Advance to the Rear
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Advance to the Rear
Plot
Union Colonel Brackenby (Melvyn Douglas) and his second-in-command, Captain Heath (Glenn Ford), attempt to command a rather inept cavalry unit during the Civil War. General Willoughby (Jim Backus) heads them out West on assignment rather than allowing them to foul things up where it counts. They soon get involved with Martha Lou, a confederate spy (Stella Stevens) posing as a prostitute, and her boss, Jenny (Joan Blondell) as well as a group of renegades and an Indian chief. In spite of their ridiculous slapstick antics, they manage to carry out their mission. This comedy was based on Company of Cowards, a novel by Jack Schaefer. ~ Kristie Hassen, RoviReview
Advance to the Rear is a very funny, surprisingly overlooked comedy that deserves to be better known. It's not a classic, not in the same league as Bringing Up Baby or similar films, but it's the kind of engaging, humorous film that hooks the viewer early on and keeps him happily involved throughout. Credit goes to its trio of screenwriters (and to Jack Schaefer, author of the book upon which the film is based) for concocting a script that tells its story economically and clearly, provides ample opportunity for gags, includes some nifty jokes and presents some well defined characters. Director George Marshall is perfectly in tune with the writers, playing up the tongue-in-cheek nature of the script without overplaying it, and providing shots of visual interest that don't go out of their way to call attention to themselves. And Rear makes the most of its very able cast, putting star Glenn Ford into the kind of comedy role that suits his deadpan style, allowing Melvyn Douglas to have a field day as the pompous colonel, letting Stella Stevens undulate appealingly and throwing Joan Blondell the chance to zing a few in her inimitable style. Throw in the likes of Jim Backus and Alan hale, Jr., and the result is a fine and funny flick. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- Glenn Ford - Capt. Jared Heath
- Stella Stevens - Martha Lou Williams
- Melvyn Douglas - Col. Claude Brackenby
- Jim Backus - Gen. Willoughby
- Joan Blondell - "Easy Jenny"
Credit
George W. Davis - Art Director, Eddie Imazu - Art Director, George Marshall - Director, Archie Marshek - Editor, Randy Sparks - Composer (Music Score), Milton Krasner - Cinematographer, Ted Richmond - Producer, Budd S. Friend - Set Designer, Henry W. Grace - Set Designer, William Bowers - Screenwriter, Samuel A. Peeples - Screenwriter, Jack Schaefer - Book Author| Advance and Be Mechanized (1967 Film), Aduri (2008 Film) | |
| Advanced Beauty: 18 Sound Sculptures (2009 Film), Advanced Finger Cymbals With Ansuya (2008 Film) |
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Advance to the Rear
| Advance to the Rear | |
|---|---|
 Australian film poster |
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| Directed by | George Marshall |
| Produced by | Ted Richmond |
| Written by | William Bowers Robert Carson Samuel A. Peeples William Chamberlain Jack Schaefer (novel) |
| Starring | Glenn Ford Stella Stevens Melvyn Douglas |
| Music by | Randy Sparks Hugo Montenegro performed by The New Christy Minstrels |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | June 10, 1964 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Advance to the Rear is a light-hearted 1964 western comedy film set in the American Civil War. It stars Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens and Melvyn Douglas and is directed by George Marshall. The film is based on the 1957 novel Company of Cowards by Jack Schaefer, with the film having that title in pre-production and when released in the United Kingdom. However, the novel had none of the comedic elements of the film which retained only the basic idea of a unit formed out of men who had been court-martialed for cowardice and sent out west as well as some character names.
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Contents
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Plot summary
Union Colonel Claude Brackenbury has a cozy arrangement with his Confederate counterpart. They fire a few artillery rounds in each other's general direction at precisely the same time each morning, then go back to contentedly waiting for the war to end.
Captain Jared Heath, however, disturbs the status quo one day by going out and capturing some of the enemy. The Confederates feel obliged to retaliate. One thing leads to another and a military fiasco results. As punishment, Brackenbury and Heath are demoted, placed in charge of all the misfits General Willoughby can find and shipped west, where they can (hopefully) do no further damage.
The rebels are suspicious, so they send a beautiful spy, Martha Lou Williams, to find out their "real" mission. After questioning Easy Jenny, a madam Martha Lou is traveling with, Heath sees through Martha Lou's ruse. But he decides that he is going to marry her eventually, so Heath does his best to keep her out of mischief.
When the unit is sent to escort an important gold shipment, the soldiers are captured by Thin Elk, an Indian chief in league with Hugo Zattig of the Confederates. Zattig's men masquerade as Union soldiers (using uniforms taken from prisoners) and hijack the shipment. Thin Elk, meanwhile, recognizing Brackenbury as a fellow West Point graduate, lets his captives go, although without horses or guns.
Heath takes charge. He and the men steal horses from the Indians, retrieve the gold (and Martha Lou) and capture Zattig's gang.
Cast
- Glenn Ford as Captain/Lieutenant Jared Heath
- Stella Stevens as Martha Lou Williams
- Melvyn Douglas as Colonel/Captain Claude Brackenbury
- Jim Backus as General Willoughby
- Joan Blondell as Easy Jenny
- Andrew Prine as Private Owen Selous
- Jesse Pearson as Corporal Silas Geary
- Alan Hale, Jr. as Sergeant Beauregard Davis
- James Griffith as Hugo Zattig
- Whit Bissell as Captain Queeg
- Michael Pate as Thin Elk
Musical soundtrack
The score was composed by Randy Sparks with songs sung by The New Christy Minstrels and orchestral music arranged and conducted by Hugo Montenegro. The popular song "Today" (while the blossoms still cling to the vine), comes from this film. The song was composed (both words and music) by Randy Sparks who was a member of The New Christy Minstrels and it was this vocal group that perhaps had the most commercially successful recording of the song. The song has been recorded by several artists, including the late John Denver, but perhaps the most amusing aspect of this lovely ballad is that so many people assume it to be a centuries-old folk song and not part of a Hollywood soundtrack.New Christy Minstrels sing "Today" The film also features a title song under the name of the original title and UK title of the film "Company of Cowards" and another song called "Riverboat".
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Mentioned in
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