Review of Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) by Gregory W — 09 Aug 2008

I cannot recommend this screwball comedy enough. It shows off Sturges' great strength as a storyteller- his love of humanity.

Preston Sturges is unique in the pantheon of classic comedy filmmakers. Unlike Wilder, Sturges' sharp wit is not buried in a cynic's view of the world. Unlike Lubitsch, Sturges does not make his comedies, precious jewells. And unlike Capra, Sturges' films are both consistently funny and consistently sincere in their humanism.

"Hail..." brings out both Sturges' raucous, rowdy side and his belief that people (no matter how hysterical they can be) are basically decent and are capable of great deeds given half a chance.

I have been writing about the filmmaker but not about this amazing cast. If you have seen one of Sturges' classic comedies, you have probably seen most of the people in this film; he used almost every actor he ever worked with at least twice. I will single out Eddie Bracken, William Demarest, Raymond Walburn and Al Bridge. These men are working like a well-oiled clock, at the top of their game and, if you only know Demarest as Uncle Charlie in "My Three Sons", you will be blown away by how he drives this film.

It was made during World War II, it is full of things specific to the period, and yet it never feels dated.

If you see one film by Sturges, it's either this one or "Sullivan's Travels".