''Sons O' Guns'' is a 1936 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage, and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director, he made films in numerous genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, and c ...

and written by

Jerry Wald Jerome Irving Wald (September 16, 1911 – July 13, 1962) was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs. Life and career Early life Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were act ...

and Julius J. Epstein. It stars Joe E. Brown, and features

Joan Blondell Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, estab ...

, with Beverly Roberts,

Eric Blore Eric Blore Sr. (23 December 1887 – 2 March 1959) was an English actor and writer. His early stage career, mostly in the West End of London, centred on revue and musical comedy, but also included straight plays. He wrote sketches for and appe ...

, Craig Reynolds and

Wini Shaw Wini Shaw (c. 1907 – May 2, 1982), sometimes credited as Winifred Shaw, was a 20th century American actress, dancer and singer. Early life She was born as Winifred Lei Momi in about 1907 in San Francisco, the youngest of 13 children of ...

. It was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

on May 30, 1936. The film is based on a stage musical of the same name with book by

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...

and

Jack Donahue John Donahue (c. 1806 – 1 September 1830), also spelled Donohoe, and known as Jack Donahue and Bold Jack Donahue, was an Irish-born bushranger in Australia between 1825 and 1830. He became part of the notorious "Wild Colonial Boys". Early l ...

, music by J. Fred Coots, and lyrics by Arthur Swanstrom and

Benny Davis Benny Davis (August 21, 1895 - December 20, 1979) was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. Biography Davis started performing in vaudeville in his teens. He began writing songs when working as an accompanist for Blossom Seeley. In ...

, which played on Broadway for 295 performances beginning on November 26, 1929. Only one song from the stage production was used, "Over Here", the two other songs in the film – "Arms of an Army Man" and "A Buck and a Quarter a Day" – were written by

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

and

Al Dubin Alexander Dubin (June 10, 1891 – February 11, 1945) was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren. Life Al Dubin came from a Russian Jewish family that immigrated to the United States from Sw ...

.Miller, Frank (ndg
"Sons O' Guns (1936)"

TCM.com Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

Plot

Broadway musical star Jimmy Canfield ( Joe E. Brown) prefers performing to fighting in World War I, to the distress of his fiancée Mary Harper ( Beverly Roberts), and her father, General Harper ( Joe King), who forbids Canfield from seeing his daughter unless he joins the Army. When Canfield finds out that Bernice Pierce (

) is about to bring a breach of promise suit against him, he pretends to enlist to dodge the suit, but ends up actually in the Army by mistake. Sent to France, Buck private Canfield finds that his valet, Hobson (

) is now his sergeant. Canfield becomes friendly with Yvonne (

), a pretty French barmaid from the nearby cafe, after he protects her from the unwanted advances of an American officer ( Craig Reynolds), but Yvonne becomes jealous when Mary appears, pleased to see that Canfield is in the Army at last. Canfield denies to Yvonne that Mary is his girl, and takes her to a

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

show, in which he performs. Bernice suddenly arrives from Paris to perform, and gives Canfield a passionate kiss, saying she's been looking all over France for him. Yvonne is jealous once again and storms out. Canfield takes a room in Yvonne's house, unaware that her stepfather is a German spy. After he releases the spy's carrier pigeons, because they're keeping him awake, he is arrested and charged with espionage. He escapes from prison by disguising himself as an officer, but then is ordered to the front – as the officer – to capture a German machine gun emplacement. An artillery shell knocks him out and blows away his uniform, so he puts on a German ''

pickelhaube The (; , ; from , and , , a general word for "headgear"), also , is a spiked leather or metal helmet that was worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German soldiers of all ranks, as well as firefighters and police. Although it ...

'' helmet and is mistaken by the machine gunners as a German officer. He climbs into a German trench and puts on a German officer's

greatcoat A greatcoat (also watchcoat) is a large, woollen overcoat designed for warmth and protection against wind and weather, and features a collar that can be turned up and cuffs that can be turned down to protect the face and the hands, while the Cap ...

, ordering a retreat. He approaches the machine gun nest from the rear, and grabs their gun, using it to march them back to Allied lines. On a break, Canfield finds that the Germans are tired of fighting, so they escort him back to the German lines, where all the men in the German regiment want to follow him and give themselves up to the Allies. The Allies naturally think that they're witnessing a German attack, until the Germans hold up white flags. Canfield himself, still wearing the German helmet and officer's coat, is arrested as a spy and a traitor. Mary and Bernice turn their backs on him, but Yvonne believes that he is innocent. Canfield is thrown into the guard house, where he is held until he can be shot, but when he is taken out, it is not for an execution, but to be rewarded by the French Army with the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

for single-handedly capturing "hundreds and hundreds" of Germans. His final reward is a kiss from Yvonne.

Cast

* Joe E. Brown as Jimmy Canfield *

as Yvonne * Beverly Roberts as Mary Harper *

as Hobson * Craig Reynolds as Lieut. Burton *

as Bernice Pearce * Joseph King as General Harper *

Robert Barrat Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor. Early years Barratt was born on July 10, 1891 in New York City, and educated in the public schools there. He left ...

as Pierre * G. P. Huntley Jr. as Capt. Ponsonby-Falcke * Frank Mitchell as Ritter *

Bert Roach Egbert Roach (August 21, 1891 – February 16, 1971) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 320 films between 1914 and 1951. He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California, age 79. Selected filmography * ...

as Vogel *David Worth as Arthur Travers * Hans Joby as German prisoner * Michael Mark as Carl * Otto Fries as German spy *

Mischa Auer Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky, ; 17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russian-American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in film in 1928. Auer had a long career playing in many of the era's ...

as German spy *Source:

References

External links

* * * {{Lloyd Bacon 1936 films 1930s English-language films Warner Bros. films American comedy films 1936 comedy films Films directed by Lloyd Bacon American black-and-white films Military comedy films Western Front (World War I) films American films based on plays 1930s American films