Advance To The Rear (1964)

Set during the Civil War, a company of Union soldiers are sent West as punishment for "cowardice" after the cantankerous Colonel's (Melvyn Douglas) horse bolts and runs away from the battlefront and all his men follow. Meanwhile, a pretty Confederate spy (Stella Stevens) has orders to infiltrate the troop and arrange for an expected gold shipment to be stolen. Based on the novel COMPANY OF COWARDS by Jack Schaefer and directed by George Marshall (DESTRY RIDES AGAIN). An inane cavalry comedy that had me wondering how it ever got the greenlight. I have no idea if it "inspired" the TV sitcom F Troop (also about an incompetent Union infantry) which debuted the following year but I found that show inane too. Everybody runs about trying to be zany but to no avail, there's not a laugh to be had. The movie did spawn a hit song, TODAY sung by the New Christy Minstrels. With Glenn Ford, Joan Blondell, Jim Backus, James Griffith, Michael Pate, Jesse Pearson (BYE BYE BIRDIE), Andrew Prine, Yvonne Craig and Britt Ekland.