The United States Army Band (1943) User Reviews

The United States Army Band was another enjoyable patriotic musical short

[tavm · 7/10 · 20 March 2010]

Just watched this musical short on the This is the Army DVD. It features the title group playing such patriotic songs like "Pack Up Your Troubles", "The Caissons Go Rolling Along" which is a favorite of my dad's since he's always singing it, and "Aura Lee" as an instrumental which would later become "Love Me Tender"-an Elvis Presley hit-with a different set of lyrics. During some of the songs, we see a montage of many Army maneuvers in action and then near the end there are footage of soldiers embracing mothers, girlfriends, and wives. On that note, The United States Army Band was pretty entertaining and so it comes recommended.

An entertaining but poignant short

[johnshea21 · 8/10 · 4 October 2012]

The United States Army Band is a short, entertaining film from Warner's that, for me at least, turns unexpectedly poignant in the last moments. I should note that while IMDb lists this as 1943, the copyright date on the title screen is 1942; it's obviously a flag-waving short put through production after Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declaration of war. As it starts, we see the army band marching in front of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., as the soundtrack plays "You're in the Army Now" and "Over There." As the band segues into "The Caissons Go Rolling Along," we are treated to scenes from army maneuvers: first the infantry as long convoys of trucks roll across the landscape along with howitzers, jeeps, and tanks. Then come scenes of paratroopers training and the sky is filled with scores of men and parachutes. After that, to the strains of "The Campbells are Coming," the U.S. Army Cavalry is seen galloping up and down hills. From there, the film cuts to the band in dress whites in the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery, playing a program of popular music: "Aura Lee," "Pack up Your Troubles," "It's a Long Way to Tipperary," and "Over There," among other tunes. It ends, as I said, on a poignant note with news footage of troops marching from the Battery in New York City, up Broadway, under the arch at Washington Square and up Fifth Ave., to pier 52 on the Hudson River where they embark on troop ships for Europe. There we see the soldiers' farewells to wives, girlfriends, mothers, and children. At that point it hit me that many of those men would never return alive, which we know but they probably never suspected. A sobering thought.

Nice Music

[Michael_Elliott · 31 March 2009]

United States Army Band, The (1943)

*** (out of 4)

After Pearl Harbor was attacked Hollywood went into high gear pumping out any type of patriotic film that they could think of. Many of these featured major, A-quality talent and others were in the form of shorts, which tackled many different topics. This short here, running just 9-minutes, features just what the title offers and they're doing "You're in the Army Now", "The Caisson Song", "Aura Lee", "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile" as well as a couple more. The band is extremely talented to say the very least and the short is extremely entertaining from start to finish with some highly energetic performances. Director Negulesco would later direct such favorites as HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, TITANIC (1953) and PHONE CALL FROM A STRANGER.