Curiously enough, while I do admire and enjoy most of Sturges' films, I've never been quite as taken with him as his reputation would seem to demand. Nevertheless, I fully acknowledge his standing as one of the most important figures in Comedy.
The thing is that, having started off as a writer (like his contemporary Billy Wilder), Sturges' peerless talent in this department kind of swamps his technical side (which is boldly integrated into the comedies of Frank Capra whereas it's more refined, but still palpable, in those of Ernst Lubitsch) – so that his films come across as undeniably erudite (which, however, clashes at times with their small-town settings and working-class characters) but also a bit loquacious! For me, the best comedy director remains Howard Hawks – in whose work the form not only appears effortless but is actually made to transcend genre (thus acquiring an artistry without resorting to undue camera gymnastics or editorial tricks). What Sturges' films may have lacked besides was that he rarely worked with bona-fide stars; instead, he amassed an enviable repertory of character actors around him and then let them rip – with the consequence that most of his canon emerges to be undisciplined and tiresomely frenetic!
Anyway, after that rambling introduction, let's get down to the issue at hand: HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO can surely be counted among Sturges' finest. As were all of his films, it's an absolute original but also somewhat audacious (his previous outing, THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK [1944], had tackled an even more outrageous and controversial theme) – this being a wartime comedy about the put-down of hero-worship! The plot sees milquetoast hero Eddie Bracken rejected for war duty because of hay fever; not wanting to break his mother's heart (his father was a hero of the previous war, incidentally), he only returns home after a year. He meets up with six marines on leave (the Sergeant among them happens to have served with Bracken's father) and they contrive to get him a hero's reception, thinking that all will blow over once they're there. However, the whole town shows up to greet him at the station with due fanfare – he's clearly embarrassed at this, but the soldiers persuade him to go along with the ruse for the time being. The situation escalates further when the town decides to erect a statue in Bracken's honor and, eventually, pushes him into an electoral campaign for the Mayor's seat! There's a predictably upbeat ending, following a Capraesque speech in which Bracken confesses the truth about his 'war record', where the people decide they still want him because – for once – they've been faced with an honest declaration!!
Eddie Bracken may have had too limited a range to make it as a comic genius in the Bob Hope mold, but he certainly fit the Preston Sturges universe (characteristically, he's given an unwieldy – and ironic – name here). Leading the Sturges stock company is William Demarest as the fixer of a Sergeant who lands Bracken in more trouble with every new scheme to aid his 'case' (a memorable scene early on sees him attempting to trade service at a café with a collection of war 'mementos', only to have the owner turn out to be even more supplied with such worthless trinkets than he is!). Other members include typically well-meaning but perennially flustered Franklin Pangborn (his efforts to organize multiple bands at Bracken's reception are continually frustrated through lack of cooperation or outright incompetence from those concerned), Raymond Walburn (as the pompous and unpopular current mayor – whose similarly insensitive offspring is naturally engaged to Dad's secretary, the lovely Ella Raines) and, in smaller roles, Al Bridge, Jimmy Conlin and Torben Meyer.
Raines herself – whom I'd only seen in film noirs – gets quite a well-rounded character (though her longing for a homespun life alongside Bracken feels decidedly idealized). Also notable is ex-boxing champ Freddie Steele, playing an orphaned soldier who finds in Bracken's mother a surrogate parent – often berating him (both verbally and physically) for what he deems Bracken's inconsiderate behavior towards her! This subplot introduces an element of sentimentality into the fray, which usually bothers me, but it was quite amusing here to see a big man like Steele go soft every so often.
I should be getting soon to Sturges' most misunderstood film, THE GREAT MOMENT (1944), which would then leave me with only his little-seen directorial swan song – THE FRENCH, THEY ARE A FUNNY RACE aka THE DIARY OF MAJOR THOMPSON (1955) – to catch up with from his brief but highly individualistic oeuvre...
The thing is that, having started off as a writer (like his contemporary Billy Wilder), Sturges' peerless talent in this department kind of swamps his technical side (which is boldly integrated into the comedies of Frank Capra whereas it's more refined, but still palpable, in those of Ernst Lubitsch) – so that his films come across as undeniably erudite (which, however, clashes at times with their small-town settings and working-class characters) but also a bit loquacious! For me, the best comedy director remains Howard Hawks – in whose work the form not only appears effortless but is actually made to transcend genre (thus acquiring an artistry without resorting to undue camera gymnastics or editorial tricks). What Sturges' films may have lacked besides was that he rarely worked with bona-fide stars; instead, he amassed an enviable repertory of character actors around him and then let them rip – with the consequence that most of his canon emerges to be undisciplined and tiresomely frenetic!
Anyway, after that rambling introduction, let's get down to the issue at hand: HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO can surely be counted among Sturges' finest. As were all of his films, it's an absolute original but also somewhat audacious (his previous outing, THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK [1944], had tackled an even more outrageous and controversial theme) – this being a wartime comedy about the put-down of hero-worship! The plot sees milquetoast hero Eddie Bracken rejected for war duty because of hay fever; not wanting to break his mother's heart (his father was a hero of the previous war, incidentally), he only returns home after a year. He meets up with six marines on leave (the Sergeant among them happens to have served with Bracken's father) and they contrive to get him a hero's reception, thinking that all will blow over once they're there. However, the whole town shows up to greet him at the station with due fanfare – he's clearly embarrassed at this, but the soldiers persuade him to go along with the ruse for the time being. The situation escalates further when the town decides to erect a statue in Bracken's honor and, eventually, pushes him into an electoral campaign for the Mayor's seat! There's a predictably upbeat ending, following a Capraesque speech in which Bracken confesses the truth about his 'war record', where the people decide they still want him because – for once – they've been faced with an honest declaration!!
Eddie Bracken may have had too limited a range to make it as a comic genius in the Bob Hope mold, but he certainly fit the Preston Sturges universe (characteristically, he's given an unwieldy – and ironic – name here). Leading the Sturges stock company is William Demarest as the fixer of a Sergeant who lands Bracken in more trouble with every new scheme to aid his 'case' (a memorable scene early on sees him attempting to trade service at a café with a collection of war 'mementos', only to have the owner turn out to be even more supplied with such worthless trinkets than he is!). Other members include typically well-meaning but perennially flustered Franklin Pangborn (his efforts to organize multiple bands at Bracken's reception are continually frustrated through lack of cooperation or outright incompetence from those concerned), Raymond Walburn (as the pompous and unpopular current mayor – whose similarly insensitive offspring is naturally engaged to Dad's secretary, the lovely Ella Raines) and, in smaller roles, Al Bridge, Jimmy Conlin and Torben Meyer.
Raines herself – whom I'd only seen in film noirs – gets quite a well-rounded character (though her longing for a homespun life alongside Bracken feels decidedly idealized). Also notable is ex-boxing champ Freddie Steele, playing an orphaned soldier who finds in Bracken's mother a surrogate parent – often berating him (both verbally and physically) for what he deems Bracken's inconsiderate behavior towards her! This subplot introduces an element of sentimentality into the fray, which usually bothers me, but it was quite amusing here to see a big man like Steele go soft every so often.
I should be getting soon to Sturges' most misunderstood film, THE GREAT MOMENT (1944), which would then leave me with only his little-seen directorial swan song – THE FRENCH, THEY ARE A FUNNY RACE aka THE DIARY OF MAJOR THOMPSON (1955) – to catch up with from his brief but highly individualistic oeuvre...