Immortal Sergeant ** (1943, Henry Fonda, Maureen O’Hara, Thomas Mitchell) – Classic Movie Review 11,765

Director John M Stahl’s 1943 20th Century Fox. American black and white war film Immortal Sergeant stars Henry Fonda, Maureen O’Hara and Thomas Mitchell.

Fonda is cast as a Canadian wartime soldier, Corporal Colin Spence, seconded to the British Eighth Army in the North African desert. He is an unassertive corporal lacking confidence in love and war. There he grows up under tough Sergeant Kelly (Thomas Mitchell) while dreaming (in flashbacks) of his girlfriend Valentine Lee (O’Hara).

[Spoiler alert] When the patrol shoots down an Italian airplane, it kills eight men as it crashes on one of their vehicles. Kelly is badly wounded leading the six survivors in an attack on an Italian armoured car. Kelly shoots himself when Spence refuses to leave him behind.

After Kelly is dead, his teaching is immortal and corporal Fonda becomes a hero.

Immortal Sergeant is a well-meaning and carefully made mix of World War Two drama, war film, romance and morale booster. But it all seems a bit naive and desperately dated now – and it was helpful in its time only.

It would be a lot more entertaining as a straight war action adventure, though Fonda still holds the attention. Perhaps inevitably, the romance is particularly feeble, giving O’Hara a hard time.

The film is based on the 1942 novel Immortal Sergeant by John Brophy.

The cast are Henry Fonda as Corporal Colin Spence, Maureen O’Hara as Valentine Lee, Thomas Mitchell as Sergeant Kelly, Allyn Joslyn as Cassity, Reginald Gardiner as Tom Benedict, Melville Cooper as Pilcher, Bramwell Fletcher as Symes, Morton Lowry as Cottrell, Guy Kingsford and Peter Lawford.

Immortal Sergeant is directed by John M Stahl, runs 91 minutes, is made and released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Lamar Trotti, based on the novel by John Brophy, is shot in black and white by Arthur Miller, is produced by Lamar Trotti and scored by David Buttolph.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,765

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