Hail the conquering hero - (Sturges, 1944) #DTC 810

A dismissed soldier is forced to return to his hometown under false pretenses and is received with undeserved glory

The story moves fast enough to keep you entertained. The poor boy is put from one bizarre situation to the next - all of them for his own good, but completely against his will. The gathers a lot of its funny moments just from those confrontations. Most of the other highlights come from the quirkiness of the other characters. They are all weird, offensive and at the same time extremely charming human beings that make life for the hero so unbearable.

I was really impressed by this one. The ending is slightly expected and the coming-out of the mistaken hero is something I have seen in a gazillion movies since, but even here Sturges found quite an original ending, with everybody in the town marching down the street. Look at this for great dialogue.

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