Marching On! (1943)

Director:

Spencer Williams

Writer:

Spencer Williams

Stars:

Hugo Martin, George T. Sutton, Emmet Jackson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hugo Martin	...	Rodney Tucker Jr.
George T. Sutton	...	Gramps Sam Tucker
Emmet Jackson	...	Sgt. Robert L. Keene
'Pepper' Neely	...	Wash, soldier
Mickey McZekkashing	...	Wimpy, soldier
Myra D. Hemmings	...	Mrs. Ellen Tucker (as Myra Hemming)
Clarissy Deary	...	Ginny
L.K. Smith	...	Rufus
John Hemmings	...	Rodney Tucker Sr. (as J.W. Hemmings)
Georgia Kelly	...	Martha Adams

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

military

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Where's My Man To-nite

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

User Reviews

One of Spencer Williams least successful efforts

Second World War era film about the grandson of a decorated soldier who wants no part of the military. Despite the war raging in the rest of the world, he refuses to join the army and do his part. Things change when he gets a draft notice and finds himself in boot camp. Going AWOL he has to be rescued by his grandfather who hopes to set him on the straight and narrow. Creaky Spencer Williams film is one of his most poverty stricken efforts (Williams, an actor in his own right was one of the very few African American directors working in America during the 1930's, 40's and 50's. His films tend to be a mixed bag thanks to the wildly uneven scripts, actors and budgets he had to work with.) To be certain the army material looks good and was probably shot with the help of the military, but the rest of the film is pretty poor, with really poor performances and not so good technical aspects. More a curio then anything, I find the attitude of main character Rodney toward joining the military interesting, especially in light of the typical "rah rah" attitude almost every other film I've seen from the period (one was always pro joining the army unless one was a spy). Other than the different view of signing up this film is rather poor. To be completely honest this is a really tough film to get through and I don't recommend it unless you want to see the war effort from an atypical perspective.