None of John Ford's films are exactly poorly made, and this one is competent enough as it goes. Basically it's the story of Marty Maher (Tyrone Power), a fresh immigrant off the boat from Ireland who finds a home in America's West Point military academy. Starting off in the kitchens and working his way up to an instructor in football and swimming, Maher finds love with a saucy Irish woman (Maureen O'Hara) and finds himself continuously renewing his enlistment although often against his better judgment. He sees some of the boys he trained go off to die in the war and he has to deal with the emotions of those consequences as well as his duty to the academy. When a favorite student dies in WWI (William Leslie), Maher and his barren wife take in his wife (Betsy Palmer) and help raise his son (Robert Francis).
Power's performance is excellent and he manages to carry the film. The process of his aging through the film is admirably handled. But I found the film in general to be somewhat corny and heavy-handed. The message of the film seems to be to reinforce a certain brand of military patriotism that I personally find distasteful. That's not to say that the film is a bad film, but it is what it is. It's very much concerned with propagating the idea of "noble sacrifice", and Power's character barely questions the wisdom of training these young men just to send them off to die. It's as if he brings up the idea that it might not be worth it, just so that Ford and his writers can put that idea to rest as soundly as they can.
I like the film for its depiction of the main character as a humble man who often lashes out at others in anger but learns to temper his passions with growing wisdom. But I just can't get into the film -- let's just say that if you're not a huge fan of Irish jigs and military marching bands (or the combination of the two), then you will get just as sick of this movie by the end as I did. There's practically no subtext to the film that I can detect, and in the final analysis it's no more subtle than Ford's wartime pro-Army films. I can't make myself feel happy that the son is going to go off to war and risk death just like his father did, or that there's this great honor and nobility in it all. I won't cheer with Power's character as he rudely dismisses the idea of West Point modernizing its approach to military training. The whole film is basically telling us to resist change and to cherish tradition, and that's an aspect of Ford's personality that I just don't appreciate. But I do appreciate the amount of skill and care that went into Power's performance in particular.
Power's performance is excellent and he manages to carry the film. The process of his aging through the film is admirably handled. But I found the film in general to be somewhat corny and heavy-handed. The message of the film seems to be to reinforce a certain brand of military patriotism that I personally find distasteful. That's not to say that the film is a bad film, but it is what it is. It's very much concerned with propagating the idea of "noble sacrifice", and Power's character barely questions the wisdom of training these young men just to send them off to die. It's as if he brings up the idea that it might not be worth it, just so that Ford and his writers can put that idea to rest as soundly as they can.
I like the film for its depiction of the main character as a humble man who often lashes out at others in anger but learns to temper his passions with growing wisdom. But I just can't get into the film -- let's just say that if you're not a huge fan of Irish jigs and military marching bands (or the combination of the two), then you will get just as sick of this movie by the end as I did. There's practically no subtext to the film that I can detect, and in the final analysis it's no more subtle than Ford's wartime pro-Army films. I can't make myself feel happy that the son is going to go off to war and risk death just like his father did, or that there's this great honor and nobility in it all. I won't cheer with Power's character as he rudely dismisses the idea of West Point modernizing its approach to military training. The whole film is basically telling us to resist change and to cherish tradition, and that's an aspect of Ford's personality that I just don't appreciate. But I do appreciate the amount of skill and care that went into Power's performance in particular.