Clockwork Soldiers
A small-town boy with hay fever becomes an unwilling hero in Preston Sturges' 1944 satire on mindless worship.
Hail the Conquering Hero is a 1944 American satirical comedy-drama film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, and William Demarest. It was the eighth and final film Sturges made for Paramount Pictures before his contract expired, though The Great Moment was released afterward. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Sturges received a 1945 Academy Award nomination for his screenplay, and many critics regard it as one of his best works. The film features a supporting cast including Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson, Bill Edwards, and Freddie Steele.
Lore & Background
Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith is a small town boy whose father was a Marine who died a hero in World War I. Discharged from the Marine Corps after only a month due to chronic hay fever, Woodrow pretends to be fighting overseas while secretly working in a San Diego shipyard to avoid disappointing his mother. In a chance encounter at a bar, he buys drinks for six Marines returning from the Battle of Guadalcanal, led by Master Gunnery Sergeant Heffelfinger, who had served with Woodrow's father.
One Marine telephones Woodrow's mother about his medical discharge, escalating the charade when Heffelfinger makes Woodrow swap coats with a Marine wearing 1st Marine Division and Pacific Theatre medals. Upon stepping off the train, the town turns out to greet him as a hero just as an election approaches, forcing him into a mayoral race against Mayor Noble. Complicating matters, his girlfriend Libby has engaged herself to the mayor's son, Forrest Noble.
Reader's Guide
Sturges designed the film as a small-scale production, though Paramount wanted Ella Raines replaced before filming started because they felt she lacked box-office draw and did not look like a small-town girl. Sturges refused, stating that throwing her off after publicity would ruin her career. The studio also balked at his repeated use of the same bit actors, known as his "stock company," but Sturges insisted they had a "moral right to work in my subsequent pictures."
Although the War Department reviewed the script for military matters, requested revisions were minor. The film features two original songs by Sturges: "Home to the Arms of Mother" and "We Want Woodrow," alongside tracks like "Have I Stayed Away Too Long" and excerpts from Handel's Judas Maccabeus. It was released on video on November 15, 1990, on laserdisc on October 26, 1994, re-released on video June 30, 1993, and on DVD in the Preston Sturges - The Filmmaker Collection set on November 21, 2006. Leslie Halliwell gave it three of four stars.
Did You Know?
- Preston Sturges returned to direct retakes unpaid from April 7 to April 11, 1944, after an unsuccessful preview.
- A billboard advertising The Miracle of Morgan's Creek appears behind Marines leaving Oakdale station.
- Ella Raines was kept in the role despite Paramount's concerns about her box-office draw, as Sturges refused to replace her after filming began.
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