Product Details

• Actors: Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, Raymond Walburn, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 1, 1992
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301805046
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,806 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Preston Sturges' screwball comedy about hero worship, June 7, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hail the Conquering Hero [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Preston Sturges' 1944 farce "Hail the Conquering Hero" tells the story of Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken), who is discharged from the Marines because he has Hay Fever. Ashamed to go home, Woodrow meets up with Sergeant Heppelfinger (William Demarest), a decorated Marine hero from Guadalcanal, who decide the boy should return home as a hero. Woodrow returns home where the entire town shows up to greet the "conquering hero" and end up nominating him for Mayor. Of course, Woodrow becomes more and more uncomfortable with the way things are going and feelings compelled to do the right thing.

On the one hand, because this is Preston Sturges we realize this film is a rather pointed examination of the cult of hero worship that can spring up around mere mortals. Then again, you can simply take this as a variation on the old mistaken identity routine in an above-average screwball comedy. Bracken's performance is at the heart of either interpretation and it is impossible not to feel sorry for the guy, who never really wanted to go along with this ploy in the first place. Sturges employed a host of his regulars, such as Raymond Walburn and Franklin Pangborn, but newcomer Ella Raines as Libby, the girl Woodrow left behind, really shines through (think Cathy O'Donnell in "The Best Years of Our Lives"). This is not one of the films that immediately comes to mind when you think of Preston Sturges, but he rarely disappoints you with any of his films.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps Sturges most neglected masterpiece, December 27, 2002

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hail the Conquering Hero [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Between 1940 and 1944, Preston Sturges was on a role. He wrote and directed seven absolutely stellar comedies before he lost the magical touch that had made his one of the great comedy screenwriters of the 1930s and directors of the early 1940s. This was the last of that stellar run.

The premise is simple. Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith, magnificently portrayed by Eddie Bracken, is discharged from the marines because of hay fever, but is too ashamed to return home. Instead, he fakes a military career, having people mail home letters from abroad to make his friends and family and girlfriend all believe he is in combat. When a group of marines hear about his situation, they compassionately decide to return him to his hometown as a war hero. The bulk of the film deals with the misunderstandings that arise from this pretence.

HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO has all the marks of Sturges's best work: lightening paced dialog, a huge cast of talented character actors (most familiar from other Sturges films), and multiple layers of action in scene after scene. The ensemble cast truly excels in this film. No one, however, stands out more than William Demarest, who did almost all his greatest work in Sturges films.

For some reason, this film does not seem to be shown as often as most of Sturges best films, and even some lesser films get shown more frequently. But this is absolutely first rate Sturges, and anyone enjoying THE LADY EVE or SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS or THE PALM BEACH STORY will find just as much to love in this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Opportunity has only one hair on its head - Grab it!", January 30, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hail the Conquering Hero [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Top-notch Preston Sturges comedy about patriotism and small-town politics. Eddie Bracken plays the son of a WW I marine hero who has joined up for WW II with high hopes for glory, only to be discharged for hay fever. Embarrassed to go home to his mother and sweetheart (Ella Rains), he meets six marines in a bar one night (led by William Demerest) and before he knows what hit him, he's on his way home a decorated war hero (thanks to the snow job concocted by Demerest). The town goes ga-ga and ends up electing him mayor. He finally straightens things out at the end, but in the meantime we are treated to some of the best Sturges exploding humor on screen. The entire Sturges stock company is on hand, and especially good are Raymond Walburn as the windbag mayor Bracken defeats, Freddie Steele as a mother-loving marine, and, of course, Demerest. Brilliant fare, this is Sturges in peak form.

IT'S A CRYING SHAME THERE'S NO DVD OF THIS YET. COME ON!!