’s post.

Trivia: The cast improvised virtually all of the dialog where they sit around and tell their back stories. This includes Bill Murray’s lines about ‘Lee Harvey’ making out with a cow and calling Sgt. Hulka a ‘big toe’.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “In this scene the bunch of misfits from city streets and blue collar backgrounds never falls out of character. Their drill cadence is both comical and befitting. They move from losers to winners without losing touch with who they are. In fact, being true to their natures is what propels them toward success.”