Hail the Conquering Hero (Paramount), the newest cinematic caprice from Preston Sturges (The Great McGinty, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek), beats a satirical tattoo on the American small town. But it tells a story so touching, so chock-full of human frailties and so rich in homely detail that it achieves a reality transcending the limitations of its familiar slapstick.
Expertly sandwiched between the pratfalls and the broad pie-throwing burlesque of suburban manners lies a richer comedy idea—the alchemy by which a phoney hero is transmuted from the base metal of conventional heroics to...
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