This is a different war movie, it has very few action sequences. But the director created a compelling movie none the less. Most action in this movie takes place off camera, this creates a feeling of 'being there.' One character mentions that all the action he has seen he had to listen to it. The pace of the movie tends to get slow then speed up quickly. It was quite different but for a war movie fan like myself, very entertaining.
91 Reviews
It is hard to harness determination and purpose.
michaelRokeefe3 July 2002
This war drama ranks among the best in its genre. An outstanding ensemble cast and intense story makes for an interesting look at the realism of war. This film follows a platoon of American soldiers from the time they land in Europe until they complete their mission...capturing a German occupied farmhouse in World War Two Italy. The talented and diverse cast includes:Dana Andrews, John Ireland, Lloyd Bridges, George Tyne, Huntz Hall and Richard Conte. Kudos also to director Lewis Milestone.
Real war, real emotion, real people, really good movie
gordsracing16 December 2003
This movie is beyond criticism. Within its celluloid record there clambers cold history. The tanks are real. The planes are real. The people are real. This was a contemporary war movie to the actual war, without the layers of myth laquered by years of failing memory.
Unlike recent high budget over-the-top productions and the copious blood spattering within, this little epic tends to mute the violence into the pathos of the moment of death. That being the death of heroes. And the emphasis appears to hinge on the suddenness, the randomness, and the tragedy of men dying hard. It is a stark memorial to the courage and sacrifice of the World War II soldier.
Amazingly, and very much in contrast to most other war films of the period which demonized the enemy, this film provides a neutral texture to the foe. Here the German soldiers are but shadows on the cave wall. The stray Italian soldiers appear as comic sidekicks in the maelstrom of a nation at peril from two sides. The enemy appears to escape the moral condemnation that other films embraced. This is war and this is what it is by those who fought it.
The film describes the landings of an infantry platoon on the Salerno beaches in Italy. All of a sudden they are left leaderless as two of the senior officers meets a soldier's fate. The beach scene remains a descriptive detail of what a soldiers paradox in modern warfare was. They bring the war but they do not know where it is, where they are, whether the war will visit them, or what lies in front of them. Without the need for special effects the director garnishes the film with the fog of war skillfully.
A startling moment is when the third ranking leader, a noncom sargeant succumbs to panic and shell shock. It is perhaps the kindest treatment of the condition ever presented cinematically during that period. The rest of the platoon appears to be supportive to the fallen insane sargeant. But the war goes on. They move on.
Rallied by a solid sargeant the platoon moves onto its objectives, a bridge and a farmhouse at a cost. The objectives are difficult and the angst of leadership and follower play the scene well. And unlike most war movies where heroism goes beyond definition, these heroes are all very much afraid.
The film has a solid core of young actors of the period. Dana Andrews, a very young Lloyd Bridges appear to anchor the cast. The black and white format suits this tiny epic. The cinematography, stunts are solid and consistently well done. It is a darkish film very much worth seeing.
Unlike recent high budget over-the-top productions and the copious blood spattering within, this little epic tends to mute the violence into the pathos of the moment of death. That being the death of heroes. And the emphasis appears to hinge on the suddenness, the randomness, and the tragedy of men dying hard. It is a stark memorial to the courage and sacrifice of the World War II soldier.
Amazingly, and very much in contrast to most other war films of the period which demonized the enemy, this film provides a neutral texture to the foe. Here the German soldiers are but shadows on the cave wall. The stray Italian soldiers appear as comic sidekicks in the maelstrom of a nation at peril from two sides. The enemy appears to escape the moral condemnation that other films embraced. This is war and this is what it is by those who fought it.
The film describes the landings of an infantry platoon on the Salerno beaches in Italy. All of a sudden they are left leaderless as two of the senior officers meets a soldier's fate. The beach scene remains a descriptive detail of what a soldiers paradox in modern warfare was. They bring the war but they do not know where it is, where they are, whether the war will visit them, or what lies in front of them. Without the need for special effects the director garnishes the film with the fog of war skillfully.
A startling moment is when the third ranking leader, a noncom sargeant succumbs to panic and shell shock. It is perhaps the kindest treatment of the condition ever presented cinematically during that period. The rest of the platoon appears to be supportive to the fallen insane sargeant. But the war goes on. They move on.
Rallied by a solid sargeant the platoon moves onto its objectives, a bridge and a farmhouse at a cost. The objectives are difficult and the angst of leadership and follower play the scene well. And unlike most war movies where heroism goes beyond definition, these heroes are all very much afraid.
The film has a solid core of young actors of the period. Dana Andrews, a very young Lloyd Bridges appear to anchor the cast. The black and white format suits this tiny epic. The cinematography, stunts are solid and consistently well done. It is a darkish film very much worth seeing.
A microcosm of WWII
JB-1215 May 2000
This is one of the great war films ever made. Yet there are few combat scenes, and no mock heroics. What makes this movie successful is its depiction of war from the viewpoint of the men in the platoon. The film takes place primarily during the course of a walk from the beach at Salerno, Italy where the platoon has landed to a farmhouse they are to capture 6 miles away.
Although Dana Andrews is listed as the nominal star of the film, the scenes are divided up equally among several men each with their own take on the mission and ultimately the war.
Other than Andrews(approaching the peak of his career as Sgt Tyne)the rest of the cast were young up and comers, many who went on to great acting careers. They included Richard Conte, Lloyd Bridges(his first important role), John Ireland, George Tyne, Huntz Hall(on hiatus from the East Side Kids films and very effective) and Norman Lloyd(bitterly brilliant as Archambeau). There is an understated narration by Burgess Meredith and a folk ballad score sung by Earl Robinson. They all perfectly fit in to the picture
The key player in all of this is director Lewis Milestone. A veteran of films since the twenties, his credits included "All Quiet On The Western Front", "The Front Page", and "Of Mice and Men". In "A Walk In The Sun" a Milestone independent production he incorporated the successful elements of the other three and the result is one of the greatest of it's genre. It is a movie not to be missed.
Although Dana Andrews is listed as the nominal star of the film, the scenes are divided up equally among several men each with their own take on the mission and ultimately the war.
Other than Andrews(approaching the peak of his career as Sgt Tyne)the rest of the cast were young up and comers, many who went on to great acting careers. They included Richard Conte, Lloyd Bridges(his first important role), John Ireland, George Tyne, Huntz Hall(on hiatus from the East Side Kids films and very effective) and Norman Lloyd(bitterly brilliant as Archambeau). There is an understated narration by Burgess Meredith and a folk ballad score sung by Earl Robinson. They all perfectly fit in to the picture
The key player in all of this is director Lewis Milestone. A veteran of films since the twenties, his credits included "All Quiet On The Western Front", "The Front Page", and "Of Mice and Men". In "A Walk In The Sun" a Milestone independent production he incorporated the successful elements of the other three and the result is one of the greatest of it's genre. It is a movie not to be missed.
The Character and Characters of War
bkoganbing6 May 2007
One of these fine days, the landing at Salerno which believe it or not was more difficult than the invasion of Normandy will get a full screen treatment like The Longest Day or Saving Private Ryan. The combined allied force was in a pitched battle for 21 days until the issue was decided. A lot was going on away from the sidebar action that is depicted in A Walk In the Sun.
The sidebar action involved a platoon that lands a few miles away from the beach with the objective of blowing up a bridge and taking a strategically located farm house. The lieutenant is killed even before the landing and the various sergeants take over. One of them, Herbert Rudley cracks under the strain, and Dana Andrews assumes overall command of the mission.
A Walk in the Sun is not so much a war story as a war character study. It's interesting to contrast this film with Lewis Milestone's masterpiece, All Quiet on the Western Front. Both involve citizen soldiers going to war and both are studies into the types of people making up a platoon. Milestone's sympathies are with both, but he does recognize the necessity for the trip to Europe made by these Americans in Italy.
Best in the film in my opinion is Richard Conte, the cynical wisecracking GI from, where else, Brooklyn. According to Hollywood, there wasn't a platoon in any theater of war in the forties that did not have a GI from Brooklyn. Huntz Hall, taking leave from the East Side Kids, also has a small part as one of the GIs in this platoon.
The film was made as the war ended in Europe. No mock heroics here, just the greatest generation demonstrating why they were just that.
The sidebar action involved a platoon that lands a few miles away from the beach with the objective of blowing up a bridge and taking a strategically located farm house. The lieutenant is killed even before the landing and the various sergeants take over. One of them, Herbert Rudley cracks under the strain, and Dana Andrews assumes overall command of the mission.
A Walk in the Sun is not so much a war story as a war character study. It's interesting to contrast this film with Lewis Milestone's masterpiece, All Quiet on the Western Front. Both involve citizen soldiers going to war and both are studies into the types of people making up a platoon. Milestone's sympathies are with both, but he does recognize the necessity for the trip to Europe made by these Americans in Italy.
Best in the film in my opinion is Richard Conte, the cynical wisecracking GI from, where else, Brooklyn. According to Hollywood, there wasn't a platoon in any theater of war in the forties that did not have a GI from Brooklyn. Huntz Hall, taking leave from the East Side Kids, also has a small part as one of the GIs in this platoon.
The film was made as the war ended in Europe. No mock heroics here, just the greatest generation demonstrating why they were just that.
Interesting WWII movie and highly considered with outstanding direction by Milestone
ma-cortes7 March 2006
September 1943 WWII,during the Italian campaign against the Germans, an infantrymen platoon of US army washes ashore on the coast near of Salerno and for the fighting are dieing all officials and the sergeants command to execute the mission assigned,they must capture a farmhouse occupied by the Nazis.The group is trying to take an enemy location by themselves,it's shot with an excellent action sequences.
The picture is a based about novel of same title by journalist Harry Brown who fought on the front since 1941 until 1943 and narrated his experiences as soldier in European Allied army. The first which bought the license was Samuel Bronston but the public was bored of the warlike genre and he wanted the making a super-production and then he gave the rights to Lewis Milestone.This director contacted with Daryl F. Zanuck -the magnate of 2oth Century Fox- who financed the post-production.The film realizes a magnificent reunion actors showing the numerous personages and explores their circumstances,apprehension,fears and cowardice. Lewis Milestone incorporated an off-voice of the actor Burguess Meredith who the same year starred ¨The story of G.I.Joe¨filmed by William A.Wellman and would be its more direct rival.Good storyline by Robert Rossen,turned director with important films as ¨The hustler¨and¨Alexander Magno¨ .Productor and director Lewis Milestone also made others classics as ¨All quiet on the western front¨ masterpiece WWI and the Korean set ¨Pork Chop Hill¨ which along with ¨Men in war¨(Anthony Mann) are the two best films about Korea war. Rating : Awesome and worthwhile effort.
The picture is a based about novel of same title by journalist Harry Brown who fought on the front since 1941 until 1943 and narrated his experiences as soldier in European Allied army. The first which bought the license was Samuel Bronston but the public was bored of the warlike genre and he wanted the making a super-production and then he gave the rights to Lewis Milestone.This director contacted with Daryl F. Zanuck -the magnate of 2oth Century Fox- who financed the post-production.The film realizes a magnificent reunion actors showing the numerous personages and explores their circumstances,apprehension,fears and cowardice. Lewis Milestone incorporated an off-voice of the actor Burguess Meredith who the same year starred ¨The story of G.I.Joe¨filmed by William A.Wellman and would be its more direct rival.Good storyline by Robert Rossen,turned director with important films as ¨The hustler¨and¨Alexander Magno¨ .Productor and director Lewis Milestone also made others classics as ¨All quiet on the western front¨ masterpiece WWI and the Korean set ¨Pork Chop Hill¨ which along with ¨Men in war¨(Anthony Mann) are the two best films about Korea war. Rating : Awesome and worthwhile effort.
A great story of men in war
dpenzel17 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
When "A Walk in the Sun" came out in 1945 it made a strong impression on the home front. It showed more of the reality of war than the string of patriotic we-can-do-it slap-the-Jap stun-the-Hun movies, mostly nonsensical tripe made during the war years. There are no John Wayne heroics here, no superhuman commandos, just the "poor bloody infantry". They are just a platoon of fairly ordinary men on a mission to march to a farmhouse and occupy it. It is not that Hollywood staple of "the mission that could change the course of the war". They lose their lieutenant. They take casualties from planes, maybe even their own planes. The sergeant who takes over the lead breaks down. They keep going. They talk - a lot. But what talk it is! It is the talk of soldiers. Commonplace stuff, where do you come from, what are you going to do after the war, do the brass know what they're doing, gimme a cigarette. The song that opens and closes the movie makes a point that is perhaps the point of the movie when it links them to soldiers of other places and times.
Incidentally, it is fun to look at the cast. Most of the major players in this movie were at the beginning of long and successful careers, notably Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges and Norman Lloyd. (Just another thought - after seeing "Saving Private Ryan", I realized that Steven Spielberg has seen "A Walk in the Sun" at least as many times as I have.)
My uncle, a veteran of Tunisia who went into Salerno as a Ranger, hated most war films, but not this one. He also told me that his company had a fight with a German armored car very similar to the one with the halftrack in this film.
Incidentally, it is fun to look at the cast. Most of the major players in this movie were at the beginning of long and successful careers, notably Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges and Norman Lloyd. (Just another thought - after seeing "Saving Private Ryan", I realized that Steven Spielberg has seen "A Walk in the Sun" at least as many times as I have.)
My uncle, a veteran of Tunisia who went into Salerno as a Ranger, hated most war films, but not this one. He also told me that his company had a fight with a German armored car very similar to the one with the halftrack in this film.
For the introspective parts, which is much of the film, it's almost magical, a gem
secondtake1 April 2011
A Walk in the Sun (1945)
The first third of this film is amazing. It' remarkably disturbing and dark, about a bunch of soldiers landing at night in Italy, World War II. The sun does eventually rise, but it's an eerie and claustrophobic and surprisingly gentle twenty minutes. The cast is really perfect, without any overly macho guys, just some ordinary men with feelings, feelings for life, for each other little by little, and for a kind of fatalistic fear that turns into acceptance at times, until events force them into action.
Once toward halfway, the movie becomes a more conventional, a large rambling group of foot soldiers a bit lost as to what to do as they walk along, in the sun, in Italy. They talk without a lot of open fear, including a bit of chitchat even as they confront enemies of one kind or another. There is an air of ordinary resignation through it all, as if the movie makers knew the audience could only handle a kid gloves kind of truth about the war, which was still raging when it was released. Even though there is an inevitable sense that the Americans were winning (they were landing in Italy, not being pushed off to sea), there is also the sense that these really nice guys might die, suddenly, because of events beyond their control.
By the final third a military objective clarifies, a small one, but a potentially deadly one. When it plays out, it's more about war, and winning. The enemy is never shown, and the brutality is limited to the last two minutes, but it's a devastating two minutes, and probably too difficult for audiences to watch at the time while the war was going on. Though filming was finished in January 1945, the film wasn't released officially until December, with six months of peace already healing some of the wounds, and didn't see wide release until the following year, long after war films had stopped being made. Director Milestone did get Army approval for the film in 1945, and it does seem accurate in its awfulness, even now.
It's right before the climax that the film returns to it extraordinary, inner conscience, following Dana Andrews crawling though the weeds to the farmhouse they intend to overtake. How long would it take to crawl around the world? A hundred years? A thousand years?
This interested me in particular (among WWII movies) because it was made and released around the end of the war, and because the director (Lewis Milestone) made the remarkable "All Quiet on the Western Front" about WWI. (For accuracy, it was shot in 1944 and fully released in 1946, from what I can read.)
A note on the filming itself, under cinematographer Russell Harlan, who made great use of darkness (at first), and of foreground/background (throughout), giving the film a dramatic and rather rich feeling. Arthur Edeson came through in a similar way in 1930 with Milestone's "All Quiet" and you end up realizing how important the collaboration is between the two roles. Here, the photography makes a case for watching and waiting just as the characters do the same, waiting and waiting. And watching. And talking.
Some might find the movie talks too much, but that's really the point. There are many times it feels very "written" rather than felt. The author of the 1944 book gets credit for a lot of the dialog (adapted directly) but he might actually get some blame, because it's all a big stylized, or made "nice" even though in reality there must be a drastically higher level of stress and hardness. There is far too much clever, and even sweet, dialog. There is a part of me that likes that (I want to like these guys) but it doesn't seem quite right.
At the time, Sam Fuller, who would later be a film director himself, wrote a scathing letter as a recent veteran of the war to Milestone, and I think he was maybe saying the same thing. (He would later direct "The Big Red One" which is a counterpoint to this, though it has its own flaws.) I will say that the end feeling after the short climax is one of relative familiarity. It was what you expect from this kind of movie, with a formula mix of success and failure.
The first third of this film is amazing. It' remarkably disturbing and dark, about a bunch of soldiers landing at night in Italy, World War II. The sun does eventually rise, but it's an eerie and claustrophobic and surprisingly gentle twenty minutes. The cast is really perfect, without any overly macho guys, just some ordinary men with feelings, feelings for life, for each other little by little, and for a kind of fatalistic fear that turns into acceptance at times, until events force them into action.
Once toward halfway, the movie becomes a more conventional, a large rambling group of foot soldiers a bit lost as to what to do as they walk along, in the sun, in Italy. They talk without a lot of open fear, including a bit of chitchat even as they confront enemies of one kind or another. There is an air of ordinary resignation through it all, as if the movie makers knew the audience could only handle a kid gloves kind of truth about the war, which was still raging when it was released. Even though there is an inevitable sense that the Americans were winning (they were landing in Italy, not being pushed off to sea), there is also the sense that these really nice guys might die, suddenly, because of events beyond their control.
By the final third a military objective clarifies, a small one, but a potentially deadly one. When it plays out, it's more about war, and winning. The enemy is never shown, and the brutality is limited to the last two minutes, but it's a devastating two minutes, and probably too difficult for audiences to watch at the time while the war was going on. Though filming was finished in January 1945, the film wasn't released officially until December, with six months of peace already healing some of the wounds, and didn't see wide release until the following year, long after war films had stopped being made. Director Milestone did get Army approval for the film in 1945, and it does seem accurate in its awfulness, even now.
It's right before the climax that the film returns to it extraordinary, inner conscience, following Dana Andrews crawling though the weeds to the farmhouse they intend to overtake. How long would it take to crawl around the world? A hundred years? A thousand years?
This interested me in particular (among WWII movies) because it was made and released around the end of the war, and because the director (Lewis Milestone) made the remarkable "All Quiet on the Western Front" about WWI. (For accuracy, it was shot in 1944 and fully released in 1946, from what I can read.)
A note on the filming itself, under cinematographer Russell Harlan, who made great use of darkness (at first), and of foreground/background (throughout), giving the film a dramatic and rather rich feeling. Arthur Edeson came through in a similar way in 1930 with Milestone's "All Quiet" and you end up realizing how important the collaboration is between the two roles. Here, the photography makes a case for watching and waiting just as the characters do the same, waiting and waiting. And watching. And talking.
Some might find the movie talks too much, but that's really the point. There are many times it feels very "written" rather than felt. The author of the 1944 book gets credit for a lot of the dialog (adapted directly) but he might actually get some blame, because it's all a big stylized, or made "nice" even though in reality there must be a drastically higher level of stress and hardness. There is far too much clever, and even sweet, dialog. There is a part of me that likes that (I want to like these guys) but it doesn't seem quite right.
At the time, Sam Fuller, who would later be a film director himself, wrote a scathing letter as a recent veteran of the war to Milestone, and I think he was maybe saying the same thing. (He would later direct "The Big Red One" which is a counterpoint to this, though it has its own flaws.) I will say that the end feeling after the short climax is one of relative familiarity. It was what you expect from this kind of movie, with a formula mix of success and failure.
My Favorite Film of WWII
twwilson4 June 2005
I usually hate to name a favorite film in a genre because I always have several I rate equally well, but, if asked to name one that tops the rest I have to say, in the WWII genre, this film is it. It is an intelligent and honest film about men in war; no heroics, no jingoism, no evil enemy, just regular Joes who are caught up in something big and deadly and would rather be home, but are doing their job. There are no clichés, no obligatory guy from Brooklyn, no high sounding phrases, no patriotic slogans, just an honest and realistic depiction of strictly ordinary guys caught in war. Lewis Milestone, the director, obviously understood the combat soldier.
I love the dialog, the banter among the men of "a fighting platoon", especially that between Pvts Rivera, played by Richard Conte, and Friedman, played by George Tyne. Coincidentally, Dana Andrews, one of my favorite actors, character is Sgt. Tyne. I wonder what was made of that by actor George Tyne. The cast also includes a young Lloyd Bridges and Huntz Hall, in the only roll I can recall seeing him in outside the East Side Kids/ Bowery Boys films.
The novel by Harry Brown, from which the film was made, was republished a few years ago and the dialog in the film is lifted straight out of it, which is part of what makes the film so great. In fact, this is one of those rare cases where the movie follows the book faithfully, almost to the letter.
I was nine years old when this film was released and I well remember the night I first saw it. My parents, who have just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, thought it was a romance film. I didn't want to go but when we arrived at the old Westmore Theater, now long gone, which was in walking distance of our home, and I saw the lobby photos and saw it was a war film, I was the one delighted. There was always at least one scene from these films that stayed in my mind over the years and in this one it was the hand of the German soldier with the ring on it hanging out of the wrecked armored vehicle, and the assault on the farmhouse.
"It was just a little walk in the warm Italian sun, but it wasn't an easy thing."
An excellent film made from an excellent novel with an excellent cast, all making an excellent viewing experience.
I love the dialog, the banter among the men of "a fighting platoon", especially that between Pvts Rivera, played by Richard Conte, and Friedman, played by George Tyne. Coincidentally, Dana Andrews, one of my favorite actors, character is Sgt. Tyne. I wonder what was made of that by actor George Tyne. The cast also includes a young Lloyd Bridges and Huntz Hall, in the only roll I can recall seeing him in outside the East Side Kids/ Bowery Boys films.
The novel by Harry Brown, from which the film was made, was republished a few years ago and the dialog in the film is lifted straight out of it, which is part of what makes the film so great. In fact, this is one of those rare cases where the movie follows the book faithfully, almost to the letter.
I was nine years old when this film was released and I well remember the night I first saw it. My parents, who have just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, thought it was a romance film. I didn't want to go but when we arrived at the old Westmore Theater, now long gone, which was in walking distance of our home, and I saw the lobby photos and saw it was a war film, I was the one delighted. There was always at least one scene from these films that stayed in my mind over the years and in this one it was the hand of the German soldier with the ring on it hanging out of the wrecked armored vehicle, and the assault on the farmhouse.
"It was just a little walk in the warm Italian sun, but it wasn't an easy thing."
An excellent film made from an excellent novel with an excellent cast, all making an excellent viewing experience.
Talk in the Sun
kenjha5 September 2008
The first twenty minutes of the film has soldiers engaged in a multitude of conversations in the dark. Then the sun comes up and they start walking, but they continue to talk non-stop. Most of what they say is neither amusing nor profound. They just blabber on and on about mundane things. It seems the soldiers can simply bore the enemy to death with their gabfest. This is hailed as realistic cinema, but reality does not a great movie make. There is also a corny ballad about the soldiers that's overplayed. Andrews and Conte lead a good cast, but are let down by the lame script. It perks up in the end, but it's too little, too late.
Amazingly talky and uninvolving
planktonrules19 March 2008
There were a lot of excellent WWII films made both during the war and after, though I certainly would not consider A WALK IN THE SUN among them. In fact, I had a hard time keeping interested in this film--mostly because the characters talked and talked and talked--practically non-stop! Rarely did they allow scenes to take place without long and distracting conversations between the G.I.s. Starting on the landing craft until they took the farmhouse, it was talk, talk, talk! Sadly, nothing they really said was that profound or even interesting. This made me look forward to the action scenes.
By contrast, there have been some amazing films that DID show the servicemen as real human beings and did show their interactions yet still were amazing films. Just off the top of my head, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE and BATTLEGROUND were similar in structure to A WALK IN THE SUN but they managed to be entertaining and inspiring. In other words, ordinary men behaving extraordinarily under the circumstances. Whereas in A WALK IN THE SUN, they just seemed like irritating people whose characters and dialog were poorly written. It sure is hard to see that this film was directed by the same man who directed ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT--one of the finest war films ever made. A few interesting (but mostly uninspired) battle scenes weren't enough to make this anything other than a time-passer.
By contrast, there have been some amazing films that DID show the servicemen as real human beings and did show their interactions yet still were amazing films. Just off the top of my head, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE and BATTLEGROUND were similar in structure to A WALK IN THE SUN but they managed to be entertaining and inspiring. In other words, ordinary men behaving extraordinarily under the circumstances. Whereas in A WALK IN THE SUN, they just seemed like irritating people whose characters and dialog were poorly written. It sure is hard to see that this film was directed by the same man who directed ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT--one of the finest war films ever made. A few interesting (but mostly uninspired) battle scenes weren't enough to make this anything other than a time-passer.
The 'fog of war' as seen by an WW2 American infantryman
Shaolin_Apu25 May 2005
Hardly many war films are like this, nothing really happens here but it's still exciting. American infantry platoon lands at Salerno, Italy in 1943 and has orders to capture and hold a farmhouse some miles ahead. The men don't know nothing about what is waiting for them. Will the enemy open fire right at the beach and kill all of them? Will there be mines? Who is their enemy anyway, Germans or Italians? Will they get strafed by enemy aircraft of will 'our boys' control the skies? These are questions that a regular infantryman may ask from himself. They don't know what is waiting for them and they try to guess what the overall situation is. The movie is lots of talking, waiting and walking by the Italian countryside. The soldiers must be alert at all times and there may be false alarms too. Action comes suddenly and is also quickly committed.
This is another of those war movies that can be called 'realistic'. In many post-modern war movie realism is seen as a synonym of lots of blood and dying soldiers yelling 'mommy' and such. I don't call that realism - these men know exactly how to deal with disturbing things that war contains. They ignore things that they cannot emotionally handle and this must also be the way those things were handled in real war. This may well be seen as a dull movie, but it also shows the war as it really was. There is no pathos at all in this movie and that is why many people like it.
This is another of those war movies that can be called 'realistic'. In many post-modern war movie realism is seen as a synonym of lots of blood and dying soldiers yelling 'mommy' and such. I don't call that realism - these men know exactly how to deal with disturbing things that war contains. They ignore things that they cannot emotionally handle and this must also be the way those things were handled in real war. This may well be seen as a dull movie, but it also shows the war as it really was. There is no pathos at all in this movie and that is why many people like it.
Old fashioned war film
grahamsj328 April 2003
This is the way war movies used to be made. Pretty bloodless, no swearing, but still a pretty good film. This is proof that the public doesn't really need to see guts and brains to enjoy a war film. A lot of war films were made in the 40s and 50s, mostly about World War 2 and this is one of them. Combat is often described as long periods of boredom punctuated by short periods of sheer terror. This film works just that way. There's a lot of conversation, but all of a sudden, the men are under fire. Overall, I like it - you will too.
Realistic?? HA!
pamos-225 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This is not the worse war movie I have ever seen, but it ranks right down there at the bottom.
I am totally and utterly dumbfounded by the comments that say that this is a "realistic" war movie. I agree that it is very "different" (not much combat action, lots of small talk, off screen combat, on screen tension), but to say that the move is realistic is ridiculous. I could write forever about the unrealism, but here are just a few items.
1. The lieutenant gets killed at the outset, so command passes down to three battle-hardened combat sergeants,. . . who then spend the rest of the movie crying, confused, unable to lead, unable to read maps, uncertain what to do, uncertain how to command, and having existential anxiety. Indeed, this appears to be the fundamental theme of the entire movie! (They should rename it "The Crying Sergeants"). I've got big news for you. Combat platoons are run and commanded by the sergeants. They are the most competent men and leaders in combat. Young officers, on the other hand, such as lieutenants, are typically hapless and routinely get men killed by not knowing how to command. The mission in this movie (march 6 miles inland down a farm road and destroy a farm house marked on a map) would be business as usual for any combat sergeant. These guys acted like it was the Manhattan Project!!!
2. In the middle of the movie, in a combat situation, a sergeant issues a direct order to a private to deliver a message to another soldier. The private replies, "Go tell him yourself!" Realism??? You've got to be kidding me!! Do you have any idea what would have happened both then (and now) if a soldier said this to a sergeant in combat?? It would start off with a really good beating, and end in the soldier having to walk point (suicide) for the rest of the mission.
3. Each and every soldier has the exact battle dress on, including carry bags and ammo belts, regardless of rank or weapons. Guys carrying little M-1 carbines are wearing ammo belts designed for the large Garand rifle ammo. Guys carrying Thompson submachine guns are wearing the same. Realism??? Only in Hollywood.
4. At the climax, 50 troops with rifles charge across an open field at a stone farmhouse containing three German machine guns. The machine guns blaze away, and only a few troops fall! Realism?? This charge would have been suicide, with all killed! The lone American machine gun (blazing away from a stone wall 200 yard away to "support" the charge) would have killed more Americans than Germans. What would they have really done in this scenario? They would have surrounded the farmhouse, pinned down the occupants, and then called for support. (Either air or armor.)
5. Fifty men are sent inland on a mission, and nobody has a radio? Since their landing was uncontested, they clearly didn't leave it with the dead in the surf. Geez, . . . I guess they just plain forgot to bring one!!!
When I see a movie like this, I just don't know what to think. The only people who would categorize this movie as realistic would be "Artsie" folks, who seem to know nothing about combat, firearms, or the military, and who seem to totally confuse the concept of "small-talk dialogue among privates" with realism. I am sorry, but they are not the same thing.
I am totally and utterly dumbfounded by the comments that say that this is a "realistic" war movie. I agree that it is very "different" (not much combat action, lots of small talk, off screen combat, on screen tension), but to say that the move is realistic is ridiculous. I could write forever about the unrealism, but here are just a few items.
1. The lieutenant gets killed at the outset, so command passes down to three battle-hardened combat sergeants,. . . who then spend the rest of the movie crying, confused, unable to lead, unable to read maps, uncertain what to do, uncertain how to command, and having existential anxiety. Indeed, this appears to be the fundamental theme of the entire movie! (They should rename it "The Crying Sergeants"). I've got big news for you. Combat platoons are run and commanded by the sergeants. They are the most competent men and leaders in combat. Young officers, on the other hand, such as lieutenants, are typically hapless and routinely get men killed by not knowing how to command. The mission in this movie (march 6 miles inland down a farm road and destroy a farm house marked on a map) would be business as usual for any combat sergeant. These guys acted like it was the Manhattan Project!!!
2. In the middle of the movie, in a combat situation, a sergeant issues a direct order to a private to deliver a message to another soldier. The private replies, "Go tell him yourself!" Realism??? You've got to be kidding me!! Do you have any idea what would have happened both then (and now) if a soldier said this to a sergeant in combat?? It would start off with a really good beating, and end in the soldier having to walk point (suicide) for the rest of the mission.
3. Each and every soldier has the exact battle dress on, including carry bags and ammo belts, regardless of rank or weapons. Guys carrying little M-1 carbines are wearing ammo belts designed for the large Garand rifle ammo. Guys carrying Thompson submachine guns are wearing the same. Realism??? Only in Hollywood.
4. At the climax, 50 troops with rifles charge across an open field at a stone farmhouse containing three German machine guns. The machine guns blaze away, and only a few troops fall! Realism?? This charge would have been suicide, with all killed! The lone American machine gun (blazing away from a stone wall 200 yard away to "support" the charge) would have killed more Americans than Germans. What would they have really done in this scenario? They would have surrounded the farmhouse, pinned down the occupants, and then called for support. (Either air or armor.)
5. Fifty men are sent inland on a mission, and nobody has a radio? Since their landing was uncontested, they clearly didn't leave it with the dead in the surf. Geez, . . . I guess they just plain forgot to bring one!!!
When I see a movie like this, I just don't know what to think. The only people who would categorize this movie as realistic would be "Artsie" folks, who seem to know nothing about combat, firearms, or the military, and who seem to totally confuse the concept of "small-talk dialogue among privates" with realism. I am sorry, but they are not the same thing.
A landmark, one-of-a-kind war film.
Dragoon17313 September 2003
One of the best war movies ever made, directed by Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front), this movie is distinguished by its depiction of war from the soldier's individual point of view. Unlike most war movies, this is infantry combat as seen through the eyes of several members of a platoon as it walks through the Italian countryside in 1943 on its way to seize a German observation post. In all the action sequences, you never see anything that the individual soldier (German, Italian or American) depicted on the screen doesn't see. You only see what is happening around him as he sees it. I've seen them all, and no other director ever approached war filming this way. And I can tell you personally that this is the way it was in combat. The only errors in the entire movie involved grenades: you don't blow bridges with them and you don't pull their pins with your teeth--that's the best way I know of pulling out a tooth w/o a dentist's helping hand. A landmark movie made during the war and only released after the war ended in 1945 because of the final scenes. Matched only by William Wellman's "A Story of GI Joe," this is the best film on infantry combat produced from World War II. Yes, yes, I've seen "Saving Private Ryan." Except for the shock of the first 20 minutes, it's Steven Spielberg's three-star remembrance of his boyhood comic book war stories.
A Talk in the Sun
j-lacerra22 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I just bought this on a bargain rack, due to the stellar cast that was listed on the jacket. Unfortunately, the movie never really seems to take off. The incessant dialog between the characters would be acceptable if it were in any way compelling, but it is not. Mostly small talk and whimsy. It is understandable that guys involved in a war talk about just about anything else while pursuing it. But there is virtually no action here to balance the chatter. We hear some action and even see some smoke, but are detached from it. Must have been a very small budget.
The final scene, in which a farmhouse is assaulted, the men talk up an intricate plan, which oddly results in a clumsy frontal assault of the type they had been professing they would avoid.
Perhaps realistic and definitely well-acted, 'Walk' none the less fails to excite.
The final scene, in which a farmhouse is assaulted, the men talk up an intricate plan, which oddly results in a clumsy frontal assault of the type they had been professing they would avoid.
Perhaps realistic and definitely well-acted, 'Walk' none the less fails to excite.
War and Anxiety
telegonus16 August 2002
Nicely crafted World War II movie about the Salerno landings, and one infantry division in particular, as it moves inland to capture a farmhouse. Lewis Milestone directed this one with a real feeling for light and sun; and the Robert Rossen script, though it gets awfully poetic at times, and arguably pretentious, gets the job done. There is a song sung over the credits and at the end that suggests the Popular Front of the late thirties, which this movie in many ways evokes.
One's response to this movie will probably depend on one's tolerance for artifice. This is a very ambitious movie, almost an "art" movie, and it was sold by it studio, 20th Century-Fox, to a smaller distributor shortly after its release. This is a decidedly leftish takes on the war, with anxiety-driven soldiers muttering the same phrases over and over, the way small children sing song to help them sleep when they're afraid of the dark.
I like this one. It's ambitious and poetic and at times absurd, but it deals with fear in a realistic way that must have made it seem almost unpatriotic at the time of its release. The characters aren't drawn with any great depth, but they seldom are in war movies. Milestone strove for effects in this one, and achieved them, and some people didn't like what he did, among them James Agee. I say "tough". It took guts to make this, and while its aesthetic is at times questionable, even hokey, I find the intentions at all times admirable.
One's response to this movie will probably depend on one's tolerance for artifice. This is a very ambitious movie, almost an "art" movie, and it was sold by it studio, 20th Century-Fox, to a smaller distributor shortly after its release. This is a decidedly leftish takes on the war, with anxiety-driven soldiers muttering the same phrases over and over, the way small children sing song to help them sleep when they're afraid of the dark.
I like this one. It's ambitious and poetic and at times absurd, but it deals with fear in a realistic way that must have made it seem almost unpatriotic at the time of its release. The characters aren't drawn with any great depth, but they seldom are in war movies. Milestone strove for effects in this one, and achieved them, and some people didn't like what he did, among them James Agee. I say "tough". It took guts to make this, and while its aesthetic is at times questionable, even hokey, I find the intentions at all times admirable.
An extraordinary war movie, distinguished for its special use of language.
nordolor24 August 2006
When this picture came out in 1945 I was stationed at England General Hospital in Atlantic City. My wife and I found a baby-sitter for our one-year-old son and went to see this movie. Atlantic City at that time was a military town, and most of the soldiers were patients at EGH -- most of them amputees. Run-of-the-mill war movies were occasions for hoots and catcalls from the soldier audience. The audience the night we saw A Walk in the Sun sat spellbound and silent.
I have always wanted to see the film again to see if it is as good as I thought at the time. Last night my wife and I watched it again on DVD. I was puzzled at first. Then I realized that the soldiers in the film did not talk like soldiers (no four-letter words); also they were speaking their lines in blank verse. Unlike most movies of that vintage it withstands the test of time. If it is not a four-star movie, there is no such thing!
I have always wanted to see the film again to see if it is as good as I thought at the time. Last night my wife and I watched it again on DVD. I was puzzled at first. Then I realized that the soldiers in the film did not talk like soldiers (no four-letter words); also they were speaking their lines in blank verse. Unlike most movies of that vintage it withstands the test of time. If it is not a four-star movie, there is no such thing!
Entertaining WW2 drama
grantss9 February 2024
September 1943. The Allied invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno has begun. A platoon of US infantrymen is tasked with taking a farmhouse and blowing a bridge several kilometres inland. After several setbacks they set off for their objective, facing an enemy of unknown strength and location.
A fairly entertaining war drama. Reasonably gritty as we see the reality of war: danger, hidden foes, death and the randomness of it and the mental strain on the soldiers. The tactics seem quite realistic too. Hardly a gung ho war film even though it was probably made while the war was still on, so has a propaganda element to it.
Not perfect though. While the banter between the men helps the engagement and makes them more human, it can be a bit irritating after a while. Even more irritating was the songs jammed into the film, all with clumsy lyrics written to fit the scenario.
Overall, worth watching.
A fairly entertaining war drama. Reasonably gritty as we see the reality of war: danger, hidden foes, death and the randomness of it and the mental strain on the soldiers. The tactics seem quite realistic too. Hardly a gung ho war film even though it was probably made while the war was still on, so has a propaganda element to it.
Not perfect though. While the banter between the men helps the engagement and makes them more human, it can be a bit irritating after a while. Even more irritating was the songs jammed into the film, all with clumsy lyrics written to fit the scenario.
Overall, worth watching.
Another Job to be Done
KingCoody26 December 2004
A Walk in the Sun -despite some please the folks at home inaccuracies that has been spoken of earlier: pulling grenade pins with teeth(irks me every time)and the grenades destroying a bridge (well it could've of been just planks across a stream not the Golden Gate) the theme song,the movie tells of fear,monotony,cynicism(Norman Lloyds'point man feels this thing is gonna last forever with or without him) and the terror-heroics of combat very well. Far superior to Guadacanal Diary and the war as cartoon films of that period and after, ,and like the similar The Story of GI Joe set in Italy the forgotten front a story of a job to be done. The platoon takes losses in the final assault on the farmhouse how many fatal or seriously wounded is unknown and neither is the fate of the platoon answered no relieving task force comes up at the climax. There will be other farmhouses,other streams to cross, another hill to take and hold for the poor slob infantry. No remake is needed, no Spielbergian string section pulling at the heart, no CGI effects needed to convey the havoc, A Walk In the Sun says with dignity and respect that a job had to be done and this is a story of some of the workers in the mill.
Except for the Music, A FIne War Film - A Walk in the Sun
arthur_tafero19 August 2023
A Walk in the Sun is an excellent war movie. However, it has probably the worst music for a war film in the history of cinema. The outrageously amateurish and corny songs that plague the film from beginning to end almost detract from the fine performances and cinematography. The performances of Dana Andres and Lloyd Bridges are very believable, as is the inane dialog and tedium that normally took place between short and violent encounters. It has the look and feel of a real WW 2 film since it was made during the era. Many modern war films are just not capable of capturing the WW 2 world of fighting men (with the exception of Saving Private Ryan). Don't miss this one, and save your kitchen visits when the dreaded songs begin.
If words were ammunition these guys would never run out.
The Bronson Fan4 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
An American platoon lands on the beaches on Salerno Italy and are tasked with taking a farmhouse farther inland. The movie begins in the dark early hours, in landing craft headed for the Italian coast, dialogue ensues. The platoon's Lt, is injured and eventually dies, leaving a number of sergeants to lead the platoon to the objective. More dialogue follows. Eventually they hit the beaches uncontested and dig so they can talk about nothing. In one of the few action scenes of the film, a medic (Holloway) is killed by a strafing plane, and more talk follows. They move inland all while talking and come across some deserting Italian soldiers. The token Italian American is able to speak to them and they get some info about the area. After more long winded chat of no importance, they get ready to hit a German half track. One of the sergeants basically wets his pants, cries, and can't fight. They blow up the half track and move on to the all important farmhouse. After much talk, they attempt to hit it, and they fail. They come up with a foolhardy plan to take the place. With much less casualties then would have actually happened, they manage to take the house and talk some more.
I have to say this is one of the most disappointing "war films" I have ever scene. I'm amazed with a cast like this the film came out so poorly, in virtually every aspect. Lloyd Bridges seems to stand out by far and even his character is a bore. The real problem with the film is there is too much needless boring dialogue. Everyone knows to have a good film you need a good script and dialogue, the problem is that almost all of it is pointless. They attempted to show you what the average Joe would be talking about while he's out on patrol. But it becomes tedious and extremely boring, with dialogue if you're not outright laughing at for being so poor, you may just be fast forwarding. For instances some have said how "real" the dialogue is. Yet, near the end, they have just lost some men, are under fire and don't know how their going to take the farmhouse. So with no real emotion the one guy starts up a conversation about how a leaf off the ground is more complex than the human body. If it sounds stupid, it is. His first thoughts would be is he going to see his family again or live to see another day. Other ones are equally as silly, about dirt, apples, and how one man wants to be hit man after the war. The only scene that was good was when they talk to the Italians to get some information. It comes off well. But I haven't mentioned characters, because they are ones that no one could care about. I couldn't even give you a name. Although you really never see them, you will probably be begging for the Germans to attack just so something happens in the film. The song that is played periodically during the film is awful, but I can excuse this for it is not the tastes of my era.
Those above aren't the only situations that are impractical. The officer is killed yet among at least 3 sergeants they have no idea what their doing. No one seems to carry a radio. When friends die, rather then stripping them of at least their ammo or weapon, they leave them there with a loaded Garand shoved in the ground. Same with the medic, he's killed and they don't take his supplies. And of course let's not forget the non climatic ending. Not only do they poorly plan the attack, but they are suppose to have cover from a machine gunner who does nothing but brag, yet he cant hit the broad side of a barn, or a farm house in this case. In reality virtually all of those men would be back in WWI, slaughtered from machine gun fire. If you wanted reality poor planning actually may be kosher to the green US military of the time, so maybe the movie is correct in that case.
I know what people will say, go watch Private Ryan (overrated) or something with big special effects. No actually I don't need all that. Most of the greatest war films, among others were from years back, from black and white to color, with little or lots of violence, bad effects to great effects and with varying dialogue. This is just a poor war film. Guadalcanal Diary was made before this and is far superior on all levels. Among other greats about WW II, Attack!, The Longest Day, The Train, The Dirty Dozen, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Great Escape, and depending on how modern you want to be, Downfall. There are too many to name. I'm sure this holds a special place for some, but overall it is poorly done and should be avoided by most, unless a die hard WW II buff. 1 and half out of 10 stars.
I have to say this is one of the most disappointing "war films" I have ever scene. I'm amazed with a cast like this the film came out so poorly, in virtually every aspect. Lloyd Bridges seems to stand out by far and even his character is a bore. The real problem with the film is there is too much needless boring dialogue. Everyone knows to have a good film you need a good script and dialogue, the problem is that almost all of it is pointless. They attempted to show you what the average Joe would be talking about while he's out on patrol. But it becomes tedious and extremely boring, with dialogue if you're not outright laughing at for being so poor, you may just be fast forwarding. For instances some have said how "real" the dialogue is. Yet, near the end, they have just lost some men, are under fire and don't know how their going to take the farmhouse. So with no real emotion the one guy starts up a conversation about how a leaf off the ground is more complex than the human body. If it sounds stupid, it is. His first thoughts would be is he going to see his family again or live to see another day. Other ones are equally as silly, about dirt, apples, and how one man wants to be hit man after the war. The only scene that was good was when they talk to the Italians to get some information. It comes off well. But I haven't mentioned characters, because they are ones that no one could care about. I couldn't even give you a name. Although you really never see them, you will probably be begging for the Germans to attack just so something happens in the film. The song that is played periodically during the film is awful, but I can excuse this for it is not the tastes of my era.
Those above aren't the only situations that are impractical. The officer is killed yet among at least 3 sergeants they have no idea what their doing. No one seems to carry a radio. When friends die, rather then stripping them of at least their ammo or weapon, they leave them there with a loaded Garand shoved in the ground. Same with the medic, he's killed and they don't take his supplies. And of course let's not forget the non climatic ending. Not only do they poorly plan the attack, but they are suppose to have cover from a machine gunner who does nothing but brag, yet he cant hit the broad side of a barn, or a farm house in this case. In reality virtually all of those men would be back in WWI, slaughtered from machine gun fire. If you wanted reality poor planning actually may be kosher to the green US military of the time, so maybe the movie is correct in that case.
I know what people will say, go watch Private Ryan (overrated) or something with big special effects. No actually I don't need all that. Most of the greatest war films, among others were from years back, from black and white to color, with little or lots of violence, bad effects to great effects and with varying dialogue. This is just a poor war film. Guadalcanal Diary was made before this and is far superior on all levels. Among other greats about WW II, Attack!, The Longest Day, The Train, The Dirty Dozen, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Great Escape, and depending on how modern you want to be, Downfall. There are too many to name. I'm sure this holds a special place for some, but overall it is poorly done and should be avoided by most, unless a die hard WW II buff. 1 and half out of 10 stars.
One of the best WWII films
olszewsk25 April 2005
I first saw "A Walk in the Sun" as a child. It was one of the first VHS recordings I bought, and I also have a DVD copy. I have always regarded it as one of the most authentic depictions of small-unit actions of the period. The cast is excellent, and - although the language is toned down compared to post-1960s films, as with Richard Conte's character using the expletive "loving" where a more recent film would use a cruder synonym - one has the sense of being there with the group of GIs, with the same constricted vision of what is happening. This is not a grand epic. It is not the more modern grittier down-and-dirty story; but it is as close to what happened to the platoon depicted as a 1945 movie could get. It does not glamorize the war; but neither does it hyperbolize visually or verbally to denigrate the conflict. Critics, I am sure, would say many better films have been made since. I am not so certain of that. I am certain that this is one of my favorite films.
A highly thought of World War II drama about a United States Infantry platoon
jacobs-greenwood11 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Already revered for making the seminal anti-war (World War I) film and the third Academy Award Best Picture winner All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), producer-director Lewis Milestone selected Harry Brown's novel (and screenwriter Robert Rossen) to make this highly thought of WW II drama which tells a story about the Lee platoon of the Texas Division (United States Infantry) that came ashore at an Italian beach near Salerno in 1943. Earl Robinson wrote a song and Millard Lampell provided the lyrics that are hauntingly and soulfully sung by Kenneth Spencer, comprising most of Freddie Rich's background score and filling in the details behind what was more than "just a little walk in the sun", to become an anthem for foot soldiers then and now.
The credits open with narration from an uncredited actor, Burgess Meredith, who ironically would go on to play real life war correspondent Ernie Pyle in a documentary style drama that similarly chronicles the lives of infantry soldiers (during the same war) titled Story of G.I. Joe (1945), the film which earned Robert Mitchum his only Academy Award nomination. After introducing the major characters, Meredith's voice-over is supplanted by the title song:
It was just a little walk In the warm Italian sun But it was not an easy thing And poets are writing The tale of that fight And songs for the children to sing
The music continues while the film opens with a night scene of the soldiers in their landing craft still a few miles offshore:
Let them sing of the men of the fighting platoon Let them sing of the job they done How they came across the sea to sunny Italy And took a little walk in the sun They took a little walk in the sun.
Almost from the start, it's apparent that the movie will not be like others from its genre, which are typically dominated by action sequences. Instead, A Walk in the Sun (1945) is a dialogue dominated picture that features at least ten character sketches which provide insight into the (kind of) men that fought in the (Texas division of the) infantry:
Rivera and Friedman, Tyne and Porter, A Texan from Jersey, and one from Dakota A Texan from out near Duluth, Minnesota Kansas, Maine and Tennessee, Lord God, They're all in the Texas Infantry They're all in the Texas Infantry
When the characters fall silent, the song and its lyrics fill in the blanks; the singer's voice plaintively wails while cinematographer Russell Harlan pans the line of dug in soldiers:
It's a long long time a man spends a waiting' waiting around in a war I think of a gal I've never seen The hair is black and her eyes are green Her name is Helen or maybe Irene It's a long long time for waiting I think of all the things I haven't done or love the women I haven't won It seems like my life ain't really begun It's a long long time a waiting'
Important details of their mission is initially revealed via this background music:
This is the story of one little job One day from dawn until noon Just one battle more in a long long war And the men of a single platoon It was 53 men started out that day Along the Italian shore And some of those were mighty good joes Who never see the sunrise anymore, poor boys They'll never see the sunrise anymore
When the task is complete and the day has been won, the song repeats its opening and concludes with these telltale words:
It's the walk that leads down through a Philippine town And it hits Highway seven, north of Rome; It's the same road they had coming out of Stalingrad It's the old Lincoln Highway back home It's where ever men fight to be free.
It stars Dana Andrews as Sergeant Tyne, who ultimately leads the frontal assault on a farmhouse that's a German stronghold after directing the destruction of a strategic bridge (the sergeants play a more prominent role because the platoon's lieutenant was mortally wounded before they even reached the beach); Richard Conte plays the machine gunner, Private Rivera; George Tyne plays Private Friedman; John Ireland plays a minister's son & Pvt. that verbally and somewhat poetically "writes" letters to his sister; Lloyd Bridges plays a former MN farmer, Sgt. Ward; Sterling Holloway plays the medic McWilliams; Norman Lloyd plays Pvt. Archimbeau, who always draws the toughest assignments; Herbert Rudley is initially second in command as Sgt. Porter, but gives way to Sgt. Tyne when he can't handle the pressure; Richard Benedict plays a New Yorker who speaks two languages, Brooklyn and Italian; Huntz Hall, George Offerman Jr. and Steve Brodie are among the many others.
The credits open with narration from an uncredited actor, Burgess Meredith, who ironically would go on to play real life war correspondent Ernie Pyle in a documentary style drama that similarly chronicles the lives of infantry soldiers (during the same war) titled Story of G.I. Joe (1945), the film which earned Robert Mitchum his only Academy Award nomination. After introducing the major characters, Meredith's voice-over is supplanted by the title song:
It was just a little walk In the warm Italian sun But it was not an easy thing And poets are writing The tale of that fight And songs for the children to sing
The music continues while the film opens with a night scene of the soldiers in their landing craft still a few miles offshore:
Let them sing of the men of the fighting platoon Let them sing of the job they done How they came across the sea to sunny Italy And took a little walk in the sun They took a little walk in the sun.
Almost from the start, it's apparent that the movie will not be like others from its genre, which are typically dominated by action sequences. Instead, A Walk in the Sun (1945) is a dialogue dominated picture that features at least ten character sketches which provide insight into the (kind of) men that fought in the (Texas division of the) infantry:
Rivera and Friedman, Tyne and Porter, A Texan from Jersey, and one from Dakota A Texan from out near Duluth, Minnesota Kansas, Maine and Tennessee, Lord God, They're all in the Texas Infantry They're all in the Texas Infantry
When the characters fall silent, the song and its lyrics fill in the blanks; the singer's voice plaintively wails while cinematographer Russell Harlan pans the line of dug in soldiers:
It's a long long time a man spends a waiting' waiting around in a war I think of a gal I've never seen The hair is black and her eyes are green Her name is Helen or maybe Irene It's a long long time for waiting I think of all the things I haven't done or love the women I haven't won It seems like my life ain't really begun It's a long long time a waiting'
Important details of their mission is initially revealed via this background music:
This is the story of one little job One day from dawn until noon Just one battle more in a long long war And the men of a single platoon It was 53 men started out that day Along the Italian shore And some of those were mighty good joes Who never see the sunrise anymore, poor boys They'll never see the sunrise anymore
When the task is complete and the day has been won, the song repeats its opening and concludes with these telltale words:
It's the walk that leads down through a Philippine town And it hits Highway seven, north of Rome; It's the same road they had coming out of Stalingrad It's the old Lincoln Highway back home It's where ever men fight to be free.
It stars Dana Andrews as Sergeant Tyne, who ultimately leads the frontal assault on a farmhouse that's a German stronghold after directing the destruction of a strategic bridge (the sergeants play a more prominent role because the platoon's lieutenant was mortally wounded before they even reached the beach); Richard Conte plays the machine gunner, Private Rivera; George Tyne plays Private Friedman; John Ireland plays a minister's son & Pvt. that verbally and somewhat poetically "writes" letters to his sister; Lloyd Bridges plays a former MN farmer, Sgt. Ward; Sterling Holloway plays the medic McWilliams; Norman Lloyd plays Pvt. Archimbeau, who always draws the toughest assignments; Herbert Rudley is initially second in command as Sgt. Porter, but gives way to Sgt. Tyne when he can't handle the pressure; Richard Benedict plays a New Yorker who speaks two languages, Brooklyn and Italian; Huntz Hall, George Offerman Jr. and Steve Brodie are among the many others.
A Walk in the sun
bobabaya28 June 2007
I am a sucker for WWII movies, especially when it includes Dana Andrews. So when I read the plot of "A walk in the sun", I was quite enthusiastic. Well, I must say how disappointed I was. First of all, the quality of the film was poor (for broadcasting). I saw it on TCM, normally a champion of film restoration. In addition, the dialog was boring. Attempts to create empathy for the characters fell woefully short. There was no depth in conversations, and it went on forever! The one bright spot was seeing such wonderful actors: Lloyd Bridges, John Ireland, Richard Conte, Sterling Holloway, and the aforementioned Dana Andrews. I would recommend a pass on this one.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
