Although Pearl Harbor was still 22 months away in early 1940, when The Fighting 69th was released, the escalating war in Europe was causing a noticeable swelling in patriotic fervor in the United States. So it's no surprise that The Fighting 69th turned out to be one of the biggest moneymakers of the year. This Word War I drama about the legendary regiment of New York-Irish soldiers stars real life pals James Cagney and Pat O'Brien along with a who's who of Warner Bros. stock players including George Brent, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Dennis Morgan and Dick Foran.

Pat O'Brien plays real life hero Father Duffy, whose statue still stands in Times Square. Cagney is the fictional Jerry Plunkett, a hardnosed braggart from Brooklyn who seems to go out of his way to alienate himself from every other member of the regiment. Quick with his fists away from the front lines, Plunkett turns out to be a coward when it comes to actual trench warfare. So much so in fact, that his terrified behavior causes the deaths of several of his fellow soldiers on more than one occasion. Yes, the corn grows tall in this one. Fortunately the veteran cast and the excitement of the battle scenes are enough to hoe a clear path threw the field.

Plunkett, imprisoned and awaiting a death sentence for his traitorous cowardice, gets one last chance to redeem himself by the saintly chaplain. Cagney and O'Brien made a great team. Cagney's cocky pugnacity bounced off of O'Brien's serene yet down-to-Earth honesty like a super ball on concrete. They are both supremely effective in the rousingly sentimental climax. It doesn't matter that it was visible from the opening credits. When Plunkett is finally vouchsafed a hero's death on the battlefield, projectile tears should spring from the eyes of any war veteran or patriotic American; for as cornball as this movie is, it is also extremely moving.

The soldiers are all familiar types. There is the tough-as-nails sergeant, the brave officer, the sensitive poet and the wisecracking fat guy. In one form or another these characters have fought their way through every major war in cinema history.

This movie features several riveting battles, yet one of my favorite scenes takes place early on when the Fighting 69th is still in training. They meet a regiment of soldiers from Alabama and then practically re-fight the Civil War. That is until the noble Major breaks up their scrimmage with a morale boosting speech about how they are all fellow Americans fighting on the same team now.

The Fighting 69th is nothing more than a good old-fashioned war picture. And that's enough.

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