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ComedyRomance

Colonel Effingham's Raid

- Who Says You Can't Fight City Hall?

The story takes place in 1940. On the eve of America's entry in World War II, a colonel retired to his small Southern town, and discovers that there is a plan afoot to tear down Confederate Monument Square. He begins a campaign to rally the townspeople to save the square.

Release Date : 1946-01-24

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : 20th Century Fox

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Charles Coburn

Character Name : Colonel Will Seaborn Effingham

Original Name : Charles Coburn

Gender : Male

Joan Bennett

Character Name : Ella Sue Dozier

Original Name : Joan Bennett

Gender : Female

William Eythe

Character Name : Albert 'Al' Marbury

Original Name : William Eythe

Gender : Male

Allyn Joslyn

Character Name : Earl Hoats

Original Name : Allyn Joslyn

Gender : Male

Elizabeth Patterson

Character Name : Cousin Emma

Original Name : Elizabeth Patterson

Gender : Female

Donald Meek

Character Name : Doc Buden

Original Name : Donald Meek

Gender : Male

Frank Craven

Character Name : Dewey

Original Name : Frank Craven

Gender : Male

Thurston Hall

Character Name : Ed - the Mayor

Original Name : Thurston Hall

Gender : Male

Cora Witherspoon

Character Name : Mrs. Clara Meigs

Original Name : Cora Witherspoon

Gender : Female

Emory Parnell

Character Name : Joe Alsobrook

Original Name : Emory Parnell

Gender : Male

Henry Armetta

Character Name : Jimmy Economy

Original Name : Henry Armetta

Gender : Male

Stephen Dunne

Character Name : Professor Edward 'Ed' Bland

Original Name : Stephen Dunne

Gender : Male

Roy Roberts

Character Name : Army Captain Rampey

Original Name : Roy Roberts

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2023-04-01

I found this to be quite an entertaining tale of the eponymous, curmudgeonly, old gent (Charles Coburn) who returns from the army to his home town, only to find that standards have gone to pot and that there is no longer any civic pride in the place. The culmination of this cultural disintegration is the proposed demolition of the dilapidated city hall on the town's rallying "Confederate Monument Sq.". Can he galvanise the locals into thwarting the plans of the city planners and of an increasingly indifferent population? Irving Pichel leaves almost all of the heavy lifting here to a competent Coburn, but the rest of the cast (most notably a lacklustre Joan Bennett) and the rather uninspiring script let the film down a bit. Coburn always did have oodles of charisma, and is ideally cast here - but he can't do it all himself, and after a while the story runs too thin and thereby too predicably. That said, it is enjoyable to see a character actor having some fun on screen and it's a short and sweet nostalgia ride that does, certainly, raise the odd smile.