What Price Glory (1952)

Excellent but underrated film

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

I came across this quite by accident last night. I was flipping channels and came across TUrner Classic Movies and this movie was being introduced. It has to be good if James Cagney is in it. Dan Dailey too? Great, two fine talents. John Ford directing? This movie has got to be great.I watched for about 40-45 minutes. I won't get those minutes back. What I saw was an rather silly competition over a somewhat attractive barmaid. No heat. No charisma by any of the participants. I caught the misnaming of many things like companies, calling marines "soldiers". I just was surprised with talent in this movie that something smart didn't come out of it.I was so ticked off I just turned off the TV. My watching of this "movie" was over in 45 minutes. I have no idea if in minute 46 on to the end they included something brilliant or not. I had to save myself. I was shocked at how worthless this movie was.Now, I know why this was the very first time is was going to be shown on TCM! My advice: run as far as possible away from this "movie".

I was surprised to see John Ford's name listed as the director for this film, and even more surprised when it was over. With Oscar wins for greats like "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and "How Green Was My Valley (1941), I can't imagine what Ford might have thought after completing this picture, which doesn't quite work as either a war adventure or a military comedy. Which is saying something considering the cast that was assembled to put this effort together.It all starts reasonably enough as Jimmy Cagney swaggers into a World War I French town leading his troops, awaiting the arrival of his new 'Top Soldier'. I wondered about that characterization for quite a while since the term was used a number of times. When 1st Sergeant Quirt (Dan Dailey) finally reports to his commanding officer, the official greeting boils down to a chalk line fist fight that gets repeated each time the men come up with a reason to challenge each other, and there's no shortage of those.Corinne Calvet portrays the romantic interest for both men in the film, but the way her attention see saws back and forth between them, the set up becomes little more than contrived for the sake of a story. Her character Charmaine doesn't seem to spark with either Captain Flagg (Cagney) or Quirt, and considering the way she was treated by both, I'm surprised she didn't tell either one to take a hike, military or otherwise.The film descends into 'Hogan's Heroes' territory later in the movie when Flagg's assignment to capture a German officer sets the friendly rivals off into enemy territory. For me, the film lost a lot of credibility when Flagg and Quirt wind up glad handing the German Colonel after knocking off a trio of higher ranking soldiers. It somehow seemed beneath Cagney's screen persona to make sport of a war time situation like that. Also, the film's attempt to convey some symbolic meaning to it's title generally falls flat when a wounded Marine challenges Flagg, shouting 'What price glory?' during a scene that wasn't very stirring or emotional, another device in the film that really doesn't work.Company L's colorful cast includes William Demarest, Harry Morgan, Wally Vernon and an unrecognizably young Robert Wagner who doesn't make it home. Each has generally limited screen time in support of Flagg's blustery demeanor, except Wagner who's off and running in a romance of his own with a French school girl. It might have been a tearjerker, but it wasn't.Interestingly, James Cagney appeared in another World War I film, "The Fighting 69th" about a regiment of mostly New York Irish soldiers. Again, the story is fairly simplistic, though fans of the actor can count on his solid performance in each. It's only too bad that he wasn't given more to work with.

Excellent performances by James Cagney and Dan Dailey with good support from William Demarest and a super young Robert Wagner. Interesting contrast of characters from the battle tested professionals like Cagney and Dailey to the fresh out of basic training and high school Wagner. Also brings out the issue of battle fatigue or "shell-shocked" and how it sometimes affects soldiers directly and indirectly by its effect on the morale of their buddies. The interaction with the townspeople is also well done. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this movie every time I have seen it. It is like vintage wine and seems to get better with age. The first time I saw this movie was in l954 and I learned to sing the song "Its a long way to Tipperary" from watching it one time.

One of the great anti-war plays of the 1920s was Maxwell Anderson's What Price Glory. The play expressed popular American feeling that we were never going to war again like that and endure the slaughter in those trenches in France that occurred in the short time we were there. Remember we only declared war in 1917 and the thing had been going on in Europe for three years by the time we got there.One of the things Woodrow Wilson as President and the American Expeditionary Force commander John Pershing insisted on was that the American army when fully trained would fight as a unit and not just be replacement troops for the French and British already there. They deviated only once from that policy when the American First Marine Division became the first American troops in battle in World War I at Belleau Wood. These Marines depicted here are part of those troops.John Ford is one of our great American directors and when he does his own work on material never before used he's produced some remarkable cinema. But here he takes a serious anti-war play and turns it into one of his service comedies. There certainly are comedic elements in What Price Glory, but it's a serious picture.The original silent film version done by Raoul Walsh was faithful to Maxwell Anderson's spirit and introduced those two Marines Edmund Lowe and Victor McLaglen who were so popular as Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt that they went and starred in a slew of buddy films. In fact they and James Cagney and Pat O'Brien introduced and popularized the buddy film genre.Cagney steps into McLaglen shoes here and Dan Dailey plays Sergeant Quirt. They played two belligerent oafs in this and play them well, but no one ever thought of re-teaming them.John Ford should have let this classic alone.