Valekenraali

It's France 1944. Brigadier General Charles Lane, Master Sergeant Murphy Savage (Glenn Ford), and Corporal Chan Derby (Red Buttons) drive up to a group of dis-spirited men. They have been cut off by the German advance. The General orders the men to organize and attempts to set up his headquarter in a bombed out farmhouse. Savage finds Frenchwoman Simone taking a bath. The General is killed. Corporal Terry Sellers suffering from battle fatigue arrives looking to go to the hospital. He mistakes Savage for the general and is convinced to re-enter the fight. Savage decides to impersonate the General to keep up morale and command the defense.

I like the concept and its inherent conflict. Ford and Buttons are fine. I like this except for Hutchmeyer. The movie leaves the past a bit too murky. He should simply be a hard nose sergeant and they fear being outed by him. All the comedy with Hutchmeyer falls flat. The suggestion of something truly dark saps away the lightness of the comedy. It gets rather tiresome. The fight against the Germans is the compelling part. The comedy doesn't really work.