Underplayed Gems

Advance to the Rear (1964)

Advance to the Rear poster
Directed by
George Marshall
Genre
Western film, adventure film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 37m
Rating
5.2 of 10 from 13 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A comedy set during the American Civil War about a ragtag unit of Union soldiers who have been court-martialed for cowardice. They are given a second chance to prove themselves when they are sent out west on a mission.

lightheartedplayfulcomicalwhimsicaleasygoingrompingnostalgicquirky

What happens

Advance to the Rear is a 1964 American Western comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, and Melvyn Douglas. Set in the American Civil War, the film is based on the 1957 novel Company of Cowards by Jack Schaefer, whose inspiration was an article by William Chamberlain, published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1956. Chamberlain recounts the apocryphal Civil War stories of "Company Q" (19th century army slang for the sick list), a unit composed of coward soldiers who are given a second chance to prove their bravery. The film had the novel title in pre-production and when released in the United Kingdom. However, the novel had none of the comedic elements of the film, which retained only the basic idea of a unit formed out of men who had been court-martialed for cowardice and sent out west as well as some character names. The story may have been the inspiration for the later ABC-TV sitcom F Troop (1965-1967). Joe Brooks, who appears uncredited as Union trooper Private Joe Bannerman, also starred in F Troop. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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