jhkp Before John Ford directed this film version of What Price Glory, he directed a stage version for charity which was presented by the Masquers Club of Hollywood. The play was actually so popular it was taken on the road around Southern California to several other locations. Among the stars of that production were John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Gregory Peck, Pat O'Brien, George O'Brien, Rod Cameron, and Harry Carey, Jr.Maybe that's why he directed this film version, though from what I understand it was originally planned as a full musical (rather than a comedy-drama with a few songs, as it now stands). Supposedly this was the reason Cagney was so eager to do it. And of course Dan Dailey was also a dancer. And Phoebe and Henry Ephron often wrote the screenplays for some of the better Fox musicals. The musical angle also may explain why the film was done in Technicolor (or not.) Another reviewer wrote, "The job of direction was handed to John Ford, who was known for staging extended improvisations, creating little vignettes of military life with comical drunkenness and good-natured fistfights." I suppose that is one thing Ford was known for. He was also known for directing "They Were Expendable," one of the most moving war films ever made.

classicsoncall I was surprised to see John Ford's name listed as the director for this film, and even more surprised when it was over. With Oscar wins for greats like "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and "How Green Was My Valley (1941), I can't imagine what Ford might have thought after completing this picture, which doesn't quite work as either a war adventure or a military comedy. Which is saying something considering the cast that was assembled to put this effort together.It all starts reasonably enough as Jimmy Cagney swaggers into a World War I French town leading his troops, awaiting the arrival of his new 'Top Soldier'. I wondered about that characterization for quite a while since the term was used a number of times. When 1st Sergeant Quirt (Dan Dailey) finally reports to his commanding officer, the official greeting boils down to a chalk line fist fight that gets repeated each time the men come up with a reason to challenge each other, and there's no shortage of those.Corinne Calvet portrays the romantic interest for both men in the film, but the way her attention see saws back and forth between them, the set up becomes little more than contrived for the sake of a story. Her character Charmaine doesn't seem to spark with either Captain Flagg (Cagney) or Quirt, and considering the way she was treated by both, I'm surprised she didn't tell either one to take a hike, military or otherwise.The film descends into 'Hogan's Heroes' territory later in the movie when Flagg's assignment to capture a German officer sets the friendly rivals off into enemy territory. For me, the film lost a lot of credibility when Flagg and Quirt wind up glad handing the German Colonel after knocking off a trio of higher ranking soldiers. It somehow seemed beneath Cagney's screen persona to make sport of a war time situation like that. Also, the film's attempt to convey some symbolic meaning to it's title generally falls flat when a wounded Marine challenges Flagg, shouting 'What price glory?' during a scene that wasn't very stirring or emotional, another device in the film that really doesn't work.Company L's colorful cast includes William Demarest, Harry Morgan, Wally Vernon and an unrecognizably young Robert Wagner who doesn't make it home. Each has generally limited screen time in support of Flagg's blustery demeanor, except Wagner who's off and running in a romance of his own with a French school girl. It might have been a tearjerker, but it wasn't.Interestingly, James Cagney appeared in another World War I film, "The Fighting 69th" about a regiment of mostly New York Irish soldiers. Again, the story is fairly simplistic, though fans of the actor can count on his solid performance in each. It's only too bad that he wasn't given more to work with.

Dave Navarre Well, despite having made "The Sands of Iwo Jima", John Ford made a movie about World War I Marines that doesn't really seem to be about Marines at all. I'm not a student of World War I Marine slang, but it seemed odd for Captain Flagg to pronounce Sergeant Quirt his "Top Soldier" and for Marines to refer to each other as soldiers. Despite the fact that they under French command, I found it odd for them to refer to being in the Army, since they are in the Corps. Go figure.The two combat scenes are amateurish, even by Ford's standards. The acting is not convincing (except when Robert Wagner dies and Cagney manages not to over-act it) and while you can believe the two main characters don't like each other at the beginning, you never believe there's some odd tie binding them together. The character development is relatively tame, with only Wagner and Harry Morgan (Colonel Potter as a Marine Corporal and quartermaster!) showing any depth among the minor Marine characters.Dan Dailey does play a convincing loud, parade ground senior NCO. He conveys the conniving and womanizing well, but when he is supposed to have finally fallen for the French beauty, it's hard to believe. Cagney plays merely a caricature of the hard-bitten, seen-it-all Marine. His final scene neither convinces you he considers staying or that the Corps means so much to him that he has to go.The worst part is when a wounded Marine shouts out the title of the movie. It's something along the lines of "Are you going to get in the game, Captain? There's two minutes left and we need a hero. What price glory, Captain? What price glory?" One can imagine that delivered stirringly by a character whose motivation we understand, but instead, it is shouted by a nameless face with only a crazed look. It also would help if the Captain had been portrayed as a glory hound instead of drunken, war-weary yet sympathetic. I guess they had to get the name of the movie in somehow....I was trying to imagine John Ford's World War I and was sadly disappointed that it wasn't more moving.

MartinHafer Oh how I hated this movie! Instead of learning anything about WW1, it was very silly and superficial. This movie took WW1 and re-created it so it looks more like a combination of the war AND a Popeye cartoon! The paper thin and stooopid plot is really annoying at times, as the characters alternate between fighting in the war and getting drunk and beating each other up for laughs. Wow--that sound like a lot of fun! All that were missing were Olive Oyl and spinach! Frankly, this made the entire movie look like it was written by a couple of 8th graders who really had no idea what the first world war was.Both actors deserved more and USUALLY John Ford was able to deftly blend action with light comedy--but not this time.