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{{short description|1943 film by John M. Stahl}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Immortal Sergeant
| image = Immortal Sergeant.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| border =
| caption =
| director = [[John M. Stahl]]
| writer = [[Lamar Trotti]]
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Immortal Sergeant (novel)|Immortal Sergeant]]|[[John Brophy (writer)|John Brophy]]}}
| producer = Lamar Trotti
| starring = [[Henry Fonda]]<br>[[Maureen O'Hara]]<br>[[Thomas Mitchell (actor)|Thomas Mitchell]]
| cinematography = [[Arthur Charles Miller|Arthur Miller]]
| editing = [[James B. Clark (director)|James B. Clark]]
| music = [[David Buttolph]]
| color_process = [[Black and white]]
| studio = [[20th Century Fox]]
| distributor = 20th Century Fox
| released = {{Film date|1943|1|11||ref1=<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=512 |title=Immortal Sergeant |website=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=February 20, 2016 }}</ref>
}}
| runtime = 91 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = $2.2 million (US rentals)<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/variety153-1944-01#page/n51/mode/2up "Top Grossers of the Season", ''Variety'', 5 January 1944 p 54]</ref>
}}

'''''Immortal Sergeant''''' is a 1943 American [[war film]] directed by [[John M. Stahl]] for [[20th Century Fox]].<ref name="Turim2013">{{cite book|last=Turim|first=Maureen|title=Flashbacks in Film: Memory & History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O4diAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128|date=17 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-91667-3|page=128}}</ref> Set in the North African desert during [[World War II]], it stars [[Henry Fonda]] as a corporal lacking in confidence in both love and war, [[Maureen O'Hara]] as his girlfriend, and [[Thomas Mitchell (actor)|Thomas Mitchell]] as the title character. The film was based on the 1942 [[Immortal Sergeant (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[John Brophy (writer)|John Brophy]].

==Plot==
In North Africa, experienced Sergeant Kelly ([[Thomas Mitchell (actor)|Thomas Mitchell]]) leads out a British patrol, accompanied by Corporal Colin Spence ([[Henry Fonda]]), an unassertive Canadian. When they are attacked by Italian airplanes, they manage to shoot one down, but it crashes on one of their vehicles, killing eight men. Later, Kelly leads the six survivors on an attack of an Italian [[Armored car (military)|armored car]], but is seriously wounded. He orders Spence to leave him behind; when Spence refuses to obey, he shoots himself.

Spence leads the remaining three men towards an [[oasis]]. Before they can reach it though, a transport plane lands and disgorges German soldiers who set up a base. After sneaking in to steal badly needed food and water, Spence has to assert his leadership when one of his men advocates surrendering. Instead, Spence leads them in a surprise attack under the cover of a [[Dust storm|sandstorm]]. The British emerge victorious, though one man is killed and Spence is wounded.

The corporal comes to in a [[Cairo]] hospital and finds he is to be given a medal and promoted to lieutenant. His newfound assertiveness extends to his personal life. He proposes to his girlfriend Valentine ([[Maureen O'Hara]]), whom he had thought of (in [[Flashback (narrative)|flashback]]s) throughout his ordeal.

==Cast==
* [[Henry Fonda]] as Col. Colin Spence
* [[Maureen O'Hara]] as Valentine Lee
* [[Thomas Mitchell (actor)|Thomas Mitchell]] as Sgt. Kelly
* [[Allyn Joslyn]] as Cassity
* [[Reginald Gardiner]] as Tom Benedict
* [[Melville Cooper]] as Pilcher
* [[Bramwell Fletcher]] as Symes
* [[Morton Lowry]] as Cottrell

==Reception==
Theodore Strauss of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the film "disappointing", writing that while it was "occasionally a warm and human study of a man's triumph over his own fears," the romance was "vapid" and O'Hara's character was "very dull".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9907E1DD1E39E33BBC4C53DFB4668388659EDE |title=Movie Review - The Immortal Sergeant |last=Strauss |first=Theodore |date=February 4, 1943 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=February 20, 2016 }}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the film "a compact drama, interestingly told."<ref>{{cite journal |date=January 13, 1943 |title=Film Reviews |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |location=New York |publisher=Variety, Inc. |page= 8 }}</ref> ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' wrote, "Although it does not reach great dramatic heights, and it is somewhat long drawn out, the production and the performances are so good that one's interest is held consistently."<ref>{{cite journal |date=January 9, 1943 |title='The Immortal Sergeant' with Henry Fonda, Thomas Mitchell and Maureen O'Hara |journal=[[Harrison's Reports]] |page= 7 }}</ref> David Lardner of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' wrote that the desert peril scenes were the "most solid aspects of the picture and, since they are fairly well handled, succeed in putting it on its feet." Lardner was distracted, however, by "the strange difficulty O'Hara seems to have in pronouncing polysyllabic words."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lardner |first=David |date=February 6, 1943 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |location=New York |publisher=F-R Publishing Corp. |page= 52 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0036037}}
* {{AFI film|512|Immortal Sergeant}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=79038}}

{{John M. Stahl}}

[[Category:1943 films]]
[[Category:1943 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:1940s war films]]
[[Category:20th Century Fox films]]
[[Category:American romantic drama films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films based on military novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by John M. Stahl]]
[[Category:Films scored by David Buttolph]]
[[Category:North African campaign films]]
[[Category:World War II films made in wartime]]
[[Category:American war drama films]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]

Immortal Sergeant - Revision history

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