You have to keep your eyes open to see John Ford as a motivating force behind this slender but still successful comedy. If it weren't for the rituals -- civil and military -- and the booze, well, it would be hard to tell.
Dan Dailey is the first man from Punxatawy, West Virginia, to enlist after Pearl Harbor but his boyish thirst for action goes unslaked when he is posted as a gunnery instructor at a local airfield. Two years pass, during which the townspeople who were so proud of him become used to his always hanging around while the war goes on elsewhere. (Some hero.) Despite his insistence, the Air Force will not give him combat duty. Instead he collects stripes and good conduct medals at home. His father, William Demarest, is frankly irritated with him.
Suddenly Dailey is assigned to a B-17 bound for England, as a last-minute replacement for a crew member. The plane runs out of fuel and Dailey accidentally bails out over France instead of England. Here he is picked up and quizzed by the maquis in the person of Corrine Calvet, tempting as creme brulee. She gives him some important film about the German V-2 rocket sites and, to get him through German lines, pretends to marry him during a loud party. He drinks too much wine and the next morning is hustled aboard a British Motor Torpedo Boat suffering from lack of sleep and a calamitous hangover. The crew of the MTB believe he's sea sick and force feed him a tot of rum which mostly spills down his chest. He delivers the film to the astounded authorities in England. He can barely keep awake so they give him a belt of scotch to revive him. He's immediately flown back to Washington, crowded behind the pilot in a P-38. He's groggy from lack of sleep so the pilot gives him a shot of cognac which Dailey feebly pushes away. During his report to General Marshall, he mumbles and weaves before passing out, so they try to give him some bourbon to revive him before he is whisked away to a hospital. By this time, Dailey is incoherent and the physicians try to put him in a straight jacket before he manages an escape. He makes it back to Punxatawny on a freight train, staggers to his home and begins to crawl in through the kitchen window. His father mistakes him for a burglar and whops him over the head with a night stick. To revive him, his mother gives him a glass of cooking sherry. Mistaking it for milk, Dailey takes a gulp or two then spews out the rest all over the floor. All is resolved and Dailey is to be given a medal by the president. As he is being flown away, the CO of the local airfield smiles and says, "Remind me to give that boy a good conduct medal." It's nothing like the comic interludes of "What Price Glory," more amusing than funny. Dailey worked with Ford on two other pictures and there are a few familiar faces here and there -- Jack Pennick as a drill sergeant. It's never slow. The pace is fast but somehow feels forced, as if Ford were anxious to get through it and begin something that interested him more.
A lot depends on Dan Dailey as the central figure, and actually he's pretty good. He never seems to have found a niche in Hollywood. He was tall and was a decent hoofer but was mostly confined to supporting roles or as part of an ensemble. His acting style was bluff and straightforward but perhaps he didn't have the face of a leading man. And he didn't grow into an interesting character actor either. All of it a minor puzzle. Ford didn't provide much help. All of Ford's movies had comic elements in them but, like Alfred Hitchcock, his essays at pure comedy, like "Donovan's Reef," didn't quite click. Comedy was Howard Hawks territory.
It's worth seeing, this movie, a perky and good-natured comedy.
Dan Dailey is the first man from Punxatawy, West Virginia, to enlist after Pearl Harbor but his boyish thirst for action goes unslaked when he is posted as a gunnery instructor at a local airfield. Two years pass, during which the townspeople who were so proud of him become used to his always hanging around while the war goes on elsewhere. (Some hero.) Despite his insistence, the Air Force will not give him combat duty. Instead he collects stripes and good conduct medals at home. His father, William Demarest, is frankly irritated with him.
Suddenly Dailey is assigned to a B-17 bound for England, as a last-minute replacement for a crew member. The plane runs out of fuel and Dailey accidentally bails out over France instead of England. Here he is picked up and quizzed by the maquis in the person of Corrine Calvet, tempting as creme brulee. She gives him some important film about the German V-2 rocket sites and, to get him through German lines, pretends to marry him during a loud party. He drinks too much wine and the next morning is hustled aboard a British Motor Torpedo Boat suffering from lack of sleep and a calamitous hangover. The crew of the MTB believe he's sea sick and force feed him a tot of rum which mostly spills down his chest. He delivers the film to the astounded authorities in England. He can barely keep awake so they give him a belt of scotch to revive him. He's immediately flown back to Washington, crowded behind the pilot in a P-38. He's groggy from lack of sleep so the pilot gives him a shot of cognac which Dailey feebly pushes away. During his report to General Marshall, he mumbles and weaves before passing out, so they try to give him some bourbon to revive him before he is whisked away to a hospital. By this time, Dailey is incoherent and the physicians try to put him in a straight jacket before he manages an escape. He makes it back to Punxatawny on a freight train, staggers to his home and begins to crawl in through the kitchen window. His father mistakes him for a burglar and whops him over the head with a night stick. To revive him, his mother gives him a glass of cooking sherry. Mistaking it for milk, Dailey takes a gulp or two then spews out the rest all over the floor. All is resolved and Dailey is to be given a medal by the president. As he is being flown away, the CO of the local airfield smiles and says, "Remind me to give that boy a good conduct medal." It's nothing like the comic interludes of "What Price Glory," more amusing than funny. Dailey worked with Ford on two other pictures and there are a few familiar faces here and there -- Jack Pennick as a drill sergeant. It's never slow. The pace is fast but somehow feels forced, as if Ford were anxious to get through it and begin something that interested him more.
A lot depends on Dan Dailey as the central figure, and actually he's pretty good. He never seems to have found a niche in Hollywood. He was tall and was a decent hoofer but was mostly confined to supporting roles or as part of an ensemble. His acting style was bluff and straightforward but perhaps he didn't have the face of a leading man. And he didn't grow into an interesting character actor either. All of it a minor puzzle. Ford didn't provide much help. All of Ford's movies had comic elements in them but, like Alfred Hitchcock, his essays at pure comedy, like "Donovan's Reef," didn't quite click. Comedy was Howard Hawks territory.
It's worth seeing, this movie, a perky and good-natured comedy.