Hail the Conquering Hero

This article is about Preston Sturges's 1944 film. For George Frideric Handel's musical composition of the same name, see Judas Maccabaeus (Handel).
Hail the Conquering Hero
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPreston Sturges
Written byPreston Sturges
Produced byPreston Sturges
Buddy G. DeSylva (uncredited)
StarringEddie Bracken
Ella Raines
William Demarest
CinematographyJohn F. Seitz
Edited byStuart Gilmore
Music byWerner R. Heymann
Victor Young
Preston Sturges
Frank Loesser
Robert Emmett Dolan
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • August 9, 1944 (1944-08-09)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) is a satirical comedy-drama film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines and William Demarest, and featuring Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson, Bill Edwards and Freddie Steele. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[1][2][3]

Sturges was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for his screenplay. Many critics consider the film to be one of Sturges's best.[4] It was the eighth film he made for Paramount Pictures, and also his last, although The Great Moment was released after it. Sturges later wrote about his departure, "I guess Paramount was glad to be rid of me eventually, as no one there ever understood a word I said."[5]

  1. ^ Mike Barnes (December 16, 2015). "'Ghostbusters,' 'Top Gun,' 'Shawshank' Enter National Film Registry". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "2015 National Film Registry: "Ghostbusters" Gets the Call". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  3. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  4. ^ TCM Notes
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference tcmart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).