Political boss

Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)

Actors: Arthur Hoyt (actor), Philo McCullough (actor), Al Bridge (actor), Eddie Bracken (actor), Len Hendry (actor), Harry Hayden (actor), William Demarest (actor), Jimmie Dundee (actor), Chester Conklin (actor), Jim Farley (actor), Franklyn Farnum (actor), Jimmy Conlin (actor), George Anderson (actor), Eddie Hall (actor), Tom McGuire (actor),

Plot: Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith (Eddie Bracken) delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge. They make him wear a uniform complete with medals and is pushed by his new friends into accepting a Hero's welcome when he gets home where he is to be immortalized by a statue that he doesn't want, has songs written about his heroic battle stories, and ends up unwillingly running for mayor. Despite his best efforts to explain the truth, no one will listen.

Keywords: bar, election, everyman, hero-against-will, homecoming, impostor, irony, lie, marine-hymn, mayor
Genres: Comedy, War,
Taglines: MIRACLES DO HAPPEN! (original print ad - all caps)

Quotes:

Libby's Aunt: [comforting Libby, who's crying about Woodrow's return] Well, that's the war for you. It's always hard on women. Either they take your men away and never send them back at all; or they send them back unexpectedly just to embarrass you. No consideration at all.

[after nothing has gone right]::Committee Chairman: Oh death where is thy sting?

Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith: I knew the Marines could do almost anything, but I never knew they could do anything like this.::Bugsy: You got no idea!

Mayor Everett D. Noble: She forgets her lines 'til rigor mortis sets in!

Sgt. Heppelfinger: These flapjacks might taste better with a little butter on 'em Mrs. T.::Mrs. Truesmith: Maybe you haven't heard Sgt. but there's a war on.

Sgt. Heppelfinger: They say opportunity's only got one hair on his head and you gotta grab it while it's going by and dog it down or you mightn't get another chance.

Town Councilman: Let's get down to business. The trouble with our party is everybody talks too long all the time.::Doc Bissell: That's the trouble with all parties.

Libby: Do you remember when we used to come here in the cool of the evening?::Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith: Naturally.::Libby: I thought maybe you'd forgotten - so much can happen in a year.::Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith: So much can happen in a day!::Libby: I suppose so. Were you surprised when they nominated you for mayor?::Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith: Surprised is not the word for it.

Sgt. Heppelfinger: We're just a little bit short of cash, see...::Cafe Owner: Uh, uh.::Sgt. Heppelfinger: ...or I'd never make you this proposition.::Cafe Owner: Ho, ho.::Sgt. Heppelfinger: I was going to save it for the museum, see, but when you're out on a limb you gotta make sacrifices, that's all. You follow me?::Cafe Owner: I'm ahead of you.::Sgt. Heppelfinger: I'm gonna let you in on the ground floor of something very, very rare. You remember when General Yamatoho committed hari-kari?::Cafe Owner: Possibly.::Sgt. Heppelfinger: I happened to be very close by, see.::[winks, indicates he pulled out one of Yamatoho's teeth and shows the very large elk's tooth he got from one of the other Marines]::Cafe Owner: Big man, wasn't he?::Sgt. Heppelfinger: Immense! This is one of the rarest mementos...::Cafe Owner: [as he pulls a large Japanese flag out of his coat] You wouldn't like to buy the flag they buried him in, would you? I could let you have it very reasonable.::[pulls out another flag]::Cafe Owner: I have it in several sizes.::[begins to pull other items out of his coat pockets]::Cafe Owner: MacArthur's suspenders! The first bullet that landed in Pearl Harbor... you can take your pick. A piece of a Japanese submarine.::[turns the piece of metal over]::Cafe Owner: If you look at it this way it becomes a German submarine.::[turns the piece again]::Cafe Owner: And this way it's a piece of a shell that just missed Montgomery! Here we have the seat of Rommel's pants. And last, but not least, we have a button from Hitler's coat... although that one I don't personally believe.::Sgt. Heppelfinger: Wise guy.

Sgt. Heppelfinger: It's an honor to meet you, kid. What's your name?::Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith: Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith. Go ahead and laugh.::Sgt. Heppelfinger: That ain't anything to laugh at to anyone who knows anything.

Down on the Farm (1938)

Actors: Sidney Blackmer (actor), John T. Murray (actor), Dick Elliott (actor), George Ernest (actor), Russell Gleason (actor), Ernie Adams (actor), William Haade (actor), Donald Haines (actor), Kenneth Howell (actor), William Irving (actor), Si Jenks (actor), Fred Kelsey (actor), Harrison Greene (actor), Wilfred Lucas (actor), Jed Prouty (actor),

Genres: Comedy,

Her Life and His (1917)

Actors: Frederick Sullivan (director), Arthur Bauer (actor), Harris Gordon (actor), Holmes Herbert (actor), Philip Lonergan (writer), Philip Lonergan (writer), Justus D. Barnes (actor), Ethyle Cooke (actress), Florence La Badie (actress), Edwin Thanhouser (producer), Samuel N. Niblack (actor), Joseph Phillips (actor), Jean La Motte (actress),

Genres: Drama,