This Is the Army (1943)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Casey Robinson (writer) &
Claude Binyon (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

14 August 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | War

Tagline:

It's your own army - in the army's own show!

Plot:

In WW I dancer Jerry Jones stages an all-soldier show on Broadway, called Yip Yip Yaphank. Wounded in the War...

Plot Keywords:

Show | Famous Song | WWII | Soldier | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

George Murphy	...	Jerry Jones
Joan Leslie	...	Eileen Dibble
George Tobias	...	Maxie Twardofsky
Alan Hale	...	Sgt. McGee
Charles Butterworth	...	Eddie Dibble
Dolores Costello	...	Mrs. Davidson
Una Merkel	...	Rose Dibble
Stanley Ridges	...	Maj. John B. Davidson
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Ethel Jones
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mrs. O'Brien
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Nelson
Frances Langford	...	Herself
Gertrude Niesen	...	World War One Vocalist
Kate Smith	...	Herself
Ronald Reagan	...	Johnny Jones (as Lt. Ronald Reagan)
Joe Louis	...	Himself (as Sgt. Joe Louis)
Alan Anderson	...	Soldier (as 1st Sgt. Alan Anderson)
Ezra Stone	...	Soldier (as M/Sgt. Ezra Stone)
Tom D'Andrea	...	Soldier (as T/Sgt. Tom D'Andrea)
James Burrell	...	Soldier (as S/Sgt. James Burrell)
Ross Elliott	...	Soldier (as Sgt. Ross Elliot)
Alan Manson	...	Soldier (as Sgt. Alan Manson)
John Prinze Mendes	...	Soldier (as Sgt. John Prinze Mendes)
Julie Oshins	...	Pvt. Twardofsky (as Sgt. Julie Oshins)
Earl Oxford	...	Soldier (as Sgt. Earl Oxford)
Robert Shanley	...	Ted Nelson (as Sgt. Robert Shanley)
Philip Truex	...	Soldier (as Sgt. Philip Truex)
James MacColl	...	Soldier / Alfred Lunt (as Cpl. James MacColl)
Herbert Anderson	...	Danny Davidson (as Cpl. Herbert Anderson)
Ralph Magelssen	...	Soldier (as Cpl. Ralph Magelssen)
Tilestone Perry	...	Soldier / Lynn Fontanne (as Cpl. Tileston Perry)
John Cook Jr.	...	Soldier (as Pfc. Joe Cook Jr.)
Larry Weeks	...	Soldier (as Pfc. Larry Weeks)
The Allon Trio	...	Themselves
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Murray Alper	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Warner Anderson	...	Kate Smith's announcer (uncredited)
Irving Bacon	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Leah Baird	...	Old-timer's wife (uncredited)
Louis Bednarcik	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Irving Berlin	...	Himself (uncredited)
Dick Bernie	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Carlyle Blackwell Jr.	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Jackie Brown	...	Mike Nelson (uncredited)
Angelo Buono	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Jimmy Butler	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Frank Coghlan Jr.	...	Soldier at camp (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin	...	Stage doorman (uncredited)
Richard Crane	...	Sergeant on field march (uncredited)
Belmonte Cristiani	...	Soldier (uncredited)
James Cross	...	Tap dancer (uncredited)
John Daheim	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Gayle DeCamp	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Alan Dexter	...	Soldier (uncredited)
John Draper	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Geno Erbisti	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Martin Faust	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Sgt. Fisher	...	Blake Nelson (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Woman in Audience (uncredited)
Ross Ford	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Art Foster	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Ilka Grüning	...	Mrs. Twardofsky (uncredited)
Eddie Hall	...	Sailor (uncredited)
Hank Henry	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Richard Irving	...	Soldier (uncredited)
John James	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Jerry Jarrett	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Payne B. Johnson	...	Boy (uncredited)
Henry Jones	...	Soldier / Mr. Brown (uncredited)
Fred Kelly	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Bill Kennedy	...	News Commentator (uncredited)
J.P. Mandes	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Gary Merrill	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Pinkie Mitchell	...	Herself (uncredited)
Victor Moore	...	Father of soldier (uncredited)
Patsie Moran	...	Marie Twardofsky (uncredited)
Gene Nelson	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Allen Pomeroy	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Richard Reeves	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Sydney Robin	...	Soldier (uncredited)
William Roerick	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Hayden Rorke	...	Soldier / Stage Manager (uncredited)
Arthur Space	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Arthur Steiner	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Ernest Truex	...	Father of soldier (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Stranger in audience (uncredited)
Doodles Weaver	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Bert Whitley	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Jack Young	...	Franklin D. Roosevelt (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Irving Berlin		(play) uncredited
Casey Robinson		(writer) &
Claude Binyon		(writer) (as Capt. Claude Binyon)

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	producer

Cinematography by
Bert Glennon
Sol Polito

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
John Hughes
John Koenig		(as Lt. John Koenig)

Set Decoration by
George James Hopkins

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(as Pvt. Orry-Kelly)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frank Heath	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
C.A. Riggs	....	sound

Special Effects by
Jack Cosgrove	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunts (uncredited)
Allen Pomeroy	....	stunts (uncredited)

Editorial Department
James Leicester	....	montage
Don Siegel	....	montage

Music Department
Irving Berlin	....	composer: music and lyrics
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Ray Heindorf	....	orchestral arrangements
Ray Heindorf	....	composer: music cues (uncredited)
Max Steiner	....	composer: music cues (uncredited)

Other crew
Edward A. Blatt	....	dialogue director (as Sgt. Edward Blatt)
Natalie Kalmus	....	technicolor color director
Frank T. McCabe	....	technical advisor (as Lt. Col. Frank T. McCabe)
Richard Mueller	....	associate technicolor color director
LeRoy Prinz	....	production number stager (as Leroy Prinz)
Robert Sidney	....	production number stager (as M/Sgt. Robert Sidney)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Celebrity Home Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Hollywood Classics (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Moviecraft (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Hollywood Classics (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• United American Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Direct Source (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Platinum Disc (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Platinum Disc (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha-Omega Publications (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Front Row Entertainment (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Delta Expedition (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Vidtape (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Digiview Productions (2004) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Memory Lane Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

UK:PG (DVD rating) (2005) | UK:U (original rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Henry Jones' first movie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The map showing the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939 shows the Austrian-Czech border from 1937.

Quotes:

Jerry Jones: Will you marry me tonight?
Ethel: Well, of course.
Jerry Jones: Wonderful. Congratulations, darling, you're a war bride. I've just been drafted.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hail to the Chief

Remember the times, sweetie!

First of all, had you done your research, you would've known that all three branches of the military had (and still have) entertainment divisions whose sole job is to produce shows for the troops. If you looked at the "Crazy Credits" section you would've learned that famed composer Irving Berlin staged the two soldier shows as depicted in the movie.

Yes, many of the skits and songs are terribly dated and yes "This is the Army" is largely a propaganda film, but Berlin singing his "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" was the lament of every draftee.

Virtually *every* film made during WWII was done either as propaganda or to bolster the spirits on the homefront.

I respectfully suggest watching it again, but instead of looking at it with 2004 cynicism, look at it in the context of the times.