Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)

The US Marine Corps reckons excessive sniffing could compromise operational readiness, so it has discharged chronic hayfever sufferer “Truesmith” (Eddie Bracken). He’s no coward, and feeling somewhat ashamed buys some serving soldiers a few drinks in a bar. They take pity on their down-at-heart friend and concoct a wheeze that will enable him to go home to his widowed mother (Georgia Caine) with his head held high. The train arrives into town and off he gets, bedecked in medals and instantly hailed a hero, straight into the middle of their mayoral election campaign. Some of the townsfolk are fed up with the incumbent “Noble” (Raymond Walburn) whose son “Forrest” (Bill Edwards) is dating “Libby” (Ella Raines) who used to be the gal of our fêted arrival, and so with her taking time off from her friancé to make him feel at home and with “Doc. Bissell” (Harry Hayden) agreeing to surrender his political ticket it looks like “Truesmith” is going to be riding high. The thing is, though, the more momentum he gathers the less comfortable he is with the lies he has been telling, largely encouraged by his marine buddies, so soon he must decide whether he will go with the flow of deceit, or impose some integrity on the proceedings. It has a wartime warmth to it, this, and both Bracken and Walburn deliver quite entertainingly as things snowball out of control but never beyond the realms of decency. It takes a little swipe at the pomposity and paraphernalia of civic electioneering whilst reminding us of the courage of not just those away at war but of also of those at home, at war in their own way too. There’s plenty of fun to be had from a script that is presented amiably by a characterful supporting cast that create quite a sense of community. The nature of the ending is quite life-affirming without straying into propaganda territory, and I did quite enjoy it’s whimsicality.