While director Ford always included moments of broad comedy in his "serious" films, he was never really allowed to direct an out-and-out comedy until 1950 when he helmed WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME. Dailey stars as the first man in Puxatawney, West Virginia, to enlist upon the
outbreak of WW II. The locals, led by Dailey's father Demarest, give the young recruit a huge, patriotic sendoff as he leaves for boot camp. When Dailey returns from training camp, the town throws a huge welcome-home party. Unfortunately, the eager-to-fight Dailey has been assigned duty as a
gunnery instructor at a new air base in his home town. Dailey becomes the joke of the town as he watches all the other young men go off to war and come back heroes. Even small dogs harass him on his way home. Dailey gets his big chance when the gunner of a B-17 becomes ill just before a secret
mission. Picked to replace the gunner, an excited Dailey boards the plane and promptly falls asleep. When he awakes, Dailey finds the plane empty of all personnel except him (he failed to hear the order to bail out). The bewildered soldier jumps out of the plane and winds up getting his chute
tangled in a tree. He hangs there until rescued by a group of French Resistance fighters who cut him down and then quiz him to prove he's an American. "What does the Lone Ranger say?" and "Who is Dick Tracy?" are the questions asked Dailey by the French. Once satisfied that Dailey is an ally, the
Resistance fighters bring him along while they go to photograph a secret German V-2 base. During his adventure, Dailey becomes attracted to Calvet, a sexy French partisan, and almost forgets about Townsend, his wholesome girl back home. Faced with having to sneak Dailey out of the country, the
Resistance fighters stage a mock wedding between the American gunner and Calvet to cover their tracks. Leaving Calvet behind, Dailey makes it to London where he is hailed a hero, given loads of liquor, and then kept awake and interrogated by every ranking officer from London to Washington.
Finally, Dailey makes his way back to Puxatawney--only 36 hours after he left--drunk and tired. Finding himself locked out of his house, Dailey comes in through the window and is attacked by his own father, who mistakes him for a Nazi spy. Dailey soon discovers that the whole town thinks he went
AWOL, and his tired and drunken state only confirms their suspicions. Sworn to secrecy by Washington regarding his mission, Dailey is helpless to protest and must endure the same abuse as was heaped upon him before he left. Eventually the powers that be at the Pentagon reveal the truth, and MPs
are dispatched to Puxatawney to escort the hero to Washington where he is to be decorated by the President.
An extremely funny film, WHEN WILLIE COMES MARCHING HOME was based on a story (which was nominated for an Oscar) written by Sy Gomberg, who drew on his own experience during WW II that saw him ship out on a Friday afternoon, shoot down a Japanese plane, get strafed, and return home the following
Monday morning. The incident was expanded and stretched to allow for a good deal of satirical social observation, and Ford attacked it with his usual insightful gusto. The hypocrisy of small-town life is pinpointed here, and Ford gently condemns the people who would make such a fuss to send a man
off to war and then ridicule him when assigned to a local training post, even though his job was an important one that could mean the difference between life and death for most recruits. While the small-town scenes are funny and treated in a satirical manner, the vision of war is very serious and
no fun at all. Ford's visual style darkens when Dailey lands in France, and the mission to photograph the V-2 is given a straight dramatic treatment, thus driving home how serious war is and highlighting the small town's ludicrous (and dangerous) attitude toward it. The balance between comedy and
drama is a successful one, and when asked why Ford chose to handle the war scenes in a straightforward manner, the director replied: "Well, that was my racket for a while, and there wasn't anything funny about it. I wonder what s.o.b. will be the first who makes a comedy about Vietnam?" leave a comment