list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Fighting 69th on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Fighting_69th/11485/default.aspx Title: The Fighting 69th
Year: 1940
Director: William Keighley
Plot: Officially, America had no intention of entering the Second World War in 1940: Why, then, were there so many "preparedness" pictures like The Fighting 69th? This film, based on the experiences of military priest Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien), is set during World War I. The US 69th division was a national guard contingent comprised of Irish Americans, who fought with the Rainbow Division in the years 1917-1918. Into this Hibernian stronghold comes cocky Jerry Plunkett (Jimmy Cagney), a streetwise tough who is certain that he can lick the Germans single-handedly. But during his first taste of real combat, Plunkett turns coward and inadvertently reveals the 69th's position. Held responsible for the deaths of his companions, Plunkett is sentenced to a firing squad. Thanks to a conveniently dropped bomb that levels the stockade in which he is held, Plunkett redeems himself on the battlefield by sacrificing his life to save his fellow soldiers. The beauty of James Cagney's star performance is that he is as thoroughly convincing as a "yellow belly" as he is a hero. In addition to father Duffy, the real-life personages depicted in The Fighting 69th include future OSS leader Wild Bill Donovan (George Brent) and poet Joyce Kilmer (Jeffrey Lynn). Other Irish "regulars" include Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Dennis Morgan, and Sammy Cohen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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]]>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:17:48 GMTThe Fighting 69th1940William KeighleyOfficially, America had no intention of entering the Second World War in 1940: Why, then, were there so many "preparedness" pictures like The Fighting 69th? This film, based on the experiences of military priest Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien), is set during World War I. The US 69th division was a national guard contingent comprised of Irish Americans, who fought with the Rainbow Division in the years 1917-1918. Into this Hibernian stronghold comes cocky Jerry Plunkett (Jimmy Cagney), a streetwise tough who is certain that he can lick the Germans single-handedly. But during his first taste of real combat, Plunkett turns coward and inadvertently reveals the 69th's position. Held responsible for the deaths of his companions, Plunkett is sentenced to a firing squad. Thanks to a conveniently dropped bomb that levels the stockade in which he is held, Plunkett redeems himself on the battlefield by sacrificing his life to save his fellow soldiers. The beauty of James Cagney's star performance is that he is as thoroughly convincing as a "yellow belly" as he is a hero. In addition to father Duffy, the real-life personages depicted in The Fighting 69th include future OSS leader Wild Bill Donovan (<a href="/players/P_____8329/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>George Brent</a>) and poet Joyce Kilmer (<a href="/players/P____43989/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Jeffrey Lynn</a>). Other Irish "regulars" include <a href="/players/P____29662/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Alan Hale</a>, <a href="/players/P____47590/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Frank McHugh</a>, <a href="/players/P____50575/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Dennis Morgan</a>, and Sammy Cohen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide324http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/u35834yyoga.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Fighting_69th/11485/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/warmovieblog/archive/2008/9/10/34969.aspx Post By: WarMovieBlog
Post To: WarMovieBlog Blog
Post Date: 9/10/2008 8:00:54 AM
Body: The Fighting 69th (1940) IMDB Alright, let me just start by saying that I'm not a big fan of James Cagney, and I'm not really sure why.  Maybe its just because every role I've seen him in has just been either flat and uninteresting, or just downright annoying.  Like his portrayal of the misfit Private Plunkett in 1940's The Fighting 69th.The Fighting 69th purports to be a tribute to a Father Duffy, who was a chaplain attached to the newly formed 42nd Infantry, aka "The Rainbow Division", and formerly part of the New York 69th Infantry, as the Army started getting away from the practice of having these regional divisions and moved to more mixed and diverse units. But that's neither here nor there, as the film actually turns out to be a chronicle of the misdeeds of Plunkett, a selfish, arrogant, and quite frankly dickhead Irishman who just reeks attitude.  A role Cagney was made for?  Quite possibly, but man, I just can't take it.His attitude and selfish unthinking nature follows him to France, where time and time again, he manages to do something either incredibly stupid or chickenshit which gets more men killed.  But enter Father Duffy, who has aims of turning Plunkett into a responsible soldier after all.While awaiting execution after his last royal screwup which got yet more men killed, he's able to escape, but after another close call on the battlefield, he somehow gets religion and proceeds to help take out a German machine gun nest and clear the wires before himself getting killed.I really don't know why I didn't like this film so much.  Maybe its because of Cagney, maybe its just the way the role and the story was written... but it just gets to be, well, for lack of a better word, annoying.  George Brent, Pat O'Brien and Alan Hale are decent.  And for some reason we are introduced to Poet turned Sergeant Joyce Kilmer (Jeffrey Lynn)... who Plunkett manages to get killed as well, only adding to the weight of his F---ups.And then at the end there's this big tribute to Father Duffy.  A noble sentiment, but I really can't see how it all comes together.  I mean, Plunkett's screwups far outweigh his final "heroic" act in my book, and I... well, I just thought it was lame.  Is it supposed to be funny? It's not.  Is it supposed to instill some sort of patriotic feelings? It doesn't.On the bright side, the DVD for The Fighting 69th has a great set of "before the film" extras, which I actually enjoyed more.  Such as the trailer for the Edward G. Robinson and Bogart film "Brother Orchid", a newsreel "London Can Take It" (which was a little too optimistic for my tastes), a great cheeseball government short encouraging young folks to get into the aviation field, and of course a cartoon, this time "Pilgrim Porky."  Too bad things went downhill once the opening credits rolled.The Fighting 69th just left a sour taste in my mouth, and me scratching my noggin. The Fighting 69th (1940) on Spout.com Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News
]]>Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:00:54 GMTWarMovieBlogWarMovieBlog Blog9/10/2008 8:00:54 AMThe Fighting 69th (1940) IMDB Alright, let me just start by saying that I'm not a big fan of James Cagney, and I'm not really sure why.  Maybe its just because every role I've seen him in has just been either flat and uninteresting, or just downright annoying.  Like his portrayal of the misfit Private Plunkett in 1940's The Fighting 69th.The Fighting 69th purports to be a tribute to a Father Duffy, who was a chaplain attached to the newly formed 42nd Infantry, aka "The Rainbow Division", and formerly part of the New York 69th Infantry, as the Army started getting away from the practice of having these regional divisions and moved to more mixed and diverse units. But that's neither here nor there, as the film actually turns out to be a chronicle of the misdeeds of Plunkett, a selfish, arrogant, and quite frankly dickhead Irishman who just reeks attitude.  A role Cagney was made for?  Quite possibly, but man, I just can't take it.His attitude and selfish unthinking nature follows him to France, where time and time again, he manages to do something either incredibly stupid or chickenshit which gets more men killed.  But enter Father Duffy, who has aims of turning Plunkett into a responsible soldier after all.While awaiting execution after his last royal screwup which got yet more men killed, he's able to escape, but after another close call on the battlefield, he somehow gets religion and proceeds to help take out a German machine gun nest and clear the wires before himself getting killed.I really don't know why I didn't like this film so much.  Maybe its because of Cagney, maybe its just the way the role and the story was written... but it just gets to be, well, for lack of a better word, annoying.  George Brent, Pat O'Brien and Alan Hale are decent.  And for some reason we are introduced to Poet turned Sergeant Joyce Kilmer (Jeffrey Lynn)... who Plunkett manages to get killed as well, only adding to the weight of his F---ups.And then at the end there's this big tribute to Father Duffy.  A noble sentiment, but I really can't see how it all comes together.  I mean, Plunkett's screwups far outweigh his final "heroic" act in my book, and I... well, I just thought it was lame.  Is it supposed to be funny? It's not.  Is it supposed to instill some sort of patriotic feelings? It doesn't.On the bright side, the DVD for The Fighting 69th has a great set of "before the film" extras, which I actually enjoyed more.  Such as the trailer for the Edward G. Robinson and Bogart film "Brother Orchid", a newsreel "London Can Take It" (which was a little too optimistic for my tastes), a great cheeseball government short encouraging young folks to get into the aviation field, and of course a cartoon, this time "Pilgrim Porky."  Too bad things went downhill once the opening credits rolled.The Fighting 69th just left a sour taste in my mouth, and me scratching my noggin. The Fighting 69th (1940) on Spout.com Originally posted on:War Movie Reviews and News http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/6/3/30438.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 6/3/2008 7:33:36 PM
Body: Imagine this scenario: You are a soldier in WWI. There is a jerk in your unit named Plunkett who is both a coward and incompetent. He does things like open fire without permission, causing a rain of enemy shells that also killed three of your fellow soldiers. Plunkett also gets scared during missions and screams, alerting the Germans to his presence. Needless to say, he is not that popular in your unit and is about to get transferred out. But then your units chaplain, beloved to the troops, convinces your commanding officer that he'll turn around if you give him one more chance and he's okay with this. If you are that soldier, wouldn't it be time to check to see whether you are either dreaming or doing some kind of hallucinogenic drugs, or perhaps entered another dimension while crossing the Atlantic? So yes, this is one of those stupid movies Hollywood started to make around the end of the thirties, when American pictures started to go downhill. This is kind of the old-fashioned film that people refer to when they refer to old movies in a negative way. The ostensible purpose is, I suppose, is to commemorate the real life priest, Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien), who was a hero in both the Spanish-American War and WWI, but is showing the guy having horrid judgment the way to do it? Plunkett (James Cagney) is a fictional character that the movie doesn't need, and it's absolutely unbelievable that anyone could tolerate his behavior that kills at least seven fellow officers. Would the US army or any other for that matter tolerate this? If Plunkett were in the IRA, he would either not be an Ireland or not be above ground! Why are we even supposed to care about this anyway? There are lots of interesting stories, both real and fictional, to tell about WWI, but this is not one of them. In fact, I would venture to argue that in many ways this is a proto-typical WWII film, and would be one had the US not joined that conflict at the time the picture was made. From a historical standpoint, it's interesting that so many films of the 30's tried to show how terrible WWI was, this one seems to avoid most of the discussions of the suffering of the soldiers (aside from the ones who die because Plunkett's gaffs, of course) or the political ramifications of the conflict. The Fighting 69th is a weird and confused film, and I can't think of any reason to see it. Unless you are writing a master's thesis on WWI or the films of James Cagney, of course. The Fighting 69th (1940)
]]>Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:33:36 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog6/3/2008 7:33:36 PMImagine this scenario: You are a soldier in WWI. There is a jerk in your unit named Plunkett who is both a coward and incompetent. He does things like open fire without permission, causing a rain of enemy shells that also killed three of your fellow soldiers. Plunkett also gets scared during missions and screams, alerting the Germans to his presence. Needless to say, he is not that popular in your unit and is about to get transferred out. But then your units chaplain, beloved to the troops, convinces your commanding officer that he'll turn around if you give him one more chance and he's okay with this. If you are that soldier, wouldn't it be time to check to see whether you are either dreaming or doing some kind of hallucinogenic drugs, or perhaps entered another dimension while crossing the Atlantic? So yes, this is one of those stupid movies Hollywood started to make around the end of the thirties, when American pictures started to go downhill. This is kind of the old-fashioned film that people refer to when they refer to old movies in a negative way. The ostensible purpose is, I suppose, is to commemorate the real life priest, Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien), who was a hero in both the Spanish-American War and WWI, but is showing the guy having horrid judgment the way to do it? Plunkett (James Cagney) is a fictional character that the movie doesn't need, and it's absolutely unbelievable that anyone could tolerate his behavior that kills at least seven fellow officers. Would the US army or any other for that matter tolerate this? If Plunkett were in the IRA, he would either not be an Ireland or not be above ground! Why are we even supposed to care about this anyway? There are lots of interesting stories, both real and fictional, to tell about WWI, but this is not one of them. In fact, I would venture to argue that in many ways this is a proto-typical WWII film, and would be one had the US not joined that conflict at the time the picture was made. From a historical standpoint, it's interesting that so many films of the 30's tried to show how terrible WWI was, this one seems to avoid most of the discussions of the suffering of the soldiers (aside from the ones who die because Plunkett's gaffs, of course) or the political ramifications of the conflict. The Fighting 69th is a weird and confused film, and I can't think of any reason to see it. Unless you are writing a master's thesis on WWI or the films of James Cagney, of course. The Fighting 69th (1940) http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/war/MemberTagFilms.aspxwar
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