MR. WINKLE GOES TO WAR Movie Review

Arms and the Woman

1944 Alfred E. Green

A competent, modest addition to Hollywood's literature of propaganda, this curiosity might not be worth noting if it weren't for the sensitive and uncharacteristic performance of star Edward G. Robinson. Known best for tough gangsters and cerebral heroes, he's equally persuasive as a mild-mannered man whose midlife crisis is interrupted by the draft.

Of course, in 1944, Americans did not have “midlife crises” and so no one knows how to react to Wilbert G. Winkle's (Robinson) announcement that he has decided to follow his heart; certainly not the president of the bank where he works, and not his wife Amy (Ruth Warrick) either. She's worried that their social standing will be ruined and so is almost relieved when Wilbert receives his induction notice. Surely the Army won't take a 44-year-old man whose life revolves around the many pills he must take before and after meals. Perhaps the whole idea of the military will be enough to jolt him back to his senses.

To no one's surprise, that's not what happens. Under the tender tutelage of Sgt. “Alphabet” Czeidrowski (Richard Lane) and with the help of Tinker (Robert Armstrong, from King Kong) , Wilbert G. eventually becomes “Rip.” Prolific journeyman Alfred E. Green directs Mr. Winkle's journey through basic training as a combination of light comedy and melodrama. He doesn't make fun of the experience, and the expected Hollywood sugarcoating is applied so lightly that it's not cloying. For the most part, Green and Robinson focus squarely on the character, the changes that he's already going through and the changes brought about by the Army. As they see him, Mr. Winkle is a patriot, though he's anything but a sabre-rattler. His motivations are much more quiet and personal. “I believe the important thing is to feel that it's your community,” he explains, “and see to it that it runs well, and always a little better than it did.”

That statement also underlines the film's sense of civic sentimentality. It's a Depression-era attitude also found in films as diverse Boys Town and The Grapes of Wrath. The whole idea is central to understanding Hollywood's attitudes toward the war and military service. In this film, even in the concluding battle scene, virtually no mention is made of the enemy. Tinker's one reference to his desire to “strangle a Jap” is treated as something of an embarrassment. The Army is seen as a necessary evil where, with a little luck, an individual can be put into a position to do something he's good at.

That's not a particularly profound insight, but this film doesn't mean to be deep. At a time when most war movies were celebrating combat and physical courage, Mr. Winkle Goes to War is more interested in unashamedly middle-class pleasures and virtues. It certainly is not everyone's idea of a war film, but it makes its points eloquently, and despite Wilbert G.’s timid nature, Edward G. makes him an engaging hero.

Cast: Edward G. Robinson (Wilbert Winkle), Ruth Warrick (Amy Winkle), Richard Lane (Sgt. “Alphabet”), Robert Armstrong (Joe Tinker), Ted Donaldson (Barry), Richard Gaines (Ralph Westcott), Bob Haymes (Jack Pettigrew), Hugh Beaumont (Range Officer), Walter Baldwin (Plummer), Howard Freeman (Mayor Williams); Written by: Waldo Salt, Louis Solomon; Cinematography by: Joseph Walker; Music by: Paul Sawtell, Carmen Dragon; Technical Advisor: Lt. Robert Albaugh. Producer: Columbia Pictures, Jack Moss. Running Time: 80 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta.