Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)

Directed by

Preston Sturges

Genre

comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 41m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 77 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young Marine returns home as a celebrated war hero thanks to a misunderstanding. He finds himself swept up in a parade and adoration from his small town, even though he feels like a fraud.

satiricalwhimsicalbittersweetfast-pacedcleveraffectionateplayfulwry

What happens

Hail the Conquering Hero is a 1944 American satirical comedy-drama film written and directed by Preston Sturges that stars Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines and William Demarest, supported by Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson, Bill Edwards and Freddie Steele. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Sturges was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for his screenplay. Many critics consider the film to be one of Sturges's best. It was the eighth film he made for Paramount Pictures, and also his last, although The Great Moment was released after it. Sturges later wrote about his departure, "I guess Paramount was glad to be rid of me eventually, as no one there ever understood a word I said." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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