Hail the Conquering Hero

A great, great movie; one so-well written and with such astonishing momentum I can watch it twice in one sitting or just sample bits and pieces when I wish. Eddie Bracken, who was pretty hard to take in MIRACLE AT MORGAN'S CREEK, is perfect here. Raymond Walburn's performance is sheer genius; the section in which he dictates his speech first to his son and then his son's fiancee is hilarious -- a masterpiece of verbiage, characterization, and timing. Notice also, the subtle directing, such as when the camera pans in perfect time to catch the re-election poster. Beyond praise.

CONQUERING HERO packs an emotional wallop lacking, I think, in Sturges' other movies -- and I mean emotion other than joy and giddiness, of course. Bracken's speeches which frame the film are beautifully written, directed, and performed; the last speech is terribly moving.

Sturges lost his Paramount deal after this film, and never quite regained his footing. That famous clutch of films culminates here in his best film, and all his ingenuity and grace are firmly in place. God bless Preston Sturges.

This film was delightful and fun! It will lift your spirits - as I imagine it was meant to do in 1944. I enjoy watching films made during WWII - it helps me understand the attitudes and thoughts of the people living and fighting then. The sentiment is occasionally rather precious (for a Sturges film), but that is my quibble. I have always enjoyed watching Sturges' Sullivan's Travels. Watching "Hail the Conquering Hero" has convinced me to find and view more of Sturges' films. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The last of the really great comedies that Preston Sturges directed had a more serious undertone than his previous films. This is not to say that Hail the Conquering Hero isn't hilarious though. It is just as intelligent, fast-paced, subversive and witty as could be expected from the writer/director of The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story.

Eddie Bracken plays Woodrow Truesmith, a would-be marine who was discharged from service for chronic hay fever. Woodrow, whose father died a hero during WWI, hasn't had the heart to tell his mother about his discharge and has been pretending to still be on the front line. When he befriends a group of marines on leave, they dress him up as a hero and bring him home to make his mother happy, not anticipating that his whole town will give him a hero's welcome.

Considering that the film was made during the war, it is surprising the way it satirises the notion of the war hero as well as the attitudes of those who did not go away to fight. The awestruck townspeople are depicted as being rather gullible while the marines are shown as a tough, cohesive unit, if maybe a bit dishonest and mercenary (and in one case slightly unhinged). The film has fine production values and great performances across the board but it is Sturges' script, with its marvellous characterisations and sparkling dialogue, that really shines. If you like Preston Sturges' other, earlier comedies, this film is essential viewing.

With literally dozens of identifiable characters, named and unnamed, this is a film in which nearly every shot is jammed full of faces -- in fact, it's nearly twenty minutes into the movie before a shot occurs in which the frame contains only a single human being (Mom taking hot buns out of the oven). Filmed and released during the darkest year of WWII, HERO is a smart, unjingoistic yet oddly patriotic comedy of the home front, and of our often short-sighted view of what makes a hero. One of Sturges' best and most innovative comedies -- and that's saying a lot!

Preston Sturges's companion piece to The Miracle of Morgan's Creek was this brilliant satire on patriotism and hero worship, with Eddie Bracken giving a touching performance as a 4-F reject whose elaborate system of lies snowballs when he runs into a troop of returning Marines who decide to help him maintain his imposture. Taking a lot of strands from Sturges's previous comedies, this film remains fresh and perceptive, with hilarious insights into politics, family values, and ethics. With the disenchantment with politics in today's society, where is Preston Sturges when we need him?