What Next, Corporal Hargrove?

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Movie
Original title What Next, Corporal Hargrove?
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1945
length 95 minutes
Rod
Director Richard Thorpe
script Harry Kurnitz ,
Marion Hargrove (Characters)
production George Haight for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
music David Snell
camera Henry Sharp
cut Albert Akst
occupation

What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (German What's next, Corporal Hargrove? or What now, Corporal Hargrove? ) is the title of a US war film comedy by Richard Thorpe from 1945. The main roles are starring Robert Walker and Keenan Wynn as well as Jean Porter .

When a bumbling soldier and his subtle superior superior and friend are transferred to France during World War II , they take a small town by storm.

The film is a sequel to the 1943 comedy film See Here, Private Hargrove , in which Robert Walker and Keenan Wynn starred in the same roles.

action

A short time after the D-Day invasion in June 1944: The soldiers of the Allied forces that landed in Normandy are on their way to Paris. The 352 field artillery B battery is disconnected from the caravan when an artillery truck gets stuck in the mud. When Corporal Marion Hargrove, the commander of the gun crew, fails to catch up with the caravan, he leads his men to the small French town of Mardenne, from which the German occupiers have only just had to leave. The citizens of the city believe that their liberators have returned and celebrate the men as heroes. Quidoc, the town's mayor, welcomes Hargrove and introduces him to his attractive daughter Jeanne. When Jeanne Hargrove later shows the city, he is reserved in view of the fact that he has a girlfriend in his home country, to whom he wants to remain loyal.

Meanwhile, Thomas Mulvehill from Hargrove's unit enjoys the hospitality in the town and tries to use the trust of the residents for himself. When the men then have to leave Mardenne again, the city leaders have prepared a big farewell ceremony. Hargrove, on the other hand, did not go so well with his superiors, he was downgraded in rank and was punished for digging a dump. However, the situation quickly changes in Hargrove's favor when Mardenne encounters difficulties in terms of trust and cooperation. This is how Hargrove and his men are brought back, who are now supposed to help build a military government. Those who have returned are warmly welcomed in the town again this time. Jeanne in particular is so happy that she gives Hargrove a kiss. Hargrove's request to his superiors to be allowed to tell Jeanne about his girlfriend who is waiting for him at home is rejected because the army has fears that this could have a detrimental effect on the cooperation between the military police and the city administration.

Mulvehill is not making as much progress with the Mardennes citizens as he had imagined, and even becomes a victim of information given to him confidentially by the watchmaker Marcel Vivin. Vivin sells him a map showing the exact location of valuable clocks that are said to be in a Parisian cellar. But since his unit is stuck in Mardenne, which he attributes to Jeanne's infatuation with Hargrove, Mulvehill secretly causes Jeanne to leave town to join the French women's army corps. Hargrove and his division soon received the order to rejoin the Allied troop movement towards Paris. However, Hargrove and Mulvehill get lost on the way to the supply depot in Paris. Mulvehill sees this as a chance to look for the hidden clocks without realizing that Vivin tricked him. However, they are caught and arrested by military police on the grounds that they have deserted .

Mulvehill manages to obtain his and Hargrove's release as he tells the military chaplain that Hargrove only left his post to see his fiancée. This lie, however, is not least exposed by Jeanne, who denies being in a relationship with Hargrove. Hargrove, fed up with Mulvehill's tricks and stories, returns to camp alone and asks for appropriate punishment. But when Mulvehill is missing, he and Sergeant Cramp go looking for his comrade and find him in Paris. The trio returned to their unit just in time to participate in a successful military offensive.

production

Production notes

According to the July 1945 Hollywood Reporter , MGM paid Marion Hargrove $ 100,000 for using his name in the film. Filming began on July 19 and ended in early September 1945. They also took place at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton north of San Diego in southern California .

About Hargrove

Following the success of the films that bear his name, Hargrove (1919-2003) was a screenwriter and created scripts for feature films and television series such as Maverick , Fantasy Island and The Waltons . For his screenplay for the musical film Music Man (1962) he was awarded a Writers Guild of America Award .

publication

The film was first shown in the United States on November 21, 1945. It was released in the United Kingdom (London) on January 25, 1946 and in Mexico on November 27, 1947. It was also released in Brazil, Italy and Spain. It was not published in the Federal Republic of Germany. There is also no German dubbed version.

reception

criticism

Bosley Crowther wrote in the New York Times two years ago that Hargrove, as a playful but cheerful GI in the first feature film See Here, Private Horgreve, sought the audience's favor. In the current film as a sergeant, he is less appealing. He acts a bit clumsy and unnatural and the plot is limited to offering the audience a farce. The different sections of the plot are silly, tried and sometimes tasteless and ridiculous. And strangely enough, the film also lacks cheerfulness. Robert Walker plays his character superficially and Keenan Wynn repeats his role as a rampant farceur. Chill Wills is the tinny acting sergeant again and a little actress named Jean Porter plays a French girl who falls in love with Hargrove, like in a musical comedy. A band of other actors play impetuously French and GIs. After this film one can only hope that the character Hargrove does not appear in further films.

Award

Harry Kurnitz was in 1946 in the category "Best Original Screenplay" for an Oscar nomination, but which at Richard Schweizer and the film drama Marie-Louise went.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Production details on afi.com
  2. ^ What Next, Corporal Hargrove? see Notes at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English).
  3. ^ What Next, Corporal Hargrove? (1945) see Articles at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English).
  4. ↑ Bosley Crowther : What Next, Corporal Hargrove? In: The New York Times . December 26, 1945 (English). Retrieved January 9, 2020.

Web links