What Next, Corporal Hargrove?

inexplicably a corporal he and men get lost--enter french town as heroes --later reassigned to be liaisons with locals Jean Porter is adorable

This is a follow-up to Robert Walker's war film "See Here, Private Hargrove" but it isn't nearly as good. In fact, I think it's not even close!

The film begins with Hargrove inexplicably becoming a corporal. His first command is a cock up, however, and they get separated from the rest of the unit. Fortunately, however, they end up liberating an important French town and the locals just adore Hargrove and his men. This portion of the film is enjoyable and sweet. Funny? No.

The rest of the film consists of many instances where Hargrove gets into trouble or nearly gets himself killed or breaks a sweet girl's heart for no good reason. Most of these situations revolve around the screw-up Mulvehill (Keenan Wynn) and you wonder why Hargrove or anyone would be his pal. None of these situations are funny and it gets old and boring very quickly. No...it becomes tedious.

When people bemoan the glory days of Hollywood in general and MGM in particular, they forget that, back in the day when Hollywood made a LOT more movies than it does now, even MGM also made not just bad movies along with good ones, but also some very weak movies, which this most certainly is.

What is amazing, indeed downright unbelievable, is that the worst part of this movie, the dishpan water thin script, was nominated for an Oscar. Granted, it was a weak year for that category, Original Screenplay. The other nominees were Dillinger, Music for Millions, Salty O'Rourke, and Marie-Louise. Have you seen any of them?

It tells the supposedly funny misadventures of the hapless Cpl Marion Hargrove of the U.S. Army in the days after the Normandy landing. Hargrove and his platoon get sidetracked in a small Normand town, Marennes. (There is actually a town named Marennes in France, but it's in SW France, nowhere near Normandy.) There is some lame comedy with the pompous small-town mayor and his libidinous daughter, all obvious and forgettable. Then Hargrove and his friend (Keenan Wynn) head toward Paris by mistake. More misadventures. Plot lines run into dead ends. It isn't funny, or original, or interesting.

Except for 5 minutes in the middle of everything, when Hargrove ends up working at an observation post, helping his superior officers call in firing instructions to the battery that is shelling a German outpost. Suddenly the movie becomes serious, and the script sounds as if the writers really knew what they were talking about.

And then it goes back to more nonsense.

It's not worth the time it takes to watch this. If you have the time to kill, it would be better to take a nap. You'll get more out of it.

Unless you want to see what Hollywood, and even MGM, used to turn out between their unquestioned masterpieces in the days before television when the big studios ground out hundreds, rather than dozens, of pictures a year to feed the then insatiable American hunger for new movies.

Shortly after World War II's pivotal Normandy invasion, newly promoted (from private to corporal) Robert Walker (as Marion Hargrove) and his fellow soldiers get their truck stuck in the mud. After freeing the military vehicle by yelling "Heave!" Mr. Walker and the men stumble upon a French village outside of Paris. The locals mistake them for liberators. Also, Walker catches the eye of the mayor's daughter, pretty French mademoiselle Jean Porter (as Jeanne Quidoc). She sends all the signals for romance, but Walker wants to remain faithful to his girlfriend (Carol) from last year's film "See Here, Private Hargrove" (1944). The US Army encourages Walker to succumb to Ms. Porter's sexy advances, lest the US offend France...

Meanwhile, Walker's pal Keenan Wynn (as Thomas "Tom" Mulvehill) pursues a "get rich quick" scheme...

This was the second, and final, entry in MGM's series of "Hargrove" films starring Robert Walker. Direction and editing suggest Walker had limited interest in the story. This is evident from the opening. Later, while at a Paris restaurant, observe when Mr. Wynn has a cup of coffee spilled on his lap; the spill immediately dries up, without a trace. The "Academy Awards" organization thought this picture worthy of an "Oscar" nomination, for "Best Original Screenplay" and there are a couple of good quips. The writer honored, Harry Kurnitz, managed to get another story out of the characters and situation, but was not well served by this production. The stronger scenes occur with Walker and Wynn accidentally going AWOL in Paris.

**** What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (1945-11-21) Richard Thorpe ~ Robert Walker, Keenan Wynn, Jean Porter, Chill Wills

This is part two of the WW2 adventures of Private Hargrove. As you saw in the first movie (See Here, Private Hargrove) our hero is a somewhat hapless, but caring, person. Here he has survived boot camp and has made it to Europe as a corporal. He has his good days (he is a corporal) and his not so good days (he is a private). This is a light comedy that gives you a chance to relax and enjoy yourself. The two movies go well together but you should see the other one first to set the tone for this one. 7/10

There is a scene towards the end of this film where the boys are travelling through Paris that rather sums the whole thing up. They are no more in Paris France than Paris Texas, and the filmed background is as obvious as most of the rest of this standard wartime comedy. It's a sequel to the initial escapades of "Hargrove" (Robert Walker) from last year who has now been given, on what seems like a rotating basis, a couple of stripes and together with his pal "Mulverhill" (Keenan Wynn) gets into a multitude of scrapes as the US Army traverses the French countryside. They have a get rich quick scheme for just about everything, but their ordinarily harmonised rapport starts to struggle when one starts to make a few bucks at the expense of his pal! Chill Wills adds a little gravitas to this pretty chaotic military operation as their tolerant, but frequently frustrated, sergeant and there's a tiny bit of glamour sparingly provided by the shockingly wooden Jean Porter but for the most part this is one of those procedural feel-good features that relies on the scenario and a hint of slapstick to get it through. Walker and Wynn do gel quite well but they are just going through the motions of something we have seen plenty of times before. Doubtless it cheered the war-weary audience at the drive-in in 1945, but it's not a film you will ever remember watching.