9/7/19 Hail the Conquering Hero

Post date: Sep 15, 2019 12:51:28 PM

We come to the director Preston Sturges. He was one of the most famous directors of screwball comedies. He is know for comedies like "Miracle at Morgan Creek", "Unfaithfully Yours," and "the Lady Eve". I find all of these comedies weak.

"Miracle" is about loser character who is played by Eddie Bracken in a similar role as in "Hail the Conquering Hero". There is a lot of broad, unfunny slap stick and an out of the blue ending.

"Unfaithfully Yours" had promise. A symphony conductor finds his wife has been unfaithful just before a concert. During the concert, he imagines all the ways he will get even. After the concert, all his plans go awry with broad unfunny slapstick. The reoccurring gag is that he keeps breaking chairs by standing on them.

"The Lady Eve" also had potential. A father/daughter team of con-men decide to fleece this young rich guy. Disaster happens with she falls in love with the mark. She now has to define the guy against her father. This works because both the father and daughter are smart. When the father is defeated, the clueless guy rejects her. She gets so angry she starts going after the guy herself. This part of the movie is an embarrassment. It like watching James Bond beating up a five year girl. This lasts for half the movie! At the end the guy is still totally clueless. I question what the daughter ever saw in him.

Sturges is also known for two serious movies: "The Great McGinty", and "Sullivan's Travels". "The Great McGinty" is a send up of politics in the vein of "All the King's Men". It is competent but there is little of say about politics now that people do not already know. I did enjoy the Wilder/Diamond bang ending.

"Sullivan's Travels" is Sturges' autobiographical movie. It follows a screwball comedy director that wants to make a serious film. It is a meandering road movie movie where he finds salvation in the end.

"Hail the Conquering Hero" is one of Sturges' later movies and I find it avoids the pitfalls of previous movies. Eddie Bracken plays a soldier who has to go home and tell his mother that he failed in the army. He meets up with some real soldiers who decide to go with him for support. When they realize the whole town has come back to welcome their local hero, the lies start getting out of hand. It avoids the broad slapstick and cruel streak of the earlier movies.