When Willie Comes Marching Home title from trailer

''When Willie Comes Marching Home'' is a 1950

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

and starring

Dan Dailey Daniel James Dailey Jr. (December 14, 1915 – October 16, 1978) was an American dancer and actor. He is best remembered for a series of popular musicals he made at 20th Century Fox such as '' Mother Wore Tights'' (1947). Biography Early life D ...

and Corinne Calvet. It is based on the 1945

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

"When Leo Comes Marching Home" by

Sy Gomberg Sy Gomberg (August 19, 1918 – February 11, 2001) was an American Oscar-nominated film screenwriter, producer, and activist, who taught screenwriting to University of Southern California students for over a decades. Gomberg was born in New ...

. The film won the

Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to be ...

at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

also received an Oscar nomination for Best Motion Picture Story at the 23rd Academy Awards in 1951 but was edged out for the award by

Edna Anhalt Edna Anhalt (born Edna Thompson) was an American screenwriter, television writer, and film producer. Together with then-husband Edward Anhalt, she enjoyed some considerable success in a 10-year stretch from 1947 to her retirement in 1957. This st ...

and

Edward Anhalt Edward Anhalt (March 28, 1914 – September 3, 2000) was an American screenwriter, producer, and documentary filmmaker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV, he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, one of ...

for '' Panic in the Streets''. The film was referred to in M*A*S*H (1970), directed by Robert Altman.

Plot

William "Bill" Kluggs (Dan Dailey) is the first in his hometown of Punxsatawney, West Virginia, to enlist in the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, making his father Herman (William Demarest), mother Gertrude ( Evelyn Varden) and girlfriend Marge Fettles (

Colleen Townsend Colleen Townsend, Mrs. Louis Evans (born December 21, 1928) is an American actress, author and humanitarian. Early years Townsend was born in Glendale, California. She attended Brigham Young University, leaving during her sophomore year to pu ...

) proud. The whole town sees him off. Willie tries to become a pilot but washes out, although he proves to be so proficient at aerial gunnery that, rather than being sent to Europe to fight, he is made an instructor and assigned to a base near his hometown. After two years in the same place, he is branded a coward by the townsfolk, even though he continually requests a transfer into combat. He finally gets his chance when a gunner on a

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

bomber gets sick and Bill is allowed to take his place. The plane takes off for England, but owing to fog, is unable to land and runs low on fuel. The crew is ordered to bail out, but Bill is asleep and does not parachute out of the plane until it is over German-occupied France. He is captured immediately by the local

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

unit, led by the beautiful Yvonne (Corinne Calvet). While there, he sees a secret German rocket launch, which is filmed by the French. He and the film are picked up by a British

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

and taken to England. There, he passes the vital information and his eyewitness confirmation on to a series of important generals, first in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and then in Washington, D.C. During the time he is in the bomber, France, England, and Washington, he is continuously wakened when he tries to sleep, and plied with liquor as a pick-me-up or to settle

motion sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...

. Bill finally collapses, exhausted. He is sent to a hospital to recuperate, under strict orders not to reveal what he has done, where a doctor mistakenly puts him into a

psychopath Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...

ward. When the hospital attendants believe he is crazy and try to put him in a

straitjacket A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with long sleeves that surpass the tips of the wearer's fingers. Its most typical use is restraining people who may cause harm to themselves or others. Once the wearer slides their arms into the ...

, Willie escapes and heads home on a freight train. Back home, because only four days have elapsed since he left Punxatawney, his parents and girlfriend don't believe his story either. Officers from the Pentagon arrive to return him to Washington to be decorated personally by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

Cast

as William "Bill" Kluggs * Corinne Calvet as Yvonne *

as Marge Fettles *

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, ...

as Herman Kluggs *

Jimmy Lydon James Joseph Lydon (May 30, 1923 – March 9, 2022) was an American actor and television producer whose career in the entertainment industry began as a teenager during the 1930s. Early life Lydon was born in Harrington Park, New Jersey on May 3 ...

as Charles "Charlie" Fettles *

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

as Major Adams * Evelyn Varden as Mrs. Gertrude Kluggs

Mae Marsh Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh; November 9, 1894U.S. Census records for 1900, El Paso, Texas, Sheet No. 6 – February 13, 1968) was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life Mae Marsh was born Mary Wayne M ...

, formerly a successful silent-era actress, appears in an unbilled role.

Alan Hale Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...

and

Vera Miles Vera June Miles (née Ralston, born August 23, 1929) is an American retired actress who worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock, most notably as Lila Crane in the classic 1960 film '' Psycho'', reprising the role in the 1983 sequel '' Psycho II'' ...

also appear in unbilled roles, early in their respective careers. Hollywood precision pilot

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Ma ...

performed the crash stunt in which a PT-13D Stearman military training aircraft shears off its wings crashing between two oak trees.Editors, ''Air Classics'', Challenge Publications, Canoga Park, California, July 1972, Volume 8, Number 8, page 39.

References

External links

* * {{Golden Leopard 1950 films 1950s war comedy films 20th Century Fox films American war comedy films American black-and-white films Films scored by Alfred Newman Films directed by John Ford Golden Leopard winners American World War II films Films based on short fiction Military humor in film 1950 comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films