Private Jones

Lee Tracy was a unique performer, the fast-talking, low brow urban type with a permanent chip on his shoulder, ready to dare any man he sees as consciously superior to him. His natural forte being newspaper or racetrack types, here he's given the part of a young man that's about to be drafted into World War One. But he's not about to try to get any audience sympathy; -he hasn't any use for the army or the sudden wave of patriotism sweeping the country as we enter the war. He claims to not understand such things, as he tries devious way to get out of serving. They have to come arrest him for it.

When he's in uniform, and over there, he's a private but he tries to assume privileges he's not entitled to, and often defying his sergeant. He's put in the guard house and then put on KP potato peeling duty. All which gives him more cause to spout off about how unfair life is to him, making enemies of everyone else.

At length, he and the sergeant are captured, and Jones can't wait to spill everything he knows to become a nice safe POW fast enough. He even starts a fight with the sergeant in front of the Germans who caught them. They aren't Quirt and Flagg; Jones has a real full on hate for the sarge and everything their uniforms mean to him. With hardly any reason, Jones will save the sergeant's life and puts himself at deadly risk to do so. Then we see him later, still doing KP duty, but now with a medal for his heroism.

So how are we supposed to take this? That all real men will rise to the challenges of war eventually? Is patriotism even part of men who try to deny it? Obviously by 1933, a more cynical attitude to the war was overtaking the blind approval we showed in 1917, but in this film, only Tracy shows any disagreement, and obviously because of his singular, unchecked personality, not for any interest in a debate about geopolitics or the conduct of war aims. It's just about him.

A newspaper ad (Greenfield, (Mass.)) Daily Recorder-Gazette, 14 June 1933) reads that Jones is "The cockiest, Funniest, most lovable soldier on the western front." He's anything but. I can only imagine audiences didn't much like this character either.

There is a strange other version of this film, this time it ends with Jones actually dying, I guess to satisfy those who might have had their fill of him, but It would probably be intended to show that he finally "got it" and died for his country and/or comrades, thereby redeeming his earlier jerk behavior. Both versions went out to different cities, even abroad.