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''Immortal Sergeant'' is a 1943 American
war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
directed by John M. Stahl for
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
. Set in the North African desert during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, it stars Henry Fonda as a corporal lacking in confidence in both love and war, Maureen O'Hara as his girlfriend, and Thomas Mitchell as the title character. The film was based on the 1942 novel of the same name by John Brophy.


Plot

In North Africa, experienced Sergeant Kelly leads a British patrol, accompanied by Corporal Colin Spence, an unassertive Canadian. When they are attacked by Italian airplanes, they manage to shoot one down, but it crashes on one of their vehicles, killing eight men. Later, Kelly leads the six survivors on an attack of an Italian armored car but is seriously wounded. He orders Spence to leave him behind; when Spence refuses to obey, he shoots himself. Spence leads the remaining three men toward an
oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentsandstorm. The British emerge victorious, though one man is killed and Spence is wounded. The corporal comes to in a
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
hospital and finds he is to be given a medal and promoted to lieutenant. His newfound assertiveness extends to his personal life. He proposes to his girlfriend Valentine, who he had thought of (in flashbacks) throughout his ordeal.


Cast

* Henry Fonda as ''Cpl. Colin Spence'' * Maureen O'Hara as ''Valentine Lee'' * Thomas Mitchell as ''Sgt. Kelly'' * Allyn Joslyn as ''Cassity'' * Reginald Gardiner as ''Tom Benedict'' * Melville Cooper as ''Pilcher'' * Bramwell Fletcher as ''Symes'' * Morton Lowry as ''Cottrell''


Reception

Theodore Strauss of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' called the film "disappointing", writing that while it was "occasionally a warm and human study of a man's triumph over his own fears," the romance was "vapid" and O'Hara's character was "very dull". '' Variety'' called the film "a compact drama, interestingly told." '' Harrison's Reports'' wrote, "Although it does not reach great dramatic heights, and it is somewhat long drawn out, the production and the performances are so good that one's interest is held consistently." David Lardner of ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' wrote that the desert peril scenes were the "most solid aspects of the picture and, since they are fairly well handled, succeed in putting it on its feet." Lardner was distracted, however, by "the strange difficulty O'Hara seems to have in pronouncing polysyllabic words."


References


External links

* * * {{John M. Stahl 1943 films 1943 romantic drama films 1940s war films 20th Century Fox films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films Films based on British novels Films based on military novels Films directed by John M. Stahl Films scored by David Buttolph North African campaign films World War II films made in wartime American war drama films Films set in London 1940s English-language films English-language romantic drama films English-language war films