You, John Jones! (1943) User Reviews

The Gettysburg address

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 9 November 2006]

A mechanical engineer working on planes that soon will be taking part in WWII is seen at the assembly plant. As he arrives home after a day's work, his wife points to their daughter who is seen on a raised platform performing the Gettysburg address for a school presentation. The man, who is on security watch that night in his area, leaves to his tour that night.

As he sits on a park bench, his thoughts go to several areas where the conflict has affected different parts of the world. In each of those images, he sees his young daughter being the victim of the war around her. When he gets home at the end of his shift, he is welcomed by his lovely wife and his daughter that have been secured in the bosom of their safe home. He is a lucky man indeed!

Mervyn LeRoy directed this short propaganda film of 1943. WWII found an important ally in Hollywood, as the industry realized what was at stake and cooperated by turning films in which patriotism and doing the right thing for one's country took center stage. In this short, but effective picture, we are given a bird's eye view about the suffering experienced by other people throughout the world, where the conflict touched their lives.

James Cagney, who was borrowed from Warner Bros. to make this film, was at his best conveying what he felt for the innocent victims. Margaret O'Brien, appears as the daughter who is rehearsing the Gettysburg address for school in her usual enchanting manner. Ann Sothern plays the wife.

Cagney at MGM

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 25 December 2012]

This was the first of only a few times Cagney worked at MGM, and the only time during the Louis B. Mayer era that he did so. Cagney didn't do anything else there until the mid 1950's after Mayer was long gone and the studio was in decline. Cagney plays an air raid warden with few lines who is called to duty one night, away from his wife (Ann Sothern) and child (Margaret O'Brien). As John Jones (Cagney) writes his time of arrival in his log book and sits on a park bench, the narrator talks about how that, as an American, he is lucky that air raid duty is boring, and mentions all of the countries where there is constant violence and bombing from the enemy. At this point this becomes Margaret O'Brien's short, as she is the waif that is in terror, or hungry, or missing part of a limb, or in one scene even dead.

The short serves two purposes - it's a patriotic morale booster during WWII to remind Americans how lucky they are that their nation is untouched by the actual warfare raging worldwide, and it was also a device for MGM to build up Margaret O'Brien at the very beginning of her childhood career. At this point she was only six.

This short is an extra on the "Yankee Doodle Dandy" DVD and is interesting largely from a historical perspective, but still worth viewing.

Cagney, O'Brien and Sothern in typical wartime short from MGM...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 15 January 2009]

Heavy-handed short gets the glossy MGM treatment as James Cagney, Ann Sothern and Margaret O'Brien play a typical American family during World War II.

His daughter's recitation of The Gettysburg Address makes the father think about how differently things would be if he didn't live in the good old USA.

The effectiveness of this short will depend on just how heavy-handed you think this kind of propaganda was--either then or now--but there's no doubt that WWII audiences were being fed wartime shorts like this as a way to stir patriotism in the hearts of viewers.

The performances are professional and will certainly please fans of the three stars. Mervyn LeRoy directed, so you know how important shorts like these were for the studio. They even borrowed James Cagney from Warner Brothers.

Oddly Stands Test of Time *Spoilers may be ahead*

[fibbovan · 31 December 2003]

This 1943 short film (included as a supplement on the 2-Disc Edition of "Yankee Doodle Dandy") is nothing short of amazing. It was produced my Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios as a contribution to United Nations Week. It follows a few minutes in the life and imagination of John Jones (the stunning James Cagney), an engineer at an airplane factory that works for Civil Defense. As he comes home, he finds his wife (Ann Southern) watching their daughter ("Meet Me in St. Louis"'s Margaret O'Brien) reciting the Gettysburg Address, as practice for a school play. John revels in the words of the speech and goes to his Civil Defense post, watching for an air raid (remember, this was made during World War II). He prays to God, thanking him for letting him be in America, and not in countries where the fighting is more severe. God seems to reply to John, and John imagines what it would be like if his wife and child were in England, France, Greece, China, Yugoslavia, etc. (where the film becomes slightly gruesome). Jones then imagines a fictional air raid in America. The film flashes to John in real life. He rushes home to find his daughter and wife save, and the film fades out on the face of the adorable Margaret O'Brien reciting the final words of the Address. This thouroughly marvelous short oddly stands the test of time, making one feel that he or she should be glad to live in America where there is (for most of us) enough to eat and drink, and for Americans to feel safe when they go to bed at night. And "ain't it the beautiful truth."

Glad to be an American

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 2 August 2006]

Though the film is dated because of it's obvious World War II origin, You John Jones still has a somewhat relevant message for today. I qualify that with a somewhat because surely 9/11 shattered quite a few illusions about that.

Still we are a wealthy and prosperous country and still relatively safe as opposed to a lot of areas on this globe. May it ever be so as James Cagney realized while doing his thankless job as an air raid warden in World War II America.

Of course these war time shorts brought together folks from different studios for the war effort. Cagney got to work with Ann Sothern and Margaret O'Brien and never did so again.

Wouldn't it be interesting today though if this short film was updated and say Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their little bambino did something similar? As an example of course.

Shall Not Perish

[boblipton · 7/10 · 29 December 2022]

Margaret O'Brien is practicing the Gettysburg Address for recital a school. Father Jimmy Cagney leaves her and mother Ann Sothern to perform his duties as an air raid warden. It's a clear night, and he is thankful there are no actual air raid in the United States, just practice. Tired, he falls asleep and dreams of his daughter in a bombed-out English home, as a Greek girl fleeing the soldiers, as a starving child in China, as a corpse in Lidice....

Carey Wilson's narration talks about the lucky nation of the United States, where the home front was actually safe -- unless you were in Honolulu or the Aleutians. I'm not sure how they got Cagney away from Warner Brothers for it, but perhaps director Mervyn Leroy pulled a few strings at his former studio. He was, after all, married to the boss's daughter.

"Ain't It The Beautiful Truth?"

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 16 March 2007]

James Cagney, Ann Sothern and Margaret O'Brien all star in this Mervyn LeRoy-directed "wartime short," as they called them. Cagney plays an aviation worker who comes and sees his young daughter rehearsing the Gettysburg address.

The man ("John Jones" played by Cagney) then gets called out on a security watch. As he sits on his park bench post, he starts talking out loud to God, saying "I don't think there will ever be a raid on the United States of America but people on our side are being bombed somewhere - England, Russia or China. It's just terrible, horrible....but I just want you to know I appreciate that it's not happening here."

God talks back to him, asking him if he truly does appreciate it, and then Cagney sees pictures of what it would be like if he were in England, Greece, China, Yugoslavia, France and other war-torn areas. In each case, we see his daughter (O'Brien playing her) physically harmed or starving.

The man returns home, asks his wife "Mary" (Sheridan) if she's okay, then gets another phone call with an "all-clear" message, goes to the door, looks upward and says "Thanks, God." Their daughter then finishes Lincoln's famous speech.

The father kisses his daughter and adds, "Ain't it the beautiful truth?"

This short was part of the 2-disc special-edition DVD of "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

All in all a rather forgettable American propaganda short

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 7 February 2018]

"You, John Jones!" is an American 11-minute live action short film from 1943, so this one has its 75th anniversary this year and this makes it a black-and-white sound film from the days of World War II of course. Director LeRoy and writer Wilson are both Oscar nominees and the cast does not need to hide either. James Cagney won his Oscar around the same time when this was released and Ann Sothern also has an Oscar nomination. The tiny Margaret O'Brien (80 now) doesn't, but she still fairly popular today for other reasons and roles. Overall, a tolerable b&w movie where I am not too sure if I liked the music or disliked it I guess. But it sure is not as much about the protagonist as you'd think from the title. Story-wise, itÄ's really nothing special and it hasn't aged too well I'd say. The only reason to see it today is probably to get an insight into the political context of the years when the US were actively involved in World War II. From a mere filmmaking perspective I give it a thumbs-down though. Not recommended.

Your Baby

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 15 February 2017]

Top-notch World War II short designed to draw the attentions of Americans to the plight of children in other countries devastated by the war. It stars Jimmy Cagney as an air raid warden who is grateful his young daughter (Margaret O'Brien) is safe from the bombings people in other countries at the time were enduring. He imagines what it would be like for her in some of these other countries and we see the adorable little Miss O'Brien act out those scenes. This is an entertaining and thought-provoking short with three great on screen talents (Cagney, O'Brien, and Ann Sothern) giving their best. O'Brien is a real treat. She was really a shining star among child actors. With nice direction from Mervyn LeRoy and expert narration from Carey Wilson. Really good.

A Masterpiece

[Michael_Elliott · 16 January 2009]

You, John Jones! (1943)

**** (out of 4)

A WW2 Civil Engineer (James Cagney) is called away from his home by an air raid alarm just as his daughter (Margaret O'Brien) is saying the Gettysburg Address for a school project. While the man is watching his post he begins to imagine what it would be like living in another country that is constantly under air raids and what impact this might have on his young daughter. Countless WW2 shorts were produced while the war was going on but I have no problem saying this here is the best of the bunch and in its own way a real masterpiece. The message of the film is quite clear but, given this was a WW2 film, the producer's went pretty far in passing that message off. We see countless scenes with Cagney's young daughter suffering in other countries and this scenes are very realistic and I'm sure hit a very strong nerve with people back in 1943. Cagney is excellent in his role as you can tell he's giving it all his got. The real star here is the young O'Brien who really steals the film with her powerful performance saying the famous speech.

A tad heavy-handed, but as a propaganda short it is superb

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 2 June 2007]

Given the context for when and why this short film was made, it is a masterpiece. The film debuted during WWII and was intended to mobilize Americans in favor of the war effort--and as such, it was brilliant and incredibly successful.

The short stars three major stars--all borrowed from their home studios to make this free film that was distributed to theaters across the country. The lead is played by James Cagney and he is amazingly normal and restrained in his role as an "everyman". His wife is played by Ann Sothern and his daughter is played by Margaret O'Brien. Choosing the adorable O'Brien was a brilliant move, as once John Jones (Cagney) begins wondering what life would be life for his family had they lived in war-ravaged portions of the world, the cute kid is tossed into some horrific situations that are bound to make a strong impact on the viewer. Imagine the impact when the cute co-star of such schmaltzy family fare such as MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS and OUR VINES HAVE TENDER GRAPES is shown in various scenes either being killed, starving and even with a leg blown off! For the 1940s, this was akin to having Shirley Temple (circa 1934) going through the same torments. The audiences must have been sobbing as they saw these very realistic scenes.

Now the only part that seemed a bit too heavy-handed was O'Brien reciting the Gettysburg Address through the film. This was great for 1943, though viewers today might feel this was a bit too much and detracted from the central message of the film. But, for its day, this film just can't be beat.

Direct Points taken

[lwmtem · 8/10 · 29 October 2018]

While his daughter (O'Brien) is reciting the Gettysburg Address, he must do his civic duty in 1943 as the threat of air raids loom over his community. As he writes his journal for the evening, his mind wonders about other children where Nazis and other Axis powers were breaking through other nations' defenses and attacking their populations.

Segment by segment, Margaret O'Brien portrays the children who were suffering from the relentless bombings and attacks. A six year old was expressive in all the survivor parts and touched my hearts as she portrayed some of those who in those dark days, would not see the next day!

"Just a Propaganda movie"? Perhaps, but her performance underscores the talent of an actress who would make other outstanding performances for us to enjoy!