This unjustly neglected comedy is a variation on Preston Sturges's HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO. The first half, while well-acted and fluently directed, suffers from the comparison, especially with Sturges regular William Demarest playing a major role. However, about halfway through, the plot takes an original and unexpected twist, revealing that the first part was actually an ironic set-up for something funnier. Dan Dailey is fine as the endlessly frustrated soldier, Corinne Calvet looks absolutely stunning, and John Ford keeps everything moving.
17 Reviews
quite funny, and typically fordian
j-cf4 October 2005
Nobody can say that this is a masterpiece, because this picture was made by John Ford. And, as everyone knows, John Ford can't make a good comedy... This is all rubbish!! This is a good entertaining fordian reflexion about war, patriotism and life (in the army or in a provincial town). Ford is not an aggressive filmmaker like could have been Sturges (by the way, I love Sturges too, but for different reasons), and his look at his characters is tender, full of compassion and amusement, even if the main subject (war) is not funny, a fact which is here quite explicit. Ford knows the weakness points of his compatriots, but denounces them without anger. He is part of America, and is clever enough to know it and not to take everything too seriously. Any Ford's movie is, in some way or another, a comedy. That's his stuff, and even his most somber dramas are kind of comedies. See the cavalry trilogy, or even "how green...": in every Ford movie a character (most often, several) plays a funny-tender part. That's Ford's universe, with his highlights and his lousy pictures. This one is quite in the middle, so definitely worth watching!!!
Modest Comedy From Ford.
rmax30482320 May 2008
Warning: Spoilers
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.
The fastest promoted NCO in the history of the Army
SimonJack6 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"When Willie Comes Marching Home" is quite a strange movie. It's a comedy, family, romance and war film. One suspects its purpose, at least initially and coming as it does five years after the end of World War II, might be to recognize the men who served during the war but were on the home front. Regardless of all the support jobs that women filled at home, there nevertheless were thousands of men needed for training, supply, shipping, testing and certifying equipment and armament, coordinating, plotting, planning, etc.
While there no doubt were some men who thought they should be so lucky, Dan Dailey's Bill Kluggs was not one of them. He was the red- blooded, All-American type of guy who wanted to do his part for his country, prove his mettle and fight for the freedom of the world. Of course, anyone who hasn't lived through that time shouldn't knock that. So, he's the first guy to enlist in his hometown after Pearl Harbor.
But, wouldn't you know it – Kluggs is one of those guys destined to stay stateside. And, it's not by the luck of the draw. Most of the guys in gunnery training around him get sent to units going into the war. Kluggs is held back for the best of reasons – he's the best marksmen and gunner they've ever had in aircraft gunnery training. So, the Army Air Corps needed the best to train the rest to have the best results. Only Kluggs doesn't quite see it that way.
Then the script throws in some goofy twists that have Kluggs in and out of the war, without any sleep over four days, plied with liquor to keep him awake, and finally collapsing back home. During this short time he flies to England, bails out of a plane over France, gets caught by the underground, witnesses a German test of the V-1 rocket, smuggles the film to England, flies to Washington D.C., gives a report several times to brass in the pentagon, gets hospitalized for lack of sleep, gets committed to a psychiatric ward, and finally escapes to flee back home. The movie has a happy ending, of course. And all of the above takes place in just a couple of years, because the movie ends with the war still going on and D-Day in Normandy still on the horizon. Well, so much for the recognition of the guys who served at home. This wacky stuff is supposed to be the comedy that makes the audience laugh, but somehow I doubt that it tickled many funny bones.
Beside the outlandishness of that scenario, Kluggs get rewarded every time he approaches a commanding officer to request combat duty. Succeeding officers see to it that he gets a Good Conduct medal and promoted. So, in just two years' time, Kluggs advances eight grades to master sergeant. That would have to be a record. And, he must have as many Good Conduct medals. Not be too picky about this, but the Good Conduct medal could only be given once for every three years of active duty, except that during wartime it could be awarded for one year of active duty. Kluggs makes a comment about having so many oak leaf clusters on his Good Conduct medal. Each time an award is presented a second time, a GI earns a bronze oak leaf cluster. Five of those will get one a silver oak leaf cluster. I don't know if the brass could get the regulations waived to get Kluggs all those Good Conduct medals, but at best he shouldn't have been able to have earned more than two Good Conduct medals – for two years of active duty.
If this were a Jerry Lewis film, one could go along with the overly outlandish. But Dan Dailey is a red-blooded town hero whom everyone loves. Daily does a good job as a frustrated GI trying to see some action. The rest of the cast are OK, but nothing special. John Ford directs a nice film. But, the exaggeration in promotions and medals for humor, make the script seem more ridiculous than funny.
While there no doubt were some men who thought they should be so lucky, Dan Dailey's Bill Kluggs was not one of them. He was the red- blooded, All-American type of guy who wanted to do his part for his country, prove his mettle and fight for the freedom of the world. Of course, anyone who hasn't lived through that time shouldn't knock that. So, he's the first guy to enlist in his hometown after Pearl Harbor.
But, wouldn't you know it – Kluggs is one of those guys destined to stay stateside. And, it's not by the luck of the draw. Most of the guys in gunnery training around him get sent to units going into the war. Kluggs is held back for the best of reasons – he's the best marksmen and gunner they've ever had in aircraft gunnery training. So, the Army Air Corps needed the best to train the rest to have the best results. Only Kluggs doesn't quite see it that way.
Then the script throws in some goofy twists that have Kluggs in and out of the war, without any sleep over four days, plied with liquor to keep him awake, and finally collapsing back home. During this short time he flies to England, bails out of a plane over France, gets caught by the underground, witnesses a German test of the V-1 rocket, smuggles the film to England, flies to Washington D.C., gives a report several times to brass in the pentagon, gets hospitalized for lack of sleep, gets committed to a psychiatric ward, and finally escapes to flee back home. The movie has a happy ending, of course. And all of the above takes place in just a couple of years, because the movie ends with the war still going on and D-Day in Normandy still on the horizon. Well, so much for the recognition of the guys who served at home. This wacky stuff is supposed to be the comedy that makes the audience laugh, but somehow I doubt that it tickled many funny bones.
Beside the outlandishness of that scenario, Kluggs get rewarded every time he approaches a commanding officer to request combat duty. Succeeding officers see to it that he gets a Good Conduct medal and promoted. So, in just two years' time, Kluggs advances eight grades to master sergeant. That would have to be a record. And, he must have as many Good Conduct medals. Not be too picky about this, but the Good Conduct medal could only be given once for every three years of active duty, except that during wartime it could be awarded for one year of active duty. Kluggs makes a comment about having so many oak leaf clusters on his Good Conduct medal. Each time an award is presented a second time, a GI earns a bronze oak leaf cluster. Five of those will get one a silver oak leaf cluster. I don't know if the brass could get the regulations waived to get Kluggs all those Good Conduct medals, but at best he shouldn't have been able to have earned more than two Good Conduct medals – for two years of active duty.
If this were a Jerry Lewis film, one could go along with the overly outlandish. But Dan Dailey is a red-blooded town hero whom everyone loves. Daily does a good job as a frustrated GI trying to see some action. The rest of the cast are OK, but nothing special. John Ford directs a nice film. But, the exaggeration in promotions and medals for humor, make the script seem more ridiculous than funny.
Unjustly overlooked (and unfairly chopped up) Ford semi masterwork.
martylee13045burlsink34215 January 2012
This unheralded opus from one of our greatest directors seems both oddly timed, (5 years after the end of combat in WWII), and unfortunately truncated. The thankfully preserved out-takes presented as deleted scenes on the DVD reveal that this may have been intended as Ford's only full fledged musical....which would have stood in strong contrast to his magnum opuses of this period (the beloved cavalry trilogy)...
As it stands the finished edit is shockingly good on all accounts...full of the director's astonishing eye for human detail and subtle performance. It plays like a slightly warmer hearted Preston Sturges wartime wacky fest (with William Demarest cementing the connection by almost reprising his great role in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek".
The few numbers that remain are a tantalizing glimpse of how delightful a longer cut would have been...and the (incomplete) outtakes are both delicious and heartbreaking...
One has to wonder who decided to edit the film down...and how much more successful (and remembered) it might have been as Ford's big wartime set musical...
As it stands the finished edit is shockingly good on all accounts...full of the director's astonishing eye for human detail and subtle performance. It plays like a slightly warmer hearted Preston Sturges wartime wacky fest (with William Demarest cementing the connection by almost reprising his great role in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek".
The few numbers that remain are a tantalizing glimpse of how delightful a longer cut would have been...and the (incomplete) outtakes are both delicious and heartbreaking...
One has to wonder who decided to edit the film down...and how much more successful (and remembered) it might have been as Ford's big wartime set musical...
Piling Up Good Conduct Medals
bkoganbing25 May 2011
Although John Ford put in some touches that would make When Willie Comes Marching Home an identifiable Ford film, the film while good will never be considered in his top ten. It's more like the kind of service comedy Bob Hope would have done over at Paramount.
Dan Dailey is in the lead here and this would be the first of three films he did for John Ford, the other two being What Price Glory and The Wings Of Eagles. It's also the only one where we saw any of Dan Dailey's singing and dancing talents on display in a number.
Dailey who hails from Punxatawney, West Virginia is having as typical a Sunday as one would have been having in America on December 7, 1941. He's rehearsing with the band he plays trombone in when news of Pearl Harbor comes over the radio. His father William Demarest is head of the Punxatawney American Legion Post and as luck would have it Dailey is the first man drafted in the town.
But he turns out to be so skilled a marksman that he's needed as an instructor. And wouldn't you know it he's stationed at a new base near the old home town where everyone sees everyone else being shipped off to war. It plays havoc with your ego, even his girlfriend Colleen Townsend has her doubts especially since her brother was shipped off to the Pacific.
But within a week fortune both frowns and smiles on Dailey. He gets assigned as a belly gunner in a B-17 crew, gets shot down over France, meets beautiful resistance leader Corinne Calvet and performs a deed that might just change the course of the war. How that all works out you'll have to see When Willie Comes Marching Home.
I wasn't expecting to see Dailey sing and dance, but that's always a treat. He handles the comedy well, but Ford does not do comedy pictures. He's got a lot of rough house comedy in some of his best work, but they're not the center of the plot. This film would have also been better had a director like George Marshall or Frank Tashlin been at the helm. And while Dailey is good, Bob Hope would have made this a classic.
Dan Dailey is in the lead here and this would be the first of three films he did for John Ford, the other two being What Price Glory and The Wings Of Eagles. It's also the only one where we saw any of Dan Dailey's singing and dancing talents on display in a number.
Dailey who hails from Punxatawney, West Virginia is having as typical a Sunday as one would have been having in America on December 7, 1941. He's rehearsing with the band he plays trombone in when news of Pearl Harbor comes over the radio. His father William Demarest is head of the Punxatawney American Legion Post and as luck would have it Dailey is the first man drafted in the town.
But he turns out to be so skilled a marksman that he's needed as an instructor. And wouldn't you know it he's stationed at a new base near the old home town where everyone sees everyone else being shipped off to war. It plays havoc with your ego, even his girlfriend Colleen Townsend has her doubts especially since her brother was shipped off to the Pacific.
But within a week fortune both frowns and smiles on Dailey. He gets assigned as a belly gunner in a B-17 crew, gets shot down over France, meets beautiful resistance leader Corinne Calvet and performs a deed that might just change the course of the war. How that all works out you'll have to see When Willie Comes Marching Home.
I wasn't expecting to see Dailey sing and dance, but that's always a treat. He handles the comedy well, but Ford does not do comedy pictures. He's got a lot of rough house comedy in some of his best work, but they're not the center of the plot. This film would have also been better had a director like George Marshall or Frank Tashlin been at the helm. And while Dailey is good, Bob Hope would have made this a classic.
Best WW 2 Comedy Ever Made - When Willie Comes Marching Home
arthur_tafero14 September 2022
It was very hard to make a good comedy about such a tragic event as WW 2, but this film succeeds at it, somehow. With a wonderful performance by leading man, Dan Dailey, and great supporting roles by a bevy of fine B actors, the film is even superior to Hail the Conquering Hero. I will not go into the convoluted, but hilarious, plot of the film, but suffice it to say, the movie does not take off for the first twenty minutes or so. Be patient; it will go from zero to sixty in the final fifty minutes. Be sure to catch this underrated gem of a soldier who has trouble getting into action, and even more trouble getting out of it.
Never seen it before---And LOVED IT!!!
elskootero-112 December 2007
I saw this movie for the first time at 2:30 AM on TCM and loved it. It was a little hard to follow, not seeming like a comedy or drama, but it showed it's true color quickly, and was great. Dan Daley was fabulous as the somewhat goofy GI perpetually stuck assigned to his hometown, yet wanting to go overseas, and Corinne Calvet WOW! What a babe! And the actress who played his girlfriend-also WOW! The whole cast was great, and the plot funny and workable, once you give it a chance. I can't wait to get this one on DVD, so I can see Vera Miles, another super-babe, in her first, if brief movie role. See this one if and when you can, it's worth the time!!!
Fair Ford
Michael_Elliott28 February 2008
When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)
** (out of 4)
John Ford's comedy about a man (Dan Dailey) who joins the Army to become a war hero but he ends up in the recruiting section back in his hometown, which gets the people there thinking he's a coward. I'm not sure what it is but these Ford comedies just aren't working for me. The whole idea is that the character is a very brave man but due to his placing, people thinks he's a coward. This one joke runs throughout the entire film and it just never made me laugh. I never got bored with the film but without any laughs there's really not much else going on. Dailey is very good in his role and keeps the film moving along. Colleen Townsend and William Demarest are also good as his parents. The film is a comedy but as expected Ford treats the war stuff very serious including during the opening when we hear about the attack of Pearl Harbor. This film shares a lot with Preston Sturges's Hail! The Conquering Hero but that film works a lot better. Vera Miles has her film debut here but I didn't spot her.
** (out of 4)
John Ford's comedy about a man (Dan Dailey) who joins the Army to become a war hero but he ends up in the recruiting section back in his hometown, which gets the people there thinking he's a coward. I'm not sure what it is but these Ford comedies just aren't working for me. The whole idea is that the character is a very brave man but due to his placing, people thinks he's a coward. This one joke runs throughout the entire film and it just never made me laugh. I never got bored with the film but without any laughs there's really not much else going on. Dailey is very good in his role and keeps the film moving along. Colleen Townsend and William Demarest are also good as his parents. The film is a comedy but as expected Ford treats the war stuff very serious including during the opening when we hear about the attack of Pearl Harbor. This film shares a lot with Preston Sturges's Hail! The Conquering Hero but that film works a lot better. Vera Miles has her film debut here but I didn't spot her.
Drama turns into farce
davidmvining20 January 2022
There's an interesting drama developing about halfway through this movie until it suddenly becomes a little comedic war movie. Well, I think Ford was at a period in his career where he had really tried to do something different with The Fugitive, got slapped down hard by critics and the movie going audiences, and just retreated into crowd pleasers. When Willie Came Marching Home isn't a bad movie by any means, but it's so light, frothy, and ultimately unfocused that it's not really good either. It's okay. It's mildly entertaining for 82 minutes.
It's 1941 in Punxsutawney, West Virginia and William Kluggs (Dan Dailey) is just another guy in the town, practicing with his band in the back of the local drug store because it's owned by the father of one of his friends, and he has a girl, Marge (Colleen Townsend). When news reaches the small town of the attack on Pearl Harbor, William is the first in line to volunteer to enlist for the armed forces. His town is ever so proud of him, throwing him celebrations for his desire to serve his country. On top of the world, he tells Marge's younger brother Charlie (Jimmy Lydon) that he's not old enough to join up and that he needs to let the older guys take care of the Japanese. Basic goes well, especially when his drill sergeant discovers his incredible skill as a gunner, and he's ready to be shipped off to war. The train back east from boot camp makes a stop at a familiar place, though, and William finds himself back in Punxsutawney with a twelve hour leave before they continue on. Feted again, he's still king of the town.
That is, until he finds out the next day that he's going no further. He's being stationed at the base five miles away as a gunner instructor for airmen. Two years pass as news reaches the United States of Patton's movements through Africa and beginning up into Italy, but William just stays on base, always asking to go and always being denied, granted medals of Good Conduct instead, and going home on a weekly basis for dinner. His star has faded in the town, and he's gone from hero to object of derision.
Up until this point, I was mildly entertained, but there were about two minutes where I thought this movie was going to turn into another hidden gem of a find, lost in the bulk of Ford's length body of work. Charlie has gone to war, joined the navy and fought in the Pacific, given a weeklong furlough back home. There's a celebration in Charlie's honor that William reluctantly goes to. Charlie is regaling the older members of town, who all saw action in World War I, with his tales of action, and Charlie has nothing against William's experiences during the war, knowing how dangerous student pilot missions can be. However, the elders are dismissive of William and push him away, shutting him down when he tries to relate experiences that were as life threatening as Charlie's. Dejected, he leaves the party. I really, honestly, thought the movie was going to pursue this line for the rest of the runtime, and I was prepped.
That's not what I got, though. William's efforts to go into combat finally come true when he volunteers as a last second replacement belly gunner for a flying fortress destined for England, and the movie becomes something close to a slapstick comedy. William falls asleep upon the aircraft's approach into England, stymied by heavy fog that leads the crew to abandoning the plane, pointing it directly south, and leaving William aboard on accident. When he wakes up, he jettisons as well, ending up in the hands of French Resistance fighters. After proving his Americanness by answering questions about who Mickey Mantle plays for and such, he witnesses the launching of a German rocket that Yvonne (Corinne Calvet) has filmed. He then has to become the vessel for getting the film back to England for British intelligence through getting drunk at a wedding, riding a torpedo boat through enemy fire, onto a motorcycle to London, and finally delivering the intelligence to command personnel.
His adventures aren't over yet as he must report to the American command in Washington which includes a flight in a fighter plane all the way back across the Atlantic, robbing him of any sleep over the eleven hours that precede several tellings of the same story to different personnel in the Pentagon, leading to a temporary stay in a psych ward before he escapes onto a train that lands back at Punxsutawney where he gets praise for his top secret work that he accidentally came upon.
It's a slightly entertaining way to give William his victory in the eyes of the townspeople who had begun to deride him for not contributing, giving him a wildly eventful three days that ends with him back in his own living room. It's not hilarious or anything, not the kind of ratcheting up of comedy that something like Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three is, but it's fine. I would have been okay with the film using the dramatic center point of the film as a turning point into making the film overall an outright laugh riot, but I never had more than a mild grin on my face.
It's a fine little movie, mostly lost amidst the years of the Cavalry Trilogy, and it's easy to see why. In the middle of three John Wayne westerns, a little movie about a guy who can't get into World War II just feels wane.
It's 1941 in Punxsutawney, West Virginia and William Kluggs (Dan Dailey) is just another guy in the town, practicing with his band in the back of the local drug store because it's owned by the father of one of his friends, and he has a girl, Marge (Colleen Townsend). When news reaches the small town of the attack on Pearl Harbor, William is the first in line to volunteer to enlist for the armed forces. His town is ever so proud of him, throwing him celebrations for his desire to serve his country. On top of the world, he tells Marge's younger brother Charlie (Jimmy Lydon) that he's not old enough to join up and that he needs to let the older guys take care of the Japanese. Basic goes well, especially when his drill sergeant discovers his incredible skill as a gunner, and he's ready to be shipped off to war. The train back east from boot camp makes a stop at a familiar place, though, and William finds himself back in Punxsutawney with a twelve hour leave before they continue on. Feted again, he's still king of the town.
That is, until he finds out the next day that he's going no further. He's being stationed at the base five miles away as a gunner instructor for airmen. Two years pass as news reaches the United States of Patton's movements through Africa and beginning up into Italy, but William just stays on base, always asking to go and always being denied, granted medals of Good Conduct instead, and going home on a weekly basis for dinner. His star has faded in the town, and he's gone from hero to object of derision.
Up until this point, I was mildly entertained, but there were about two minutes where I thought this movie was going to turn into another hidden gem of a find, lost in the bulk of Ford's length body of work. Charlie has gone to war, joined the navy and fought in the Pacific, given a weeklong furlough back home. There's a celebration in Charlie's honor that William reluctantly goes to. Charlie is regaling the older members of town, who all saw action in World War I, with his tales of action, and Charlie has nothing against William's experiences during the war, knowing how dangerous student pilot missions can be. However, the elders are dismissive of William and push him away, shutting him down when he tries to relate experiences that were as life threatening as Charlie's. Dejected, he leaves the party. I really, honestly, thought the movie was going to pursue this line for the rest of the runtime, and I was prepped.
That's not what I got, though. William's efforts to go into combat finally come true when he volunteers as a last second replacement belly gunner for a flying fortress destined for England, and the movie becomes something close to a slapstick comedy. William falls asleep upon the aircraft's approach into England, stymied by heavy fog that leads the crew to abandoning the plane, pointing it directly south, and leaving William aboard on accident. When he wakes up, he jettisons as well, ending up in the hands of French Resistance fighters. After proving his Americanness by answering questions about who Mickey Mantle plays for and such, he witnesses the launching of a German rocket that Yvonne (Corinne Calvet) has filmed. He then has to become the vessel for getting the film back to England for British intelligence through getting drunk at a wedding, riding a torpedo boat through enemy fire, onto a motorcycle to London, and finally delivering the intelligence to command personnel.
His adventures aren't over yet as he must report to the American command in Washington which includes a flight in a fighter plane all the way back across the Atlantic, robbing him of any sleep over the eleven hours that precede several tellings of the same story to different personnel in the Pentagon, leading to a temporary stay in a psych ward before he escapes onto a train that lands back at Punxsutawney where he gets praise for his top secret work that he accidentally came upon.
It's a slightly entertaining way to give William his victory in the eyes of the townspeople who had begun to deride him for not contributing, giving him a wildly eventful three days that ends with him back in his own living room. It's not hilarious or anything, not the kind of ratcheting up of comedy that something like Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three is, but it's fine. I would have been okay with the film using the dramatic center point of the film as a turning point into making the film overall an outright laugh riot, but I never had more than a mild grin on my face.
It's a fine little movie, mostly lost amidst the years of the Cavalry Trilogy, and it's easy to see why. In the middle of three John Wayne westerns, a little movie about a guy who can't get into World War II just feels wane.
This had potential...
planktonrules6 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Considering that this film was made by John Ford during the height of his career, I sure expected a lot from it. Unfortunately, despite a good but familiar story idea, the film is not particularly good.
The film begins in Punxsutawney, West Virginia. This is odd, as this famous town is actually in nearby Pennsylvania! Perhaps the writer didn't do their homework or perhaps it was supposed to be another town by the same name. I did a Google search and found no town of this name in West Virginia. Dan Daily plays a brave guy who is the first in town to volunteer to go to war when WWII breaks out in America. However, despite his best intentions, he's kept stateside--and hates it. He also is stationed in a new base just outside town and the townsfolk oddly begin making fun of him--like he is a coward or disappointment! This really made no sense at all--especially when he is nearly killed during a training exercise. Eventually, however, he does get his chance and is sent off to war in Europe. Through some kooky mistakes, Daily ends up becoming a hero...of sorts.
The main problem with the film are the characters. The townspeople appear to be either idiots or real creeps, as they treat Daily's character like dirt--and he's done nothing to merit this. And then later, after treating him like crap for not being sent overseas, when he IS send to way, they then overreact in such a ridiculous manner that I groaned! As for Daily, his character is also very, very inconsistently written. Although a great soldier who is made an instructor because of his skills, when he is sent to war late in the film he acts more like Shemp Howard than Dan Daily!! Where did this kooky and inept guy come from considering he was nothing like this up until then. And, once in France, he REALLY acted like a moron. What gives?! Minor problems would include the poor integration of stock footage of a V-2 as well as P-51 airplanes near the beginning of the war (the models shown arrived very late in the war). These are not huge problems at all...but with Ford I was just surprised the film wasn't better constructed or that this famed director didn't balk at filming such a lame script.
All in all, it is barely watchable but no more.
The film begins in Punxsutawney, West Virginia. This is odd, as this famous town is actually in nearby Pennsylvania! Perhaps the writer didn't do their homework or perhaps it was supposed to be another town by the same name. I did a Google search and found no town of this name in West Virginia. Dan Daily plays a brave guy who is the first in town to volunteer to go to war when WWII breaks out in America. However, despite his best intentions, he's kept stateside--and hates it. He also is stationed in a new base just outside town and the townsfolk oddly begin making fun of him--like he is a coward or disappointment! This really made no sense at all--especially when he is nearly killed during a training exercise. Eventually, however, he does get his chance and is sent off to war in Europe. Through some kooky mistakes, Daily ends up becoming a hero...of sorts.
The main problem with the film are the characters. The townspeople appear to be either idiots or real creeps, as they treat Daily's character like dirt--and he's done nothing to merit this. And then later, after treating him like crap for not being sent overseas, when he IS send to way, they then overreact in such a ridiculous manner that I groaned! As for Daily, his character is also very, very inconsistently written. Although a great soldier who is made an instructor because of his skills, when he is sent to war late in the film he acts more like Shemp Howard than Dan Daily!! Where did this kooky and inept guy come from considering he was nothing like this up until then. And, once in France, he REALLY acted like a moron. What gives?! Minor problems would include the poor integration of stock footage of a V-2 as well as P-51 airplanes near the beginning of the war (the models shown arrived very late in the war). These are not huge problems at all...but with Ford I was just surprised the film wasn't better constructed or that this famed director didn't balk at filming such a lame script.
All in all, it is barely watchable but no more.
During WWII a young American have difficulties to prove his love for his country
gerardoarias622 October 2006
I have seen this film 55 years ago. My brother and I found it excellent, with natural acting actors and plenty of fine humor. Years later I always remembered with pleasure some parts of it, but I didn't remember neither the original name, nor the director. Recently, researching John Fords films I find this site. Trying to find more films from one of my preferred directors. I read about ¨When Willy come marching home". It was amazing as I realized that this was the Film I never dreamed to find again. I cannot remember so much to be sure that my recollections are correct. I need to see this film again in order to do a more exact comment. During all this years I have seen thousands of films. If "When Willy come marching home" let such an impression on me during all this time, I believed it should be a very good one.
Gerardo Arias
Gerardo Arias
"But we've recommended you for the good conduct medal".
mark.waltz4 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
That doesn't do Dan Dailey a bit of good as a normally friendly dog attacks him and his own father (William Demarest) complains to mother (Evelyn Varden) about him being around so much. You see, Dailey was the first in his small town to enlist to fight in World War II. After a grand send-off proclaiming him as a hero, he goes off to boot camp, is trained as a fighter pilot, then is sent to a camp right near his hometown to train other fighter pilots who are going off to combat, something Dailey himself craves. People who patted him on the back before now turn their faces away from him when they see him coming. He becomes the town joke. When he is suddenly chosen for a secret mission in Europe and goes home to say goodbye to his parents and girlfriend (Colleen Townsend), they don't believe him. He could have marched out of there and mama would have put a plate for him out at dinner time. He heads to France and is back so fast it appears that he just went to the mountains for the weekend. Nobody believes him and think he's AWOL until the government arrives.
When this film is utilizing its comic plot of Dailey's inactivity, it is very funny. But once it goes to France where we meet pretty Corinne Calvet and the French Resistance, it seems to fall flat. What was exciting in espionage thrillers of this era just isn't as interesting here, no matter how well intended it is. Dailey's narration is only slightly amusing, but doesn't work here as well as it does as in other films. Apparently a true story, to be told in the first person by the actor playing the part rather than the actual person seems to deflate the impact. There are some obligatory musical numbers for song and dance man Dailey which seem out of place in a John Ford film. Dailey is always very likable, and overall, the film is enjoyable, but changes in tone make the film uneven.
Oh, just a thought----if he actually got all those good conduct medals he was promised, he would have twice as many of those as FDR did presidential terms.
When this film is utilizing its comic plot of Dailey's inactivity, it is very funny. But once it goes to France where we meet pretty Corinne Calvet and the French Resistance, it seems to fall flat. What was exciting in espionage thrillers of this era just isn't as interesting here, no matter how well intended it is. Dailey's narration is only slightly amusing, but doesn't work here as well as it does as in other films. Apparently a true story, to be told in the first person by the actor playing the part rather than the actual person seems to deflate the impact. There are some obligatory musical numbers for song and dance man Dailey which seem out of place in a John Ford film. Dailey is always very likable, and overall, the film is enjoyable, but changes in tone make the film uneven.
Oh, just a thought----if he actually got all those good conduct medals he was promised, he would have twice as many of those as FDR did presidential terms.
Serving as sort of a template for M*A*S*H . . .
pixrox116 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
. . . DR. STRANGELOVE . . . and CATCH-22, director John Ford's WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME also presages FORREST GUMP with its title character's four days of peripatetic perambulations full of war-time serendipity transforming an unwilling "slacker" into an unwitting military hero. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than brave, and "Sgt. Bill" sleepwalks through most of his booze-filled odyssey. Never has a soldier been ordered to down so much booze for his country. Wine. Rum. Cognac. Bourbon. Sherry. The list of hooch goes on and on. When sober, Bill is a master gunner, playing the trombone, piano, and singing for fun. When drunk, he thinks the Browns are a baseball team, not from Cleveland but St. Louis, residing incongruously in the American League, and implausibly tied with a Yankee squad bereft of Joe DiMaggio, to which a lonely nation cannot turn. (If captured by fellow Americans during the Battle of the Bulge, Bill would have been shot as a would-be Nazi infiltrator for answers such as these. Fortunately for him, the French are not so picky for accuracy.)
How I Spent World War 11- ***1/2
edwagreen6 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
You can't realize if this is comedy or lord knows what. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining film with Dan Dailey in fine form as the first of his town to enlist in the army when war breaks out. Anxious to do combat duty, Dailey spends most of the war at home as a gun instructor, frustrating him, his family and the neighbors.
When opportunity strikes and he is sent overseas, he oversleeps on a plane and lands in France only to become involved with the underground and a major mission.
Of course, we can all resent how the army reacts to our exhausted hero by feeding him liquor continuously. This even continues at home.
Along the way, he is given constant promotions in his frustrations.
When opportunity strikes and he is sent overseas, he oversleeps on a plane and lands in France only to become involved with the underground and a major mission.
Of course, we can all resent how the army reacts to our exhausted hero by feeding him liquor continuously. This even continues at home.
Along the way, he is given constant promotions in his frustrations.
"That's quite a handy filing cabinet you have down there" : Bill to Yvonne
estherwalker-3471014 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
When newly assigned B17 belly gunner Bill Kluggs(Dan Dailey) belatedly bails out of the pilotless plane, over coastal France, after his crew buddies bailed out over the UK, he lands in an open field with 3 men not in uniform pointing a gun at him, regarding him with suspesion. They march him to a nearby building, where Bill meets the tough leader of this French resistance cell :Corinne Calvert, as Yvonne : provocatively dressed in peasant's garb. She too treats Bill with guarded suspesion. Despite his American soldier uniform. Strangely, she takes his dog tag and drops it down her open cleavage. In response, Bill remarks "That's quite a handy filing cabinet you have down there". After more questioning, she finally relents her suspesion and gives him back his dog tag. Soon, she lets him look through a telescope at a huge experimental German rocket(V2), which takes off(shown in archival film footage). A picture of the rocket is taken through a telephoto lens. Bill would like to go to sleep, but is plied with plenty of liquor, put in a small wagon and covered with straw. The wagon is pushed to the coast, where he is given the photo and told he must board an approaching British patrol boat and present the photo to British military high command. This he does. They are quite disturbed by what the see, and order a large air attack in the area where he landed. He wants to sleep so badly, but they ply him with liquor, and tell him he must immediately board a P-38 fighter and be flown to Washington. There, he is whisked to the Pentagon, and undergoes a grueling interrogation, repeated 5 times for various brass. Finally, he collapses from exhaustion, and is ordered taken to a hospital for recuperation, followed by a 30 day furlough. When he gets to the hospital, he's pretty incoherent, desperately needing sleep, and having again been plied with alcohol. So, it's decided he should be checked into the psychopathology department. The next scene has him running down the hall, with a doctor after him. Strangely, the next scene is of a moving train, and then of it stopping at his hometown : Punxsutawney, WV.(There is no such actual town in WV, but there is one in western PA!). We must surmise that he somehow escaped from the hospital and made it to the train station, and boarded the train, probably, with no money. Quite a miraculous accomplishment!! He then sneaks to his family house, and climbs through the open kitchen window, only to be clubbed on the head by his father, who thought he was a burglar. His family, and Margie, who arrives, as well as I, could not believe he had been all these places in just the 4 days since he had departed his home!! Hope he slept on the train, because he won't get any more sleep for quite a while, as some MPs knock the front door down, not to take him back to the hospital, but to take him to meet the president, who wants to personally congratulate him. End of story. Incidentally, Willie clearly didn't come marching home!
Turning to the first part of the film, Bill is enjoying an easy day, going to church, playing with his band, then seeing his girlfriend : Margie((Collen Townsend), when news of Pearl Harbor arrives. He's the first in his town to volunteer for the army : specifically, the army aircorp. At basic training, he doesn't do well in his flight training, wrecking a plane. However, he's tops in aerial artillery gunnery. So when basic training is finished, he's flabbergasted to discover that he has been assigned to a new pilot-training facility just outside his hometown. The town people give him a big welcoming party. Turns out, the army plans to keep him there as the gunnery instructor. Thus, he remains there for about 2 years, during which time, the town's people don't understand why he isn't sent overseas, concluding that he must be a coward. Many times, he requests transfer overseas, but always turned down, until one day, a local B17 bomber crew needs a belly gunner, so he's hustled onto the plane, which takes off for the UK. Unfortunately, as they approach the UK, there is a heavy fog, and their instrumentation that might help them land safely is not working. So, the pilot is ordered to ditch the plane. Unfortunately, Bill fell asleep in his position and didn't hear the command to prepare for evacuation. Later, he wakes up and can't find anyone else on board, so parachutes out while the plane is still high enough for a safe landing. Turns out, he lands in a coastal region of France, as I previously described.
I would say this John Ford-directed film is just a so-so unbelievable farce.......... Dan did get to sing one song, as he did in most of his films. Collen gets to sing a bit with him, revealing a good singing voice. She also sang a back and forth in him "Crazy for You" in a deleted scene shown on the DVD. Again, her singing was excellent. Unfortunately, after completing this film, she 'got religion', and ended her brief Hollywood career, marrying a future pastor. She made a good -looking wholesome girl-next-door in her two films starring Dan, playing his girlfriend in one, and his daughter in the other.......... You can see this, free, on YouTube, or get it as part of the John Ford comedies collection.
Turning to the first part of the film, Bill is enjoying an easy day, going to church, playing with his band, then seeing his girlfriend : Margie((Collen Townsend), when news of Pearl Harbor arrives. He's the first in his town to volunteer for the army : specifically, the army aircorp. At basic training, he doesn't do well in his flight training, wrecking a plane. However, he's tops in aerial artillery gunnery. So when basic training is finished, he's flabbergasted to discover that he has been assigned to a new pilot-training facility just outside his hometown. The town people give him a big welcoming party. Turns out, the army plans to keep him there as the gunnery instructor. Thus, he remains there for about 2 years, during which time, the town's people don't understand why he isn't sent overseas, concluding that he must be a coward. Many times, he requests transfer overseas, but always turned down, until one day, a local B17 bomber crew needs a belly gunner, so he's hustled onto the plane, which takes off for the UK. Unfortunately, as they approach the UK, there is a heavy fog, and their instrumentation that might help them land safely is not working. So, the pilot is ordered to ditch the plane. Unfortunately, Bill fell asleep in his position and didn't hear the command to prepare for evacuation. Later, he wakes up and can't find anyone else on board, so parachutes out while the plane is still high enough for a safe landing. Turns out, he lands in a coastal region of France, as I previously described.
I would say this John Ford-directed film is just a so-so unbelievable farce.......... Dan did get to sing one song, as he did in most of his films. Collen gets to sing a bit with him, revealing a good singing voice. She also sang a back and forth in him "Crazy for You" in a deleted scene shown on the DVD. Again, her singing was excellent. Unfortunately, after completing this film, she 'got religion', and ended her brief Hollywood career, marrying a future pastor. She made a good -looking wholesome girl-next-door in her two films starring Dan, playing his girlfriend in one, and his daughter in the other.......... You can see this, free, on YouTube, or get it as part of the John Ford comedies collection.
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