When the door bell rings, he door to the office at 611 Polk Street opens, where McTeague""s best friend Marcus Schouler (Jean Hersholt) and Marcus"" cousin Trina (Zasu Pitts) are ushered in to take a seat while he finishes his work on Miss Baker (Fanny Midgley).He views he formation called the Ant Hill through a narrow slit.He is clearly out of place and ill-at-ease as he marches through the muddy, narrow renches to inform 701st Infantry Regimental Commander Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) of the planned attack.However, Happy refused to take Ned""s phone call, because he was due to "takeoff in nine minutes" while surrounded by boxes.What is much more important than the basic blackmail-murder plot is the stylish method andprocessof the private detective""s quest, that the viewer identifies with and shares, as he makes his way through the murky world of nasty crime from one oppressive setting o the next, or from one wicked character, fallen woman, orfemme fataleto another, until eventually discovering love with his female protagonist.They are trained by drill sergeant Himmelstoss, the ex-village postmaster who has become a disliked, sadistically brutal commander.