weezeralfalfa Review of The Fighting 69th

The Fighting 69th (1940)

NYC's famous 69th Infantry Regiment is stocked with Irish,including Cagney

[7/10 · 25 May 2019]

One of several films released in the early years of WWII that served to ready the American people for another European war, by remembering aspects of WWI or songs composed then that related to soldiers. James Cagney was the lead character in the present film, as well as the later "Yankee Doodle Dandy" Another that comes to mind is "Sergeant York" The present film served to illustrate some of the horrors of that war, and what it could do to the minds of men. In "Sergeant York", Gary Cooper's main hang-up was that he was a conscientious objector, based on the commandment that "Thou shall not kill". However, his superiors eventually persuaded him that, in killing Germans, he was saving the lives of Allied soldiers as well as civilians...........In the present film, Cagney, a street tough, enters the army with an attitude that he is something special, who doesn't need to toe the line all the time. Naturally, this attitude makes him unpopular with the officers as well as his fellow inductees. Yet , he persists in this behavior during induction, and basic training, as well as after his unit is sent to France. In fact, he was much like the soldier that Cagney portrayed in the later "The West Point Story". Incidentally, at age 40, Cagney was a little old to still be a street fighter or, in fact, to be an army inductee. It was soon Christmas time, and Cagney passed up the opportunity, which all his buddy's took, of taking part in singing Christmas carols in church. He thought this was dumb. Father Duffy, who was the chaplain for his outfit, suggested that, in refusing to take part in activities, Cagney was passing up the opportunity of developing companionships, which normal soldiers found important in maintaining their sanity.........While manning a trench, Cagney impulsively reacted to German machine gun fire by firing a flare ,then throwing a grenade. He wasn't supposed to fire a flare unless instructed to do so. As a result, the Germans knew exactly where his unit was, and a number of his company were killed. This didn't seem to bother him too much. But, he began to display apparent cowardice in moving back behind the frontline. The company commander, Bill Donovan(George Brent) scolds him. He complains about the constant terror, and noise, and seeing his buddies shot to pieces. One day, he breaks down in a panic and screams, thus alerting the Germans. As a result, a number in his company were killed. He is court martialed (which we don't see), and confined to a room, while awaiting execution in the morning. However, a German bombardment destroyed part of his room, allowing him to escape. Surprisingly, Father Duffy(Pat O'Brien ) tells him that he is free to do what he wants! He heads back to his unit and begins to take part in the operation. He comes upon a trench mortar and an injured soldier ((Alan Hale, as Big Mike) near it. He asks instructions on using the mortar, and fires quite a few shells, aiming for a barbed wire fence, which is destroyed, thus allowing his company to move through. But, soon, a grenade lands by him, and he falls on it to prevent injury or death to Big Mike. He calls on Father Duffy to perform last rites on him, having 'got religion' recently. It's concluded that he wasn't a coward , after all.........There's a superabundance of combat scenes, including many explosions near the soldiers. Don't know how they did this without injuries. Occasionally, the roof or beams of their shelter collapse from a shell. In one incident, their trench headquarters is hit, burying quite a few who were not saved. This was based on an actual event........Back during basic training, a unit from Alabama moved in next to them. Pretty soon, they were arguing about a Civil War battle, tempers raged and pretty soon, there was a big brawl, finally squelched by Major Donavan, who lectures them that we are all Americans. Presumably, Cagney's Plunkett is an extreme case of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, but I'm sure that deserters and AWOL soldiers have been a significant problem in most wars.