Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole

Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole is a 1961 play by William Goldman and James Goldman. Both Goldman brothers had served in the army and the play is about a supply sergeant at an army post in the south.
William Goldman later recalled "we had both been in the army at the same time and it seemed like a decent enough idea and magically we got it on."
Background.
William and James Goldman had been permitted to serve together in the army in 1955. They were stationed with the 101st Airborne division.
The Goldman brothers had received a grant from the Ford Foundation to observe production of the musical "Tenderloin". They also wrote a musical together "A Family Affair". William Goldman had written a novel about service in the army, "Soldier in the Rain" but denied there were any other similarities between that and "Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole". "The only connection between the two", he said, "is that I was involved in writing both."
Roger Stevens and Joseph Fields optioned the play.
Original production.
The original production starred Peter Fonda and Darren McGavin and was directed by Jerome Chodorov. It ran for 84 performances. James Caan appeared in the cast.
The production was budgeted for $100,000 and brought in at $85,000. show was launched with "two-for" tickets at certain matinees.
It was the New York stage debut for Peter Fonda, who was selected over 200 other actors.
Screen rights were sold to the America Corporation for $125,000 with a ceiling of $125,000. They also invested $45,000 in the production.
Reception.
Howard Taubman of the "New York Times" did not like the play saying "the plot is spaced out as mechanically as if it were to run forever on the home screen."
Fonda's performance earned him a New York Drama Critic's Circle Award.
The production transferred to Los Angeles. The "Los Angeles Times" called it "a routine service comedy."