I fucilieri delle Argonne

'The Fighting 69th' gets a lot of mileage out of every cliche you've ever seen in a war film. It's hokey corn from start to end--and yet, despite the fact that you've seen it all before--it's an enjoyable enough experience because of its stellar cast of Warner stock players.

James Cagney is the mug from Brooklyn who is nasty to one and all, described by one character as "the man they'd rather riddle with bullets than the Germans." Pat O'Brien is the true-life character of Father Duffy who has a major job on his hands trying to reform Cagney in time for the fadeout. Sensitive Jeffrey Lynn is Joyce Kilmer, the poet. Gruff Alan Hale is a tough sergeant. And just about every male contract player from William Lundigan to Frank McHugh to Dennis Morgan is present to depict the stereotyped characters that fill the screen.

As hokey as it is, it does a graphic job of showing what war is like under combat fire. The combat scenes are skillfully done, with shells and grenades and bombs making trenches hell and buildings collapse, all in very realistic fashion.

Cagney is his usual pugnacious self and his reform at the end is a little too abruptly handled. But the film is a brisk 80 minutes, as shown on TCM, and fairly entertaining if you can forgive the corn. Surprisingly, it is directed by William Keighley, whose sluggish work on "The Adventures of Robin Hood" caused him to be replaced by Michael Curtiz to give the film more punch. And yet, "The Fighting 69th" is anything but sluggish. A brisk, entertaining little war film.

Jerry Plunket is a street brawling, tough as boots rebel from Brooklyn, he has no time for the traditions of the all Irish 69th New York Regiment, and he has even less time for his army superiors. But as Jerry is about to find out, War has a knack of making or breaking a man...

It's not hard to see why "The Fighting 69th" was a very popular movie back on its release, coming out as America was about to enter WWII, the flag waving patriotism targeted its audience with gusto supreme and lashes of Irish sentiment. Furthering the cause was in having James Cagney in the critical lead role of Plunkett. Yet oddly, Plunkett is the made up character here, for the story is based on actual characters that the film wishes to honour. Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien) & Wild Bill Donovan (George Brent) being two highly respected men from this actual (and highly acclaimed) fighting unit.

The story follows a now well trodden path, brash cocky man learns lessons the hard way, is there to be redemption come the finale? Respect, bravery and indeed salvation are all given the once over by the makers here. There are few surprises but the film gets in there, does the job, and leaves without lingering either side of the good or bad fence. The direction from William Keighley is vigorous, and the supporting players are solid, if unspectacular (haven't we seen this O'Brien turn before?), but all and everything is second fiddle to the perfectly cast Cagney, bullish and stoic, his turn as Plunkett lifts the film above average, because without him the film would be instantly forgettable. 6.5/10

On the one hand, it's James Cagney's street tough in olive drab. He even gets the death sentence but, for propaganda purposes, he's allowed a "hero's death" instead of a coward's.

Which brings me to my main point ("on the other hand"): with World War II raging overseas and the lurking possibility of the U.S. getting caught up in it, Hollywood produced a bumper crop of neo-patriotic propaganda pics in 1939-1940. The enemies differed from pic to pic but the message in all of them was "1) WE are all on the AMERICAN (or, at least, the Anglo-Saxon) side, & 2) the AMERICAN (Anglo-Saxon) side is the side of GOOD."

For example: Another Cagney pic, "Captains of the Clouds," Spencer Tracy in "Northwest Frontier," Cary Grant in "Gunga Din" or Henry Fonda in "Drums Along the Mohawk." Many of them were portrayed as "Boys' Tales of Adventure" but, given the context of the times, the subtext in all of them are unmistakeable ... ... yet, 60 years later, they're still fun.

It's 1917. Brash troublemaking misfit New Yorker Jerry Plunkett (James Cagney) is training to be sent off to war. He's part of the 69th New York Irishmen. His bravado is first revealed to be false when he faints after getting a shot. It continues onto the battlefield. As he faces court-martialed, he is given a second chance.

This is a pro-military, pro-unity film as war looms for America. Cagney is a his tough guy persona but in this, he is shown to be a coward when real heat is applied. That's an interesting twist and that makes this interesting. He still gets his heroic redemption. In the meanwhile, it is a lot of sermons and good intention from Father Duffy. Overall, this does what it intents to do and it does it well.

When I first viewed "The Fighting 69th", I was probably 8 years old, around 1948 I'd say. It literally scared me out into the lobby more than once. At that age you're not ready for trench warfare that up close and personal. Being Irish, Catholic and a kinship with people named O'Brien, I have always liked this movie on many levels for a variety of reasons. I have watched this film many times over the years, including a "colorized" version, when they were in vogue. Now comes the definitive DVD copy of the film. I watched it again in all it's 42 inch LCD, near "Hi-Def", glory again recently. I was affected by it again but in an entirely different way. Basically the story is about bright, mostly full of pluck and good humor, young men who want to get this war over with and get home again. Now it could be viewed an "anti-war" movie in some ways. It also very much is like the young men,today, shedding blood in hell holes named Iraq and Afganistan. Quite a comparison. It hit home. I'm an older man and I cried and sniffled through the entire film, and I know the film! I didn't have any lobby to run out into. Bobsluckycat, in all his reviews, has tried to give you some out of the box appreciation for whatever film he reviews and this is no exception. Yes, the stars are all fine, but look to the mostly young supporting cast, many of whom would go off to WWII and come back having served proudly and heroically, and you'll see the meat of this film. William Lundigan, George Reeves, and many many others with a line or two here and there just outstanding and would go on to long acting careers post war. Gwinn "Big Boy" Williams, Frank McHugh, Dick Foran, Sammy Cohen among many of the "pros" doing superior work. Not one casting note rings false throughout. World War I does not play well in color, with the exception of John Fords' "What Price Glory" also starring Cagney, maybe. It's meant to be in black and white. Today, it's not the "rah,rah" picture it was made to be, but a stark reminder that war kills our youngest and brightest before they mature to fullness, just as today. In that light, It's one of the best war movies EVER made, period.