Clockwork Soldiers

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Lore & Background

Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith is a small town boy whose father was a Marine who died a hero in World War I. Discharged from the Marine Corps after only a month due to chronic hay fever, Woodrow pretends to be fighting overseas while secretly working in a San Diego shipyard to avoid disappointing his mother. In a chance encounter at a bar, he buys drinks for six Marines returning from the Battle of Guadalcanal, led by Master Gunnery Sergeant Heffelfinger, who had served with Woodrow's father. One Marine telephones Woodrow's mother about his medical discharge, escalating the charade when Heffelfinger makes Woodrow swap coats with a Marine wearing 1st Marine Division and Pacific Theatre medals. Upon stepping off the train, the town turns out to greet him as a hero just as an election approaches, forcing him into a mayoral race against Mayor Noble. Complicating matters, his girlfriend Libby has engaged herself to the mayor's son, Forrest Noble.

In Their Own Story

Woodrow eventually confesses everything at a campaign rally and goes home to pack, but Libby breaks her engagement to join him. Heffelfinger praises Woodrow's courage in telling the truth to stunned townsfolk, who then decide he has the qualities needed for mayor. The film was released on August 9, 1944, after filming began on July 14, 1943, and continued through September 11 of that year. Sturges re-used sets from The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Following an unsuccessful preview in New York City, producer Buddy G. DeSylva recut the film while Sturges had already left Paramount. After another failed preview, DeSylva accepted Sturges' offer to return unpaid and rewrite the script, with retakes directed by Sturges from April 7 to April 11, 1944. Sharp-eyed viewers noted a billboard for The Miracle of Morgan's Creek in the scene where Marines leave Oakdale station. Reviews were uniformly excellent, with Bosley Crowther calling it "one of the wisest [movies] ever to burst from a big-time studio."

Reader's Guide

Sturges designed the film as a small-scale production, though Paramount wanted Ella Raines replaced before filming started because they felt she lacked box-office draw and did not look like a small-town girl. Sturges refused, stating that throwing her off after publicity would ruin her career. The studio also balked at his repeated use of the same bit actors, known as his "stock company," but Sturges insisted they had a "moral right to work in my subsequent pictures." Although the War Department reviewed the script for military matters, requested revisions were minor. The film features two original songs by Sturges: "Home to the Arms of Mother" and "We Want Woodrow," alongside tracks like "Have I Stayed Away Too Long" and excerpts from Handel's Judas Maccabeus. It was released on video on November 15, 1990, on laserdisc on October 26, 1994, re-released on video June 30, 1993, and on DVD in the Preston Sturges - The Filmmaker Collection set on November 21, 2006. Leslie Halliwell gave it three of four stars.

Did You Know?

• The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2015.
• Preston Sturges returned to direct retakes unpaid from April 7 to April 11, 1944, after an unsuccessful preview.
• A billboard advertising The Miracle of Morgan's Creek appears behind Marines leaving Oakdale station.
• Sturges wrote two original songs for the film: "Home to the Arms of Mother" and "We Want Woodrow."
• Ella Raines was kept in the role despite Paramount's concerns about her box-office draw, as Sturges refused to replace her after filming began.