You, John Jones!

A mechanical engineer working on planes that soon will be taking part in WWII is seen at the assembly plant. As he arrives home after a day's work, his wife points to their daughter who is seen on a raised platform performing the Gettysburg address for a school presentation. The man, who is on security watch that night in his area, leaves to his tour that night.

As he sits on a park bench, his thoughts go to several areas where the conflict has affected different parts of the world. In each of those images, he sees his young daughter being the victim of the war around her. When he gets home at the end of his shift, he is welcomed by his lovely wife and his daughter that have been secured in the bosom of their safe home. He is a lucky man indeed!

Mervyn LeRoy directed this short propaganda film of 1943. WWII found an important ally in Hollywood, as the industry realized what was at stake and cooperated by turning films in which patriotism and doing the right thing for one's country took center stage. In this short, but effective picture, we are given a bird's eye view about the suffering experienced by other people throughout the world, where the conflict touched their lives.

James Cagney, who was borrowed from Warner Bros. to make this film, was at his best conveying what he felt for the innocent victims. Margaret O'Brien, appears as the daughter who is rehearsing the Gettysburg address for school in her usual enchanting manner. Ann Sothern plays the wife.

You, John Jones! (1943)

**** (out of 4)

A WW2 Civil Engineer (James Cagney) is called away from his home by an air raid alarm just as his daughter (Margaret O'Brien) is saying the Gettysburg Address for a school project. While the man is watching his post he begins to imagine what it would be like living in another country that is constantly under air raids and what impact this might have on his young daughter. Countless WW2 shorts were produced while the war was going on but I have no problem saying this here is the best of the bunch and in its own way a real masterpiece. The message of the film is quite clear but, given this was a WW2 film, the producer's went pretty far in passing that message off. We see countless scenes with Cagney's young daughter suffering in other countries and this scenes are very realistic and I'm sure hit a very strong nerve with people back in 1943. Cagney is excellent in his role as you can tell he's giving it all his got. The real star here is the young O'Brien who really steals the film with her powerful performance saying the famous speech.

Though the film is dated because of it's obvious World War II origin, You John Jones still has a somewhat relevant message for today. I qualify that with a somewhat because surely 9/11 shattered quite a few illusions about that.

Still we are a wealthy and prosperous country and still relatively safe as opposed to a lot of areas on this globe. May it ever be so as James Cagney realized while doing his thankless job as an air raid warden in World War II America.

Of course these war time shorts brought together folks from different studios for the war effort. Cagney got to work with Ann Sothern and Margaret O'Brien and never did so again.

Wouldn't it be interesting today though if this short film was updated and say Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their little bambino did something similar? As an example of course.

Top-notch World War II short designed to draw the attentions of Americans to the plight of children in other countries devastated by the war. It stars Jimmy Cagney as an air raid warden who is grateful his young daughter (Margaret O'Brien) is safe from the bombings people in other countries at the time were enduring. He imagines what it would be like for her in some of these other countries and we see the adorable little Miss O'Brien act out those scenes. This is an entertaining and thought-provoking short with three great on screen talents (Cagney, O'Brien, and Ann Sothern) giving their best. O'Brien is a real treat. She was really a shining star among child actors. With nice direction from Mervyn LeRoy and expert narration from Carey Wilson. Really good.

James Cagney, Ann Sothern and Margaret O'Brien all star in this Mervyn LeRoy-directed "wartime short," as they called them. Cagney plays an aviation worker who comes and sees his young daughter rehearsing the Gettysburg address.

The man ("John Jones" played by Cagney) then gets called out on a security watch. As he sits on his park bench post, he starts talking out loud to God, saying "I don't think there will ever be a raid on the United States of America but people on our side are being bombed somewhere - England, Russia or China. It's just terrible, horrible....but I just want you to know I appreciate that it's not happening here."

God talks back to him, asking him if he truly does appreciate it, and then Cagney sees pictures of what it would be like if he were in England, Greece, China, Yugoslavia, France and other war-torn areas. In each case, we see his daughter (O'Brien playing her) physically harmed or starving.

The man returns home, asks his wife "Mary" (Sheridan) if she's okay, then gets another phone call with an "all-clear" message, goes to the door, looks upward and says "Thanks, God." Their daughter then finishes Lincoln's famous speech.

The father kisses his daughter and adds, "Ain't it the beautiful truth?"

This short was part of the 2-disc special-edition DVD of "Yankee Doodle Dandy."