We know John Ford's work, he is, after all, a legend. When moving to Hollywood to make "Citizen Kane," young Orson Welles was asked the names of the three greatest film directors of all time. Without hesitation Welles said: "John Ford, John Ford and John Ford." Why then is there a great Ford film that many folks cannot name? It was made made in 1950 when so many other directors were coming to the fore, and was not an epic. That does not stop the film from being a fun little comedy.
What might, in other hands, have been a trifling little service comedy is in reality a look at what the reality of heroism and the social phenomenon of celebrity.
Here we find William Klugg (Dan Daily) being the first to enlist in his little town after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He is treated as a hero and goes off to train, but when he is posted it is in a new air field in his own home town. Now he is seen as a goldbrick and slacker. He will do anything to go overseas, but he is the best trainer they have and will not let him go. When a opportunity presents itself he is put into a tailspin that will result in his being a hero, but not in anyway that he or anyone else would have expected.
Here is the cast:
Dan Dailey . . . William 'Bill' Kluggs
Corinne Calvet . . . Yvonne Le Tete
Colleen Townsend . . . Marjorie 'Marge' Fettles
William Demarest . . . Herman Kluggs
Jimmy Lydon . . . Charles 'Charlie' Fettles
Lloyd Corrigan . . . Maj. Adams
Evelyn Varden . . . Mrs. Gertrude Kluggs
This is one that you will remember, and perhaps, see a lot more to than the original viewing audience could percieve.
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