Discharged from service one month in due to chronic hay fever ("That's the worst kind!"), wimpy Marine Eddie Bracken is too ashamed to face the family - - especially as Dad died in World War One. Then a group of Guadalcanal vets usher him back home, where he's touted not only as a hero but as a frontrunner for mayor... You have to hand it to studio-era legend Preston Sturges: he sunk his satirist's scalpel into apple-pie patriotism while the US was at war and got Oscar-nommed (in the screenplay category) for his trouble. Maybe this doesn't quite hit the heights of The Lady Eve or Sullivan's Travels, but it's still thoroughbred Sturges, a whirlwind of whipsmart badinage and delicious slapstick (check out the glorious, tuneless chaos of the homecoming parade). Great turns, too, with the sheepishly sympathetic Bracken, love interest Ella Raines and a round-up of the director's regulars all battling for the honours.
DVD Extras:
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