The Fighting 69th (1940)

Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.

Director:

William Keighley

Writers:

Norman Reilly Raine (original screen play), Fred Niblo Jr. (original screen play),

Stars:

James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, George Brent

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Cagney	...	Jerry Plunkett
Pat O'Brien	...	Father Duffy
George Brent	...	Wild Bill Donovan
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Joyce Kilmer
Alan Hale	...	Sgt. 'Big Mike' Wynn
Frank McHugh	...	Crepe Hanger Burke
Dennis Morgan	...	Lieutenant Ames
Dick Foran	...	Lt. 'Long John' Wynn
William Lundigan	...	Timmy Wynn
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Paddy Dolan
Henry O'Neill	...	The Colonel
John Litel	...	Captain Mangan
Sammy Cohen	...	Mike Murphy
Harvey Stephens	...	Major Anderson
William Hopper	...	Private Turner (as DeWolf Hopper)

Storyline

"The Fighting 69th" is a First World War regiment of mostly New York-Irish soldiers. Amongst a cocky crew, perhaps the cockiest is Jerry Plunkett, a scrappy fellow who looks out only for himself. The officers and non-coms of the regiment do their best to instill discipline in Plunkett, and the chaplain, Father Duffy, tries to make Plunkett see the greater good, all to no avail. Behind the lines or in the trenches, Plunkett acts selfishly and cowardly, eventually costing the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. A final act of cowardice leads to terrible consequences, but Plunkett sees in them a chance to redeem himself...if only he can.

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Plot Keywords:

chaplain | cowardice | faith | violence | sergeant | 

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Taglines:

Jammed With Action ! . . Loaded With Excitement ! . . . And Every Thrill-Packed Word Is True !

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew Latin Yiddish

Release Date:

27 January 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Father Duffy of the Fighting 69th

Filming Locations:

Providencia Ranch, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Warner Bros. built on Providencia Ranch, California, an exact duplicate of Camp Miles, a training camp in Long Island, New York.

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Goofs

After the skirmish in the woods, an "unconscious" German prisoner obligingly stands on his feet prior to being carried back to the American lines.

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Quotes

Sergeant Joyce Kilmer: [reading his own poem at the site where many of the men had been buried alive] Perhaps their brave young spirits hear the bugle sing, go to sleep, go to sleep. Slumber well where the shell screamed and fell. Let your rifles rest on the muddy floor; you will not need them any more. Danger's past now at last, go to sleep. And up to Heaven's doorway floats from the wood called Rouge Bouquet, a delicate cloud of bugle notes that softly say, 'Farewell, farewell, comrades true. Born anew, peace to you...

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Taps"
(1862) (uncredited)
Written by Daniel Butterfield
Played by a bugler honoring the dead

User Reviews

Famous regiment gets the stock company treatment from Warner Bros...

'The Fighting 69th' gets a lot of mileage out of every cliche you've ever seen in a war film. It's hokey corn from start to end--and yet, despite the fact that you've seen it all before--it's an enjoyable enough experience because of its stellar cast of Warner stock players.

James Cagney is the mug from Brooklyn who is nasty to one and all, described by one character as "the man they'd rather riddle with bullets than the Germans." Pat O'Brien is the true-life character of Father Duffy who has a major job on his hands trying to reform Cagney in time for the fadeout. Sensitive Jeffrey Lynn is Joyce Kilmer, the poet. Gruff Alan Hale is a tough sergeant. And just about every male contract player from William Lundigan to Frank McHugh to Dennis Morgan is present to depict the stereotyped characters that fill the screen.

As hokey as it is, it does a graphic job of showing what war is like under combat fire. The combat scenes are skillfully done, with shells and grenades and bombs making trenches hell and buildings collapse, all in very realistic fashion.

Cagney is his usual pugnacious self and his reform at the end is a little too abruptly handled. But the film is a brisk 80 minutes, as shown on TCM, and fairly entertaining if you can forgive the corn. Surprisingly, it is directed by William Keighley, whose sluggish work on "The Adventures of Robin Hood" caused him to be replaced by Michael Curtiz to give the film more punch. And yet, "The Fighting 69th" is anything but sluggish. A brisk, entertaining little war film.