A Walk in the Sun

1945 "THEY FOUGHT BEST WHEN IT WAS HOPELESS!"
6.9| 1h57m| NR| en
Details

In the 1943 invasion of Italy, one American platoon lands, digs in, then makes its way inland to attempt to take a fortified farmhouse, as tension and casualties mount.

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GamerTab That was an excellent one.
JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Prismark10 A Walk in the Sun lacks intensity of Lewis Milestone's masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front. In fact there is too much jaw jaw as the platoon soldiers chat among each other while walking.A platoon lands in Italy with the object to take a Nazi held farmhouse, their lieutenant is injured and it is up to the platoon's sergeants to lead them further and achieve their aims.This is an unsentimental look at the life of the infantrymen, we get to learn about their background and what makes them tick. The trouble is it's all a bit dull. The film has a solid cast but I felt they could had done with more snappier and profound dialogue.
JohnHowardReid Produced and directed by Lewis Milestone with loads of money secretly provided by Samuel Bronston (and now available on a mysterious but excellent DVD with no manufacturer credit whatever), A Walk in the Sun seems less realistic today than when first released back in 1945. It is too glib. True, a big effort has been made to portray all the miniature details of this spectacular raid on a remote but well-armed Italian farm house that stands in the way of an allied advance, but that is just the problem. Too much is crowded into the script, and the players, by and large, don't come across as real infantrymen, but as actors vigorously playing at real infantrymen. True there are exceptions and one of them fortunately is Dana (pronounced "Deena") Andrews. Another is Lloyd Bridges. And yet another is Huntz Hall – of all people – who plays his brief scene in a surprisingly realistic manner. All told though - and take it from one who served in the army for over 3 years - this movie is not really all that realistic, but it sure puts on a good front!
jacobs-greenwood 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 singThe 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 InfantryWhen 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 anymoreWhen 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.
info-5918 Great War pic. Rather than being a propaganda piece like many moves were that were made during the war, an action movie, or following a formula, Walk in the Sun is main a drama focusing on a small unit, the individuals in that unit, and their objectives.Qutie realistic, it shows the confusion of war, the reality, and soldiers with mixed emotions about the business.The plot mainly focuses on a landing in Italy at Salermo, and one particular mission. The unit loses commanding officers, key personell loses equipment, and encounters difficult objectives. The tension that builds up at times is quite sustained.A realistic, intelligent and quite different war movie, definitely worth having a look at, particularly for 1945.