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The Fighting 69th Photos

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Movie Info

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.

Genre:

war
Original Language:

English
Director:

William Keighley
Producer:

Jack L. Warner
Writer:

Norman Reilly Raine, Fred Niblo Jr., Dean Riesner
Release Date (Streaming):

Oct 11, 2016
Runtime:

1h 30m
Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Cast & Crew

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

Frank McHugh
Crepe Hanger Burke

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for The Fighting 69th

All Critics (7) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (2)

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

October 16, 2020 | Full Review…

P.S. Harrison
Harrison's Reports
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.

February 6, 2020 | Full Review…

Jay Carmody
Washington Star
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.

October 22, 2019 | Full Review…

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

March 22, 2008 | Rating: 5/5

Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com
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.

April 22, 2007 | Rating: 6/10 | Full Review…

John J. Puccio
Movie Metropolis
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.

July 15, 2006 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
A sentimental recruiting poster account of the famed First World War New York National Guard division of mostly Irish-Americans.

December 16, 2005 | Rating: C | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

View All Critic Reviews (7)

Audience Reviews for The Fighting 69th

Oct 22, 2008

This film is weird. Cagney is a brawler who becomes a coward in the face of war and gets half of his battalion killed. He finds religion, kills a bunch of Germans and redeems himself. It's Cagney so it's enjoyable, but you don't like his character and you never root for him. Very strange.

cody f Super Reviewer