HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO (1944) B/W 101m dir: Preston Sturges

w/Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines, William Demarest, Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Bill Edwards, Elizabeth Patterson, Jimmie Dundee, Georgia Caine, Alan Bridge, James Damore, Freddie Steele

Riotous wartime comedy about what happens when a young man who's classified as 4-F (Bracken) contrives a history for himself as a heroic Marine.

From The Movie Guide: "The premiere comedy writer-director of 1940s Hollywood strikes again! Preston Sturges satirizes home-front American patriotism run amuck during WWII. All the sacred cows of the era --- heroic fathers, loving moms, battle fatigue --- are milked for laughs in this fast-paced comedy. ...

"Who else but this brilliant iconoclast would have dared to make this kind of counter-heroic comedy very near the end of World War II? Supporting the very funny Bracken is a cast composed mostly of Sturges's stock people --- Demarest, Pangborn, Walburn and others --- all of them outstanding. HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, putting Sturges in competition with himself for the award since he was also nominated for his script for THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK."