Hail the Conquering Hero
Hail the Conquering Hero

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- 76/100 based on 5,002 votes

Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge. They make him wear a uniform complete with medals and is p... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Hail the Conquering Hero:

Eddie Bracken
Ella Raines
Raymond Walburn
William Demarest
Franklin Pangborn
Elizabeth Patterson

Full Plot Details

Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge. They make him wear a uniform complete with medals and is pushed by his new friends into accepting a Hero's welcome when he gets home where he is to be immortalized by a statue that he doesn't want, has songs written about his heroic battle stories, and ends up unwillingly running for mayor. Despite his best efforts to explain the truth, no one will listen.

Review & Comments

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Movie Reviews

Time Out - 10/10 by Tom MilneWonderful satire on small-town jingoism, all the more remarkable in that it was made during World War II.
EmanuelLevy.Com - 9/10 by Emanuel LevySturges turns upside down the conventions of Hollywood's small-town film: His characters' eccentricity is meant to show the more multifarious and resourceful nature of folks who appear to be bland and ordinary.
Austin Chronicle - 8/10 by Marjorie BaumgartenSturges veteran Demarest is at his peak here, as is Bracken, whose desperation is hysterical.
Variety - 6/10 by Variety StaffThe deft hand of Preston Sturges molded this film, further proof that he is one of the industry's best writer-directors.
Ozus' World Movie Reviews - 6/10 by Dennis Schwartzmoves beyond slapstick as it's skillfully and energetically put together to tell much about Americana.
The Nation - 4/10 by James AgeeIt is a bewilderingly skillful picture, and the skill is used no more brilliantly to tell the story than to cover up the story's weaknesses and those of its author, Preston Sturges.
User Review - 10/10 by Katie SPainfully funny--a welcome relief from Hollywood flagwaving.
User Review - 10/10 by Jason LThere is one particular scene in this film where Eddie Bracken's character has nightmares on being stationed in the war front. A soldier who is outside his door comforts him for his nightmare, but also critisizes him for not experiencing the war front. This soldier emphasizes how many personnelle from war come home psychologically mortified and are unable to cope with the horrors they had seen on the battleground. I found this scene a spectacular surprise within quite a raging comedy. Preston Surges' "Hail the Conquering Hero" is one of the most underrated, finest comedies of the 1940's. It balances funniness, romance, and tenderness into one go. The film passes by very quickly, as a small town mistakes Eddie Bracken as a returning soldier, thanks to a prank from six real soldiers from a bar into another town. He had actually been discharged a year earlier for chronic hay fever, of all things. Events get way out of control as result. It is scathing, dramatic, smart, and joyous movie. It is also one of two notable great films from 1944 that uses a pretty B-cast (the other one being "Laura"), of which the main actors are not A-stars (such as Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, etc.). The script is terrific. Nice Preston Sturges film!
User Review - 10/10 by Ashley HHail the Conquering Hero is a brilliant film. It is about a Marine who discharged for a hayfever condition but fabricates a story about his time in the Marine Corp. Eddie Bracken and Ella Raines give excellent performances. The script is well written. Preston Sturges did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the humor. Hail the Conquering Hero is a must see.
User Review - 10/10 by Adrian BThere is one particular scene in this film where Eddie Bracken's character has nightmares on being stationed in the war front. A soldier who is outside his door comforts him for his nightmare, but also critisizes him for not experiencing the war front. This soldier emphasizes how many personnelle from war come home psychologically mortified and are unable to cope with the horrors they had seen on the battleground. I found this scene a spectacular surprise within quite a raging comedy. Preston Surges' "Hail the Conquering Hero" is one of the most underrated, finest comedies of the 1940's. It balances funniness, romance, and tenderness into one go. The film passes by very quickly, as a small town mistakes Eddie Bracken as a returning soldier, thanks to a prank from six real soldiers from a bar into another town. He had actually been discharged a year earlier for chronic hay fever, of all things. Events get way out of control as result. It is scathing, dramatic, smart, and joyous movie. It is also one of two notable great films from 1944 that uses a pretty B-cast (the other one being "Laura"), of which the main actors are not A-stars (such as Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, etc.). The script is terrific. Nice Preston Sturges film!

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