Post by StevePulaski on Apr 3, 2017 13:06:28 GMT -5
The Fighting 69th (1940)
Directed by: William Keighley
Directed by: William Keighley
James Cagney.
Rating: ★★½
Streetwise, smart-ass Irishman Jerry Plunkett (James Cagney) enlists in the first World War with a confidence unmatched by any of the soldiers around him and that's his conviction that America will be able to defeat the Germans without any issue whatsoever. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Plunkett is placed alongside several other Irish soldiers in the Rainbow Division, which came to be known by its nickname "The Fighting 69th," and particularly draws the attention of his chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy (Pat O'Brien). Father Duffy believes that Plunkett is one of the many tough-talking bad apples that sneaks into the war with a cocksure attitude only to have it dialed down upon being involved in combat.
Father Duffy is correct to some degree. Plunkett's first experience on the frontlines is an epic failure that gets him and his camp ambushed and several soldiers killed in the process. All of this gets him court-martialed by Sgt. "Big Mike" Wynn (Alan Hale, Sr.) and Major Donovan (George Brent), who believe they've seen all that Plunkett is - a petty distraction with no competence when it comes to excelling at any task that requires any kind of skill. But Father Duffy still has faith in Plunkett, who he sees as a product of his working class life back home, and still believes in redemption for the man even if it comes after the death of Sgt. Wynn's closest comrades.
The Fighting 69th is a gruff and curt war movie, from the same actor/director duo of James Cagney and William Keighley that made 'G' Men and The Bride Came C.O.D., both bigger hits than this more low-key work. It's a war film with attitude to match the britches of Cagney's Plunkett character, and it's a role he embodies with his trademark attributes of being hard-edged and blunt. Alongside Pat O'Brien - another one of Cagney's frequent collaborators, Cagney is comfortable and The Fighting 69th is a film that shows what kind of film comes to fruition when actors and a crew are operating in their mutual comfort zone.
The result is a mildly amusing, if safe, venture into wartime antics. The period-specific A-listers assume roles they've been known to play with talent, and use their chops to aid a pretty serviceable script with pedestrian direction. If The Fighting 69th is blatantly flawed in any way, it's that it feels too ordinary or indiscernible, especially given the onslaught of World War II films that would be released around the same time and after this film was released. Early films of this genre, especially films like this, have a hard time becoming distinguishable with time given their aggressively formulaic approach narratively and structurally.
The Fighting 69th is carried by Cagney and his cocky character archetype, both of whom among the shortlist in the ever-growing encyclopedia of workable movie types, and the end result is to us what the project likely was in the eyes of those who made it - comfort food for those who needed something proven to work and proven to be communicable to audiences. The great thing for Cagney and company, in that case, is that the smile of a smartass and the sound of gunshots are timeless tropes well-understood in all languages.
Starring: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Alan Hale, Sr., and George Brent. Directed by: William Keighley.