jacobs-greenwood Directed by William Keighley, with an original screenplay by Norman Reilly Raine, Fred Niblo Jr., and Dean Franklin, this average World War II features an all star cast led by James Cagney, in a somewhat against type role as a street tough loner who turns "yellow" in combat. Pat O'Brien plays Father Francis Duffy (naturally), who refuses to give up on Jerry Plunkett (Cagney); George Brent (also somewhat against type) plays the platoon's hard driving Major "Wild Bill" Donovan. Evidently, the real Duffy was memorialized with a statue, posthumously. Jeffrey Lynn plays the company's famous poet, and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer.In a group loaded with Irish Americans from New York, primarily, Alan Hale plays Sergeant "Big Mike" Wynn, who has several scraps with the tough young Private Plunkett in his regiment. Frank McHugh provides comic relief (as usual); Dennis Morgan appears briefly as a Lieutenant, as does "the Singing Cowboy" Dick Foran. William Lundigan, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Sammy Cohen, William Hopper, and Tom Dugan also appear as recently enlisted men in the famous unit. Foran, Hale, and Lundigan plays three members of the same family (brothers), descending in rank, within the group. Once the inductees are ready for battle and shipped "over there", Henry O'Neill and John Litel appear as the Colonel and the Captain, respectively. John Ridgely, whom I recall seeing, and George Reeves, whom I don't, also appear uncredited (among MANY others) as soldiers in this film.The story is a bit sappy, perhaps, released well before our involvement in the conflict brewing in the East, but it's watch-able nonetheless. Despite the plethora of Warner Bros. stars in the cast, it's only Cagney, O'Brien, Brent, and Hale who are charged with carrying the load. The focus of the plot is on Cagney's character, perhaps one of the least likable he ever played - a coward, the first ever in the famed unit. Brent and Hale are ready to through him out, which takes ever increasing forms as the film progresses to the front lines of battle, while O'Brien tries (quite literally) to "save" him.The battle scenes are nothing spectacular, but realistic enough to give one at least a feel for the chaos that might cause one (like Cagney's Plunkett) to flinch when faced with the reality of such terror. It probably comes as no surprise to anyone (lest this be a spoiler) that there's a change in our protagonist at just the right time, before the film's conclusion.

wes-connors It's 1917 and the United States is entering the Great War in Europe with guns blazing. Many young men (and, this being Hollywood, several decades from draft age) are recruited. Our boy from Brooklyn, wise-guy James Cagney (as Jerry Plunkett), looks like trouble from the beginning. He joins the mostly Irish Catholic "Fighting 49th" regiment. When the going gets tough, Mr. Cagney gets going – literally. As the fighting starts, Cagney realizes a man could get killed. He is no help on the battlefield, but kindly soldier priest Pat O'Brien (as Francis Duffy) provides cover for Cagney. Eventually, the cowardly Cagney's luck runs out and he must either find Christ and fight, lest he lose his spot in Heaven or on Earth...This is an entertaining war story, with real characters giving he fictionalized Cagney story some substance. It promotes unity in the war effort and includes more realism than many propaganda films – specifically, the instances of US soldiers dying during battle is not minimized. Cagney is engaging in the lead. His main support comes from Mr. O'Brien, who effectively manages the unholy wedding of Christianity and War. Of the many others in the cast, only a few get much script action. The best supporting part goes to Alan Hale (as "Big Mike" Wynn), who shows Cagney how to handle a mortar in a pinch. Apparently, Cagney was excused on mortar day, during training, but he's fortunately a quick study. Also getting a fair amount of screen time are stalwart George Brent (as "Wild Bill"' Donovan) and assimilated Sammy Cohan (as "Mike Murphy"). Good hokum from Warner Bros.****** The Fighting 69th (1/26/40) William Keighley ~ James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Alan Hale, George Brent

Michael O'Keefe Based on true facts. Of course Hollywood takes its liberties. Some scenes are a bit cornball; but still an interesting war flick. A loud mouth street tough Jerry Plunkett(James Cagney)joins the all-Irish 69th regiment, but seems to mock its military history. Plunkett barely makes it through training; alienating his superiors, but is befriended by Father Francis Duffy(Pat O'Brien). Frontline action in France causes the self-loving Plunkett to turn coward; but eventually redeems himself and dies a hero. Full of action with intermittent humor.This WWI war drama is loaded with stars featuring: Dennis Morgan, Alan Hale, George Brent, Frank McHugh, William Lundigan, Jeffrey Lynn and Dick Foran.

Robert J. Maxwell Cagney is often an Irish-American on screen but in his personal life he was proud of his Norwegian grandfather ("Nelson"). The problem with casting him was that he LOOKED and ACTED so Irish. He was so often a cocky bantamweight, as he is in this movie. He had a unique style. A bouncy half-psychotic body language, the kind that befits an ex-dancer. In this movie, watch him literally bounce from foxhole to foxhole. And his working-class New York accent was always singularly clipped and informed by some inner characterological melody. The style, unmistakable, was adapted to different genres -- to comedy ("One, Two, Three") and with a complete absence of success to Westerns. My God, "The Oklahoma Kid" in painful to watch.That's the Cagney we think of when we think of "Cagney," and yet the guy may have been under-rated as an actor. For instance, I can't really imagine another actor doing Cagney's breakdown scene in the big house in "White Heat." And whatever one might think of "The Gallant Hours" as a film, Cagney cannot be blamed for anything that's wrong with it. The same can be said for "Come Fill the Cup." Cagney's performance here is pretty much his street-wise tough guy character transported to France by the U. S. Army, shows his cowardice, and then is redeemed by some kind of epiphany known only to Hollywood screenwriters. During those few scenes when he's not making wisecracks in Yiddish or insulting priests ("Oh, Hi, St. Francis. How's all 'em monks?") he does a decent job, even an engaging one. His terror during combat, his remorse before he dies, is as convincing as his bravado on the sidewalks.But this movie is a product of its times and a viewer has to go with the flow. Mischa Moskovitz, for instance, assumes the alias of Mike Murphy in order to go overseas with the 69th. He's a flat-out stereotype, a clever guy with a Semitic face. In one of his earlier movies his character was called something like Freddy Bignose. And yet he dies honorably and is prayed over in Hebrew by Father Duffy in a moving scene.The action scenes look stage bound and of course the effects are primitive by today's standards, but the movie plunges along at such a pace that a viewer is likely to be drawn into it. The only slow scenes are those that drag in religion more or less by the heels. Kind of like Padre Alan Hale talking to Dennis Morgan while both fly through a thunderstorm. Of course anyone might think religious thoughts during extreme stress, but this movie makes it so relentlessly obvious.Those dull moment aren't enough to make it unwatchable. It's kind of fun. You just need to work a little harder to get past some of the more dated stuff.