Back home

Colonel Effingham's Raid

6 votes

Producing House

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.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1946-01-24

Runtime: 72 mins

Director: Irving Pichel

Spoken language: English

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Original title: Colonel Effingham's Raid

Production Companies: 20th Century Fox

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

G

Geronimo1967
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.
2023-04-01

Recommendations

Transamerica
3.5

Transamerica

2005-02-14

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage ru

Human Nature
3

Human Nature

2001-09-12

Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised

Nothing
2.9

Nothing

2003-09-09

The film tells the story of two good friends who live together, Andrew, an agoraphobic travel agent

Smoke
3.6

Smoke

1995-06-09

Writer Paul Benjamin is nearly hit by a bus when he leaves Auggie Wren's smoke shop. Stranger Rashid

Barfly
3.4

Barfly

1987-09-02

Downtrodden writer Henry and distressed goddess Wanda aren't exactly husband and wife: they're wedde

Cold Feet
2.6

Cold Feet

1984-03-24

When each is unlucky at love, a TV writer-director and a research scientist begin seeing each other.

Dreamland
3

Dreamland

2006-01-23

A young woman who lives in a desert trailer park must choose between caring for her hapless father a

Alice
3.2

Alice

1990-12-25

Alice Tate, mother of two, with a marriage of 16 years, finds herself falling for a handsome sax pla

Pig!
2.1

Pig!

1996-01-01

An innocent nose pick ends in disaster!

The Wedding Banquet
3.6

The Wedding Banquet

1993-03-01

A Taiwanese-American man is happily settled in New York with his American boyfriend. He plans a marr

The Rules of Attraction
3.1

The Rules of Attraction

2002-10-11

The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual l

Nowhere
3.4

Nowhere

1997-05-09

In Los Angeles, a colorful assortment of bohemians try to make sense of their intersecting lives. Th

Russian Dolls
3.3

Russian Dolls

2005-06-15

Five years after their summer together in Barcelona, Xavier, William, Wendy, Martine and Isabelle re

2 Days in Paris
3.1

2 Days in Paris

2007-02-09

Marion and Jack try to rekindle their relationship with a visit to Paris, home of Marion's parents —

Man About Town
2.6

Man About Town

2006-06-08

A top Hollywood talent agent finds his cushy existence threatened when he discovers that his wife is

She's the One
2.7

She's the One

1996-08-26

Mickey, a free-spirited New York cabbie, and Francis, a materialistic Wall Street stockbroker, are e

Employee of the Month
2.9

Employee of the Month

2004-01-17

"Employee of the Month" is about a guy whose day spirals from bad to worse when he gets fired from h

C.R.A.Z.Y.
3.8

C.R.A.Z.Y.

2005-05-27

A young French Canadian, one of five boys in a conservative family in the 1960s and 1970s, struggles

I'm Trying to Impress You
3.3

I'm Trying to Impress You

2016-06-04

Over the course of a long, booze-filled Halloween in Los Angeles, four romantic relationships unexpe

Suicide, the Comedy
1.8

Suicide, the Comedy

1998-01-01

Matt is a screenwriter whose career is not going especially well and whose personal life is dwindlin