Hail the Conquering Hero
Preston Sturges was something of an American original. He had a wit, intelligence, and ear for humor that was (and in some ways still is) unsurpassed in comedy. This one tells the story of a small town boy during the second world war, who was discharged from the Marines for chronic hay fever. Since then he has been working in a ship yard and writing letter and making his mother think that he has been fighting at Guadalcanal and other such battles. One night he runs into six Marines who take him back home where, to his surprise, the town receives him as a great hero. Soon they even have him running for mayor. Sturges throws it out fast and furious and makes you keep up. It has a kind of patriotism that was probably taken for granted at the time, but then again, it's just as much a satire of patriotism and hero worship as it is a vehicle for it. As enjoyable as it is at times, it's also one of Sturges' more naive films. It lacks the sophistication and the flavor that made his best films seem far ahead of their time. But this one lives in the 1940's.
posted by Clint @ 8:32 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I have to disagree with you on this one, Clint. Didn't you call it an intelligent satire? How, then, can you call it naïve and unsophisticated in the same breath? As you already observed, Sturges' film is a product of the 40s, but it is also light-years ahead of its time (not merely for its satire of small town jingoism, but for its energy, its verbal density, and its comic timing). As James Agee put it, "It tells a story so touching, so chock-full of human frailties and so rich in homely detail that it achieves a reality transcending the limitations of its familiar slapstick." Pay attention to the very last shot; it gives the whole thing away. As far as I'm concerned, this is Sturges' masterpiece.
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