When Willie leaves home to join the war effort he is all ready to become a hero, but he is only frustrated when his posting ends up to be in his home town, and he is recruited into training, keeping him from the action. However, when he finds himself accidently behind enemy lines he unexpectedly becomes a hero after all.
Direction
Ford treating slapstick with the same gravity as cavalry charges.
Acting
Dan Dailey's escalating desperation as the war passes him by.
Production
Real B-17 footage that accidentally became the film's best joke.
Director
John Ford
Dan Dailey
William 'Bill' Kluggs
Corinne Calvet
Yvonne Le Tete
Colleen Townsend
Marjorie 'Marge' Fettles
William Demarest
Herman Kluggs
Jimmy Lydon
Charles 'Charlie' Fettles
Lloyd Corrigan
Major Adams
Evelyn Varden
Gertrude Kluggs
Whit Bissell
Lt. M.J. Hanley - Psychiatrist (uncredited)
Vera Miles
Laughing Sergeant's Date (uncredited)
Luis Alberni
Barman (uncredited)
Gregg Barton
Colonel (uncredited)
George Blagoi
German Officer (uncredited)
William Bryant
B-17 Crew Member in Cockpit (uncredited)
Paul Bryar
French Resistance Fighter (uncredited)
Ann Codee
French Resistance Fighter (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The opening credits claim the story comes from 'Government films... because they didn't want it'—a rare case of a director publicly mocking his own source material.
Ford made this between 'She Wore a Yellow Ribbon' and 'Rio Grande'—his only comedy during this period, and possibly his most personal statement on the gap between myth and reality.
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