The Fighting 69th

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The Fighting 69th

1940,

1h 30m,

War

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Watchlist

71%

7 Reviews

Tomatometer

58%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

71%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

58%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Scrappy Irish-American Private Jerry Plunkett (James Cagney) is brash and defiant as his regiment trains for war, provoking his superiors and playing the rebel. On the battlefield, however, he proves cowardly, placing the lives of his fellow soldiers at risk. Only Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien) is willing to give Plunkett another chance. As the stakes grow higher and the battlefields lay covered with the dead, his moment of truth may prove either heroic or disastrous.

P.S. Harrison

Harrison's Reports

Oct 16, 2020

Even though the plot is not novel, the picture holds one's attention throughout due to the excellent performances.

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Jay Carmody

Washington Star

Feb 6, 2020

Richly schooled in the art of impersonating a snarling, ratlike human, [James] Cagney here has an opportunity to do the part in its most repulsive coloring.

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John Kinloch

California Eagle

Oct 22, 2019

For a while The Fighting 69th makes a noise like a good picture, but after a time its woeful inadequacies are visible to the naked eye -- and the blasted ear.

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Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Mar 22, 2008

5/5

Among best of Cagney-O'Brien Warner team-ups, this one set in WWI.

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John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

Apr 22, 2007

6/10

The Fighting 69th...may become a gushy tearjerker by its end, but you can't argue that its heart isn't in the right place.

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Jul 15, 2006

3/5

In one of his few war films, Cagney displays his "specialty" of explosive energy, as a despicable Irishman, who initially sneers at the regiment's traditions but then learns the hard way the mistakes of his cowardice and irresponsibility.

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Poe G

Dec 14, 2018

basically just propaganda

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William Keighley

Director

James Cagney

Pvt. Jerry Plunkett

Pat O'Brien

Father Duffy

George Brent

Wild Bill Donovan

Jeffrey Lynn

Joyce Kilmer

Alan Hale

Sgt. "Big Mike" Wynn

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Synopsis

Scrappy Irish-American Private Jerry Plunkett (James Cagney) is brash and defiant as his regiment trains for war, provoking his superiors and playing the rebel. On the battlefield, however, he proves cowardly, placing the lives of his fellow soldiers at risk. Only Father Duffy (Pat O'Brien) is willing to give Plunkett another chance. As the stakes grow higher and the battlefields lay covered with the dead, his moment of truth may prove either heroic or disastrous.

Director: William Keighley
Producer: Jack L. Warner
Screenwriter: Norman Reilly Raine, Fred Niblo Jr., Dean Riesner
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 1940, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 11, 2016
Runtime: 1h 30m

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