''Hail the Conquering Hero'' (1944) is a
satirical comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film written and directed by
Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' The Great McGinty'' (1940), h ...
, starring
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' and '' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from ...
,
Ella Raines
Ella Wallace Raines (August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988) was an American film and television actress.
Early life
Raines was born Ella Wallace Raines on August 6, 1920, in Fall City, Washington. She studied drama at the University of Washingto ...
and
William Demarest
Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and for playing Uncle Charley in the sitcom ''My Three Sons'' Demarest, w ...
, and featuring
Raymond Walburn
Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s.
Life and career
Born i ...
,
Franklin Pangborn
Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...
,
Elizabeth Patterson,
Bill Edwards and
Freddie Steele
Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...
.
Sturges was nominated for a 1945
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
his screenplay. Many critics consider the film to be one of Sturges's best.
[TC]
Notes
/ref> It was the eighth film he made for Paramount Pictures, and also his last, although '' The Great Moment'' was released after it. Sturges later wrote about his departure, "I guess Paramount was glad to be rid of me eventually, as no one there ever understood a word I said."
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith is a small town boy whose father, "Hinky Dinky Hinky Dinky was a supermarket chain based in Omaha, Nebraska, that operated mainly in Nebraska and Iowa.
History
The Hinky Dinky grocery store chain was started by Jule, Henry and Albert Newman, brothers, and Ben Silver, a cousin, in Omaha in 1925 ...
" Truesmith, was a Marine who died a hero in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Woodrow has been discharged from the Marine Corps after only a month owing to his chronic hay fever. Rather than disappoint his mother, he pretends to be fighting overseas in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
while secretly working in a San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
shipyard.
In a chance encounter in a bar he buys a round of drinks for six Marines back from the Battle of Guadalcanal
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...
headed by Master Gunnery Sergeant Heffelfinger. It transpires that Heffelfinger served with Woodrow's father in the 6th Marines
The 6th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "6th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The regiment falls under the command of the 2nd Marine Division of th ...
in World War I. One of the Marines decides to telephone Woodrow's mother, telling her that he has received a medical discharge, so she will not have to worry about him. Woodrow is vehemently opposed to the fraud, but the Marines are all for it. Heffelfinger embellishes the charade by having Woodrow swap coats with one of the Marines that have the 1st Marine Division Battle Blaze
is a 1992 medieval fighting game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Sammy Studios. Players use swords, morningstars, knives, and other weapons to beat up their opponents. The player can either play in a colosseum or on ...
and Pacific Theatre of Operations medals on it.
When they step off the train, the seemingly harmless deception has escalated beyond control; the entire town turns out to greet its homegrown hero. With an election coming up, the citizens decide to make an unwilling Woodrow their candidate against the pompous current mayor, Mr. Noble. Complicating matters even further, Woodrow had written his girlfriend Libby, telling her not to wait for him. She has since gotten engaged to Forrest Noble, the mayor's son.
Finally, Woodrow can stand it no longer. He confesses everything at a campaign rally and goes home to pack. Libby breaks her engagement and tells Woodrow she is going with him. Meanwhile, Heffelfinger praises Woodrow's courage in telling the truth to the stunned townsfolk, and after considering the matter, they decide that Woodrow has just the qualities they need in a mayor.
Cast
*Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' and '' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from ...
as Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith
*Ella Raines
Ella Wallace Raines (August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988) was an American film and television actress.
Early life
Raines was born Ella Wallace Raines on August 6, 1920, in Fall City, Washington. She studied drama at the University of Washingto ...
as Libby
*Raymond Walburn
Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s.
Life and career
Born i ...
as Mayor Everett D. Noble
*William Demarest
Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and for playing Uncle Charley in the sitcom ''My Three Sons'' Demarest, w ...
as Sgt. Heffelfinger
*Franklin Pangborn
Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...
as Committee Chairman
* Elizabeth Patterson as Libby's Aunt
* Georgia Caine as Mrs. Truesmith
*Al Bridge
Alfred Morton Bridge (February 26, 1891 – December 27, 1957) was an American character actor who played mostly small roles in over 270 films between 1931 and 1954. Bridge's persona was an unpleasant, gravel-voiced man with an untidy mous ...
as Political Boss
*Freddie Steele
Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...
as Bugsy
* Bill Edwards as Forrest Noble
*Harry Hayden
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
as Doc Bissell
* Jimmy Conlin as Judge Dennis
* Jimmie Dundee as Cpl. Candida
*Chester Conklin
Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with Ma ...
as Western Union Man
*Esther Howard
Esther Howard (April 4, 1892 – March 8, 1965) was an American stage and film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in 108 films in her 23-year screen career ...
as Mrs. Noble
*Arthur Hoyt
Arthur Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films.
Career
Born in Georgetown, Colorado, in 1874, Hoyt mad ...
as Rev. Upperman
* Robert Warwick as Marine Colonel
*Torben Meyer
Torben Emil Meyer (1 December 1884 – 22 May 1975) was a Danish-American character actor who appeared in more than 190 films in a 55-year career. He began his acting career in Europe before moving to the United States.
Early life
Meyer was ...
as Mr. Schultz
*Jack Norton
Jack Norton (born Mortimer John Naughton; September 2, 1882 – October 15, 1958) was an American stage and film character actor who appeared in more than 180 films between 1934 and 1948, often playing drunks, although in real life he was a ...
as Second Bandleader
*Paul Porcasi
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
as Cafe Owner
Songs
Aside from songs associated with the military, such as " Mademoiselle from Armentieres" by Harry Carlton and Joe Tunbridge and " Halls of Montezuma", music by Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...
, ''Hail the Conquering Hero'' contains two original songs by Preston Sturges
Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' The Great McGinty'' (1940), h ...
:
*"Home to the Arms of Mother" - music and lyrics by Preston Sturges, orchestral arrangement by Charles W. Bradshaw, vocal arrangements by Joseph J. Lilley
*"We Want Woodrow" - music and lyrics by Preston Sturges, arranged by Charles W. Bradshaw
Other songs in the film include two written by Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a Tony ...
and Robert Emmett Dolan
Robert Emmett Dolan (August 3, 1908 - September 26, 1972) was a Broadway conductor, composer, and arranger beginning in the 1920s. He moved on to radio in the 1930s and then went to Hollywood in the early 1940s as a musical director for Paramo ...
: "Have I Stayed Away Too Long" and "Gotta Go to Jailhouse".
The score also contains excerpts from "Hail the Conquering Hero" from '' Judas Maccabeus'' by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
.
Production
''Hail the Conquering Hero'' had a number of working titles on its way to the screen. An early title was "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition", and "Once Upon a Hero" and "The Little Marine" were also used.
Although '' The Great Moment'', which had been filmed before ''Hail the Conquering Hero'', was released after it, this film was the last that Sturges made for Paramount Pictures, as his contract ran out and he left the studio even before the film was completely edited. He and the studio had numerous conflicts over editorial control, censorship problems and other issues on ''The Great Moment'' and ''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' is a 1944 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall. Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamir ...
''. The studio also balked at Sturges' repeated use of the same bit actors again and again in most of his Paramount films, what has been called his "stock company" or "repertory troupe." The studio was concerned that people would get tired of seeing the same faces, and wanted Sturges to use different actors, which he refused to do: "I always replied that these little players who had contributed so much to my first hits had a moral right to work in my subsequent pictures."
There were also conflicts with the studio about this film: Paramount wanted actress Ella Raines, who was playing "Libby", to be replaced: not only did they feel she did not look like a small-town girl, but she did not have enough box-office draw, and with the other lead roles being taken by Bracken and Demarest, the studio was concerned that the film would not have enough star power to be effectively sold. But filming had already started, and Sturges refused to replace her.I said that had roducerBuddy eSylvabeen there and objected to her casting at its inception, I would of course have agreed. But to have her thrown off the picture after she had been announced for the part and had started shooting, with all the publicity that engendered, would ruin her career. It seems very unimportant now whether she was kept in or thrown out. It seemed very important then. I had read Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...
. I should have known about tilting at windmills
is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Western ...
.
(Raines' career did not last long in any event: she retired in 1957.)
It was customary at the time for the War Department War Department may refer to:
* War Department (United Kingdom)
* United States Department of War (1789–1947)
See also
* War Office, a former department of the British Government
* Ministry of defence
* Ministry of War
* Ministry of Defence
* D ...
to review scripts which dealt with military matters, but the revisions they requested were minor. Filming began on ''Hail the Conquering Hero'' on July 14, 1943, and continued through September 11 of that year. Sturges had designed the film to be relatively small scale, and he re-used sets left over from ''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek''.
After an unsuccessful preview in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, the film was recut by producer Buddy G. DeSylva
George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva (January 27, 1895 – July 11, 1950) was an American songwriter, film producer and record executive. He wrote or co-wrote many popular songs and, along with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs, he co-founded Capitol Recor ...
, as Sturges had already left Paramount. After another unsuccessful preview – and, not coincidentally, after ''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' had been released and become a smash hit – DeSylva accepted Sturges' offer to return, unpaid, and rewrite the script. Retakes, directed by Sturges, were done from April 7 to April 11, 1944. Sturges restored his overall conception of the film.
The film was released on August 9, 1944. Sharp-eyed viewers may have noted that in the scene where the Marines leave the Oakdale station, a billboard behind them advertises ''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'', the film that Sturges made, also starring Eddie Bracken, immediately before this one.
Reviews were uniformly excellent, with Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
writing in the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' that it was "one of the wisest oviesever to burst from a big-time studio."
Sturges exulted that, "It proves that a good story can lick its weight in stars and pomposity any day."
''Hail the Conquering Hero'' was released on video on November 15, 1990, on laserdisc on October 26, 1994, and was re-released on video on June 30, 1993. It was released on DVD (as part of a seven disc set entitled ''Preston Sturges - The Filmmaker Collection'') on November 21, 2006.
Accolades
* The ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' named the film one of the "Ten Best Films of 1944".[Allmovi]
Awards
/ref>
Analysis
One writer described ''Hail the Conquering Hero'' as "a satire on mindless hero-worship, small-town politicians, and something we might call "Mom-ism," the almost idolatrous reverence that Americans have for the institution of Motherhood," and Sturges himself said that of all his films, it was "the one with the least wrong with it." The film has the normal hallmarks of Sturges' best work: an extremely fast pace, overlapping dialogue, and rapid-fire punch lines. Monty Python's Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
called it "like a wonderful piece of clockwork."[Frankel, Mar]
"Hail the Conquering Hero" (TCM article)
/ref>
The film can be seen as a look at both patriotism and hero worship in America during World War II, and while adhering to the requirements of the Hollywood Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
– even more restrictive in wartime than before – in retrospect it can be seen as somewhat critical of people's willingness at that time to uncritically embrace heroes. In this regard it is a companion piece to ''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' is a 1944 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall. Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamir ...
'', the previous Sturges satirical venture.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hail The Conquering Hero
1944 films
1944 comedy-drama films
1940s screwball comedy films
American black-and-white films
American comedy-drama films
American satirical films
American screwball comedy films
Films about the United States Marine Corps
Films directed by Preston Sturges
Films scored by Victor Young
Films set on the home front during World War II
Paramount Pictures films
Films with screenplays by Preston Sturges
United States National Film Registry films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films