Marine buddies James Cagney (as Captain Flagg) and Dan Dailey (as Sergeant Quirt) carouse through World War I, and eventually become rivals for the affections of beautifully-proportioned Frenchwoman Corinne Calvet (as Charmaine). Newly arriving from Philadelphia, handsome 22-year-old Robert Wagner (as Private Lewisohn) is attracted to local 17-year-old Marisa Pavan (as Nicole Bouchard). The pretty, dark-haired girl's father is upset. Rivaling Mr. Wagner for handsomeness, Craig Hill (as Aldrich) asks the titular question, "What price glory?" Future TV stars William Demarest and Harry Morgan support the troops... This successful stage comedy-drama became a huge "silent" film hit for Fox in 1926, winning Quigley Publications "Best Picture" award and rising high in everyone's "Ten Best" list for the year. This 1952 re-make did not score as well with audiences... One of the original film's "all-talking" comedy sequels was the semi-musical "The Cock-Eyed World" (1929), which is how this project was initially envisioned. We have colorful cinematic sets, a few remaining musical performances and stage-lighting techniques. Director John Ford and the Fox personnel assembled were much more aware of the earlier films, helping to explain this misfire. The story began as an anti-war statement; while present, the point gets lost in the inebriated interplay between Mr. Cagney and Mr. Dailey. The actors are forced to alternate between broad "F Troop"-style antics and the accumulation of dead bodies. ***** What Price Glory (7/25/52) John Ford ~ James Cagney, Dan Dailey, Corinne Calvet, Robert Wagner

I came across this quite by accident last night. I was flipping channels and came across TUrner Classic Movies and this movie was being introduced. It has to be good if James Cagney is in it. Dan Dailey too? Great, two fine talents. John Ford directing? This movie has got to be great.I watched for about 40-45 minutes. I won't get those minutes back. What I saw was an rather silly competition over a somewhat attractive barmaid. No heat. No charisma by any of the participants. I caught the misnaming of many things like companies, calling marines "soldiers". I just was surprised with talent in this movie that something smart didn't come out of it.I was so ticked off I just turned off the TV. My watching of this "movie" was over in 45 minutes. I have no idea if in minute 46 on to the end they included something brilliant or not. I had to save myself. I was shocked at how worthless this movie was.Now, I know why this was the very first time is was going to be shown on TCM! My advice: run as far as possible away from this "movie".

In the mid-1920s, when What Price Glory? debuted as a play and was filmed for the first time, there was a popular anti-war mood, and cultural works attacking the First World War proliferated. In the early-1950s, with World War Two a recent memory and the Korean war still going on, war movies of every kind were at the height of their popularity, but there was no way they could be openly anti-militaristic. Hence, when Fox Studios decided to resurrect the classic story in 1952 it was largely a comical and de-politicised affair.With a screenplay by Henry and Phoebe Ephron, this version of What Price Glory? uses virtually none of Maxwell Anderson's original dialogue. The job of direction was handed to John Ford, who was known for staging extended improvisations, creating little vignettes of military life with comical drunkenness and good-natured fistfights. In What Price Glory? this is done to the extent that it actually overshadows any semblance of plot. And not just the anti-war business; the romantic subplots seem weak and disjointed as well.That's not to say there aren't some good things about this picture. The Technicolor cinematography by Joe MacDonald is often breathtaking, giving a haunting quality to the mist-shrouded battlegrounds. Ford was as always a good visual director, often using stark contrasts in depth to bring different ideas to our attention in the one shot. For example, as the troops march off to the front, a mass of drab browns and greys, we see Corinne Calvet in a bold red, white and blue dress – a human flag and a reminder of what the men are leaving behind them. And James Cagney is good fun in one of his purely comic roles.But there is little else to recommend about this What Price Glory? Various scenes look to have been filmed with an emphasis on pathos, but they don't work within the structure of the whole thing. When a young Robert Wagner makes the central speech in which the words of the title are spoken, it seems barely to relate to the rest of the picture. And it's not the mixing of comedy with the realities of war per se that makes it fall apart – after all this is the basis of such classics as The Big Parade and MASH – it's just that the balance is wrong. It simply fails to take the war seriously enough, and the "serious" moments seem like flimsy little inserts. Of course, if it had been a tight and hard-hitting anti-war drama, it would most likely have fallen foul of the censors and/or stifled the careers of its creative team. As it was, this vague mish-mash of bar songs and army jokes was conveniently inoffensive.

"What Price Glory" is a World War I lover's triangle set against the ravaged backdrop of French countryside circa, 1918. Drama aside, the film is not what one might expect from directorial giant John Ford. James Cagney is a bit over the hill to be believable as Capt. Flagg, a stoic commander of a motley troupe of conscripts. Flagg's ill at ease postulating does not bode well with his men, so he turns to disrespectful and disreputable Sgt. Quirt (Dan Dailey) for a little bit of hard knock military strength. But the tensions between Flagg and Quirt are pressed to the breaking point when they both fall for the same girl – stop me if you've heard this one before. Strong performances elevate this film above the tripe that – generally – it is. THE TRANSFER: Frankly, not up to snuff. Although the overall color scheme has retained much of its original luster, the picture quality is a disappointment. There is an excessive amount of film grain and age related artifacts throughout for a not very smooth visual presentation. Fluctuations in color balancing are – at times – severe and distracting. There is a minor amount of digital grit that further detracts from the image. Black levels are weak. Contrast and shadow delineation is poorly balanced for a very unstable looking presentation. The audio has been cleaned up but remains strident sounding and lacking in bass quality. EXTRAS: As with the other war films in this batch from Fox, you get nothing to augment your experience. BOTTOM LINE: "What Price Glory" isn't recommended either as a war film, or for its transfer quality. Seek satisfying your thirst for conquest elsewhere.