The Fighting 69th (1940) - Cagney and O'Brien back in familiar dynamic in alright morale war picture

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A color-spiked, star-pushing poster for William Keighley's The Fighting 69th

Towards the end of WWI, the Irish-American 69th infantry company from New York are stationed in Europe's trenches, with cheeky Plunkett and silver-tongued father Duff, fighting for world peace.

The Fighting 69th is written by Dean Riesner (Coogan's Bluff (1968)), Fred Niblo Jr. (Father's Son (1941)) and Norman Reilly Raine (Eagle Squadron (1942)), based on the real heroics of the 69th infantry company during WWI, and directed by William Keighley (Each Dawn I Die (1939)). The company was named 'the fighting 69th' long before WWI; in fact by General Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War.
Both his soldier colleagues and James Cagney's (The Mayor of Hell (1933)) Plunkett, who turns out to have it all in his mouth, are vexing in The Fighting 69th. Pat O'Brien (Stage 7 (1955, TV-series)) seems to have been created for playing clerical parts such as this, - which he had also already done across from Cagney in gangster masterpiece Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), - and so the casting here is hardly innovative.
But that goes for the entire film, which relies on the suspense of whether or not Plunkett will convert to the good father's faith and redeem himself in the end (or not), and this works just fine as digestive afternoon fare - especially for men.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain - but seemingly a hit
[The Fighting 69th premiered 26 January (New York) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles and San Diego, in and around October 1939. The Plunkett character is entirely fictional. The only female character in the script was cast but then cut out prior to production. The film's budget and gross is unknown; though it reportedly peaked at #2 in North America; and TCM reports that it was "an enormous hit". Keighley returned with Torrid Zone (1940), also the next feature for Cagney. O'Brien returned in Castle on the Hudson (1940); George Brent (Stage 7 (1955, TV-series)) in Adventure in Diamonds (1940). 1,618 IMDb users have given The Fighting 69th a 6.7/10 average rating.]

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