Cowardice, Bravery, and Community: The Fighting 69th (1940) – Classic War Film Analysis

Cowardice, Bravery, and Community: The Fighting 69th (1940) – Classic War Film Analysis

Join me for a Midi as I dive into “The Fighting 69th” (1940), a stirring World War I drama that explores Cowardice, Bravery, Religion, and Community. Uncover the powerful performances, historical context, and emotional depth of this classic war film.

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Trying something a little different today.

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I’m going to record live
and do limited editing.

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And try to get out more movie
summaries in a shorter time.

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I’ll still make more traditional
long forms and some shorts,

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but I’m going to try this new format
and see how it works.

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You can let me know in the comment.

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I appreciate your support.

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How’s it going?

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I wanted to talk to you
a bit about a movie I just watched.

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It’s an old movie.
I’ve seen it many, many times.

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It’s called The Fighting 69th,
and it came out in 1940.

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This movie stars James Cagney.

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I’m a big fan of this guy
who was a great actor.

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So the movie tells the story of the 69th
National Guard Regiment from New York

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that was sent over as part of the American
Expeditionary Force.

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It’s based on a true story.

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These World War One units,
they activated these National Guard units

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from New York,
which was a really intense Catholic unit.

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The Fighting 69th had been a unit
during the American Civil War,

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and they’re famous for their battle
at Fredericksburg.

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They are very Catholic, very traditional.

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A lot of local guys from Irish immigrants
that were Catholic.

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And what the government did is
they took National Guard

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units from all over the country,
and they mashed them together.

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Now the Harlem unit
had to fight to get included.

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Can you imagine fighting to get your unit
included in the war.

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Wouldn’t happen today, but,
it happened back then.

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But they would take like,
Alabama units and stuff like that.

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And they mashed them all together
and made the All American Division

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that was sent over there.
And so the American Expeditionary Force.

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Well, this movie tell that story.

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The movie focuses on one guy,
Gerry Plunkett, played by Cagney.

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And he’s a real tough street guy.

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You know, he’s not really a coward.

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He’s a physically brave guy.

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But when he gets to the unit,

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he can’t really follow instructions
because he’s more of a rogue guy.

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And then when they eventually get up
to the line in France, he freaks out

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because he can’t just sit around
while artillery is bombarding him.

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He wants to do something.

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So through a series of events,
he gets in trouble.

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Gerry Plunkett,
who is kind of protected and watched over

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by Father
Duffy, who was played by Pat O’Brien.

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And he just is sappy as Knute Rockne,
you know.

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It’s the same movie where
when won for the Gipper by Ronald Reagan.

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And so he was playing that same character,
but this time he was a Catholic priest

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instead of a Catholic football coach.

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Eventually,
Gerry Plunkett gets so many people killed

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that they court martial him for cowardice,
and they sentence him to death.

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He doesn’t want to really die
like that by execution.

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And he begs the father to let him go.

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Won’t do it.

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So by happenstance,
an artillery shell hits

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where he’s being imprisoned
and blows the wall down.

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And instead of escaping, he sees Father
Duffy preaching to some men to be brave.

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And he goes forward to help out.

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And in one critical moment,
he helps Big Mike, a soldier

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who was too big to be in the military,
played by Alan Hale Sr.

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That’s the father of the Gilligan’s
Island skipper.

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They use mortars to drive the Germans back
and make the attack successful.

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A German grenade is thrown into the pit
where big Mike and Jerry are hiding.

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And Jerry, Jimmy Cagney’s character,
jumps on it and blows himself up

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to save his friend.

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They realize that he redeemed himself
and they forgive him in the end.

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Part of the story is true.

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They had a famous poet in their unit.

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He was killed when a underground bunker
that they were in was hit

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by artillery and collapsed.

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So I really like this movie.
James Cagney is good.

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He shows his New York tough guy,
but he’s a little more nuanced

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because he a he’s a coward
when it comes to the

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the big stuff, the artillery
and the sitting and waiting in trenches.

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One really great moment in this movie is
he is talking to another fella

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from New York

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who’s obviously Jewish, pretending
to be Irish so he can be in the unit.

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And they get into a Yiddish conversation
in the movie.

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Cagney spoke fluent Yiddish from his time
growing up in New York.

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So it’s a good movie.

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It’s a real traditional.

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It’s The Fighting 69th (1940).

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Give it a look.
I think you’re going to like it.