Hail The Conquering Hero (1944)

Chicago Reader critic Jonathan Rosenbaum's summary:

Preston Sturges's last feature for Paramount (1944) takes on wartime patriotism with a brio and vengeance that may take your breath away. Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) gets discharged from the marines due to chronic hay fever, but some service buddies decide to present him to his hometown as if he's a returning war hero. As usual, Sturges's stock company of wonderful bit actors—including William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Raymond Walburn, and Jimmy Conlin—is orchestrated and conducted like a pop symphony, and Ella Raines does duty as the love interest. A scathing delight.

A movie that is now 75 years old, I really found this to be a good satire about lauding a wartime hero. The movie is rather sentimental but it's amusing to see everyone in this town praise this guy who doesn't deserve any of it. One of the biggest problems I have with it is the frequent utterance of the word "Jap" that bothered me. I know it was common for films of that era to use that term but it's really cringe inducing to hear today. Sturges was so prophetic and forward-thinking in many of his scripts but it's unfortunate that those slurs were left in for all time.

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1951) AKA Mad Wednesday

Preston Sturges wrote this zany comedy especially for Harold Lloyd, who hadn't made a film in 10 years. The story is about a recently-fired office worker whose drunken spree is so wild that he can't recall what he did the previous night. If you've seen "The Hangover" movie from last year, then you get the idea.

What's neat about this film is that it's a "sequel" (sort of) to Harold Lloyd's 1923 silent classic The Freshman, filmed over 20 years earlier. This type of revisiting old classics decades later sort of reminds me of what they're doing with the new Wall Street sequel coming out soon, with Michael Douglas reprising his role as "Gordon Geckko"; he last played this character over 20 years ago. Also, speaking of sequels to movies from 20+ years ago, a new "Ghostbusters" movie is in the works, with some of the original cast members already agreeing to be in it.

The same idea here with "Diddlebock": the film begins with the climax football game from the The Freshman, and features original shots of the unnamed undergrad played by Lloyd.

Newly filmed sequences with dialogue is edited in; it all appears seamless.

The photo below shows the unnecessary disclaimer which precedes the movie.



We learn the Lloyd's Freshman chracter's name is "Harold Diddlebock". We see him getting his first job out of college, in an ad agency. Lloyd, who was in his forties, still looked youthful enough to play these scenes as a young twentysomething yuppie.

Then there is a neat "passage-of-time" sequence, which to modern audiences is sort of cliche but it works in this film: the calender on the wall changes from year to year, and even shows a new picture of the current US president at the time. We flash-forward 20 years. Diddlebock has spent 20 years at that ad agency...and in the same desk. One day, he's called into his boss' office, and is fired for being too old, in a rather heartbreaking scene. He also says goodbye to his co-workers, including his crush at work, played by the beautiful actress Frances Ramsden (1920 - 2000). Unfortunately, Ms. Ramsden only appeared in two other movies before retiring from film.



Below: Frances Ramsden, Preston Sturges, Harold Lloyd



Below: American actors Harold Lloyd (left) and Frances Ramsden stand with their director Preston Sturges as they listen to a pianist accompanied by a violin on the set of their film ´The Sin of Harold Diddlebock,´ Hollywood, California, December 1945. Photo: Bob Landry./Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images Dec 01, 1945



Depressed, Diddlebock meets another out-of-work lug who talks him into going to a bar to wash away his troubles. Funny thing is, Diddlebock has NEVER had a drink in his whole life. The bartenter is only too thrilled to assist in the initiation, and is inspired to concoct a new "work of art" just for Diddlebock.

Read Garv's blog post about the bar scene in this movie from a few months ago. He explains the scene perfectly.

What ensues is an irresponsible orgy of drunkeness (including moose calls), which is apprantly the "sin" of the title.

The next morning Diddlebock wakes up on his sister Flora's couch, hung over. (Maragret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch in Wizard of Oz, plays his sister, Flora) Not remembering a thing that happened to him the night before, he's informed by Flora that he ended up riding down the streets on a horse like Lady Godiva. Then he finds out he placed a few bets on some horses. And after winning big, he started to splurge, even purchasing a circus, which he claimed he had always wanted. But he doesn't remember a thing, and for the rest of the movie we learn about the entire night's events from the suppporting characters we meet along the way.

This movie is worth seeing. If you have to see just one scene, you must watch the skyscraper ledge scene (reminsicient of Lloyd's silent stunts in Safety Last) Diddlebock chases a circus lion (nicknamed "Jackie") up a fire escape of a building in downtown New York, then finds himself dangling over a forty-story ledge from Jackie's tail over the city streets, in a technically brilllant piece of special effects work. Needless to say, this role demanted plenty of physical comedy, and Lloyd was perfect to play in it.

Filming began in 1945, and it wasn't released in theaters until 1950.

Five years it sat on the shelf.

I read that producer Howard Hughes was not happy with the original version (for some reason) and ordered that serveral cuts of the film be made.

It was first released in the US as "Mad Wednesday" (referring to the crazy night of drunken bliss). Later (I'm not clear on when the title was changed) it was changed to "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock".

Personally, I don't really like either title. I would be happy if the film was simply called "Mr. Diddlebock".

Below, l-r: Harold Lloyd, "Jackie", Frances Ramsden



This was Harold Lloyd's (1893 - 1971) last film. It is available on DVD, but you might have to search for it. Other reviewers have called this film an homage to Lloyd's career, much like Limelight was for Chaplin.

Co-starring Franklin Pangborn and Rudy Vallee. Harold Lloyd was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor (Comedy) of 1950 (Lost to Fred Astaire in Three Little Words)

Here's a great review from the blog I Shoot the Pictures.

BONUS PHOTO:

Below: Harold Lloyd, the screen star, is shown (left) with his director, Preston Sturges (center), and Imperial Potentate William H. Woodfield Jr., of San Francisco, as they posed with "Jackie", famed acting lion on the set of Lloyd's new picture The Sin of Harold Diddlebook. Lloyd will head a delegation of film celebrities to the first national shrine convention since the war, in San Francisco. Jackie will be official mascot of the convention.


IMAGE: © Bettmann/CORBIS DATE PHOTOGRAPHED: January 02, 1946 LOCATION: Los Angeles, California, USA