The story takes place in 1940. On the eve of America's entry in World War II, a colonel retired to his small Southern town, and discovers that there is a plan afoot to tear down Confederate Monument Square. He begins a campaign to rally the townspeople to save the square.
Charles Coburn
Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham
Joan Bennett
Ella Sue Dozier
William Eythe
Albert 'Al' Marbury
Allyn Joslyn
Earl Hoats
Elizabeth Patterson
Cousin Emma
Donald Meek
Doc Buden
Frank Craven
Dewey
Thurston Hall
Ed - the Mayor
Cora Witherspoon
Mrs. Clara Meigs
Emory Parnell
Joe Alsobrook
Henry Armetta
Jimmy Economy
Stephen Dunne
Professor Edward 'Ed' Bland
Roy Roberts
Army Captain Rampey
Director
Irving Pichel
Novel
Berry Fleming
Screenplay
Kathryn Scola
April 1, 2023
6
I found this to be quite an entertaining tale of the eponymous, curmudgeonly, old gent (Charles Coburn) who returns from the army to his home town, only to find that standards have gone to pot and that there is no longer any civic pride in the place. The culmination of this cultural disintegration is the proposed demolition of the dilapidated city hall on the town's rallying "Confederate Monument Sq.". Can he galvanise the locals into thwarting the plans of the city planners and of an increasingly indifferent population? Irving Pichel leaves almost all of the heavy lifting here to a competent Coburn, but the rest of the cast (most notably a lacklustre Joan Bennett) and the rather uninspiring script let the film down a bit. Coburn always did have oodles of charisma, and is ideally cast here - but he can't do it all himself, and after a while the story runs too thin and thereby too predicably. That said, it is enjoyable to see a character actor having some fun on screen and it's a short and sweet nostalgia ride that does, certainly, raise the odd smile.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00