"the old army game". bud (preston foster), when shirley day brings john allen back drunk, after having dragged him off to get married (she slipped the priest $10 because he was too drunk to stand) - bud foster to shirley day: "i'm not going to let you pull the old army game on him" shirley: "i'm not trying to pull the army game on him. he's married to me, right square and legal. (she shows bud the ring) and there's nothing you, he or anyone can do about it!". the "army game" is the simplest con-trick, the "shell game", which, if you didn't know what it was, you would be easily taken in by. wc fields refers to it when observing a shell (cup and ball) game going on, in the 1926 silent "it's the old army game". "that's the old army game" he says sagely, exposing the fraudster. the game would have been common in the army (ww1).