The Sad Sack

The Sad Sack is a 1957 Paramount Pictures comedy film starring Jerry Lewis and Peter Lorre. It is based on the Sad Sack comic strip created by George Baker.

Plot

Private Meredith Bixby (Lewis) simply cannot fall in line with army procedure, even though he has had 17 months of training. A psychologist (Phyllis Kirk), is assigned to turn him into a good soldier, so she enlists two fellow servicemen to help Bixby with his training. About the only thing that he can do right is remember things with his photographic memory.

Eventually they are assigned to a base in Morocco. One night they all head off to a bar where Bixby gets drunk on "Moroccan Delights", which he thinks are malteds. He gets involved with a femme fatale (Liliane Montevecchi) and is kidnapped by some Arabian renegades.

Abdul (Peter Lorre) guards Bixby and makes him assemble a stolen cannon, knowing that Bixby had already memorized the assembly instructions back at the base. Bixby is eventually rescued by his fellow soldiers and they are all presented with medals of honor.