Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) delays the return to his hometown...
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Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge. They make him wear a uniform complete with medals and is pushed by his new friends into accepting a Hero's welcome when he gets home where he is to be immortalized by a statue that he doesn't want, has songs written about his heroic battle stories, and ends up unwillingly running for mayor. Despite his best efforts to explain the truth, no one will listen.
Written by J. Adam Ingle
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 5, 1945 with Eddie Bracken reprising his film role.
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Goofs
Crew or equipment visible:
Camera shadow on the backs of citizens when Woodrow comes out of the house after being nominated for mayor.
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Quotes
Forrest Noble:
If he waited a year longer, there might have been three of us to welcome him. If he waited two years, there might have been... Libby:
Oh, shut up. Forrest Noble:
Well, that's what marriage is for isn't it? Libby:
Oh, I suppose so, if you look at it from a purely unromantic standpoint - like a breeding farm. See more »
"U.S. Marine Corps Hymn"
(1859) (uncredited) (also called "The Marines' Hymn") Music by Jacques Offenbach from "Genevieve de Brabant" (1868) Lyrics attributed to L.Z. Phillips (1919) Played at the railroad station Also Sung by the mob
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