A Man Called Sarge

A Man Called Sarge is a 1990 American parody film, written and directed by Stuart Gillard, starring Gary Kroeger, Marc Singer, Gretchen German and introducing a young Natasha Lyonne. Set during the World War II North African Western Desert Campaign, it follows a misadventurous squad of French Foreign Legion deserters, led by their charismatic Sarge, who set out across the Sahara desert to strike a blow on the German-occupied city of Tobruk. The humour is built on slapstick and verbal puns, in the fashion of comedy filmmaking trio Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, spoofing a variety of classic war movies – notably Casablanca – and the stereotypes of the genre. Sarge (Gary Kroeger), the anti-hero protagonist, is a patriot with an over-the-top John Wayne persona. The antagonist, General Von Kraut (Marc Singer), is a derogatory portrayal of a German commander – extremely evil, perverted and a poor decision maker – emphasized by his name, as kraut is often used as a pejorative term for German soldiers. Furthermore, Sarge's group of misfit soldiers include a Native American, a New York Jew, a hillbilly and a French officer in the style of Maurice Chevalier.A memorable moment in the movie is when Miss Sadie (Gretchen German), a naïve mission school teacher, sings a song called "Jesus Was a Black Dude", with a full gospel choir, to the Arab children in her class. The film was shot on location in Israel.