''Marching On!'' is a 1943 American

race film The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for African American, black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race ...

directed and written by

Spencer Williams Spencer Williams (October 14, 1889 – July 14, 1965) was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs " Basin Street Blues", " I Ain't Got Nobody", " Royal Garden Blues", " I've Found a N ...

. Sequences were filmed at

Fort Huachuca, Arizona Fort Huachuca is a United States Army installation, in Cochise County in southeast Arizona, approximately north of the border with Mexico and at the northern end of the Huachuca Mountains, adjacent to the town of Sierra Vista. Established ...

. The film was later rereleased with additional musical sequences under the title ''Where's My Man To-nite?''.

Plot

The film focuses on a young

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

who continues his family’s tradition of military service when he is drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

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 ...

. Despite complications that arise during his basic training, including his jealousy following his girlfriend's flirtatious attention to his sergeant, the young soldier becomes a hero when he locates Japanese saboteurs operating a radio station outside of his military base.“The Movies, Race, and Ethnicity: African Americans,” University of California Berkeley
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Cast

* Hugo Martin as Rodney Tucker Jr. * George T. Sutton as Gramps Sam Tucker * Emmet Jackson as Sgt. Robert L. Keene * "Pepper" Neely as Wash, soldier * Mickey McZekkashing as Wimpy, soldier * Myra D. Hemmings as Mrs. Ellen Tucker * Clarissy Deary as Ginny * L.K. Smith as Rufus *John Hemmings as Rodney Tucker Sr. * Georgia Kelly as Martha Adams

References

External links

* * 1943 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Films directed by Spencer Williams Race films World War II films made in wartime American drama films 1943 drama films {{1940s-drama-film-stub