A Walk in the Sun
Sgt. Tyne (Dana Andrews) becomes the leader of the platoon after their lieutenant is killed in battle near Salerno. Reluctantly, he guides his men through combat, incurring heavy losses as they see action unlike anything they've ever known before. The one stumbling block on their march to Rome is a farmhouse where Germans have holed up to mount a defense. As the platoon repels the enemy in brutal skirmishes, the men form a bond between battles that is summed up by their repeated motivational phrase: "Nobody dies." This riveting war drama is considered by many to be the best World War II movie ever made. Director Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) delivers an unsentimental, funny, first rate character study framed in action and filled with tense reflection and hard fought conclusions, culminating in the blood-curdling final assault on the German held farmhouse. Unflinching and honest, this is compelling war drama with realistic dialogue and marvelous acting from Andrews and cast. Based on a novel by Harry Brown.
Member Reviews
A Walk In The Sun - Trev1
This is an earnest attempt to de-glamourize war, which makes it stand out from the crowd of John Wayne action hero films Hollywood churned out in the late forties and fifties. Using a strong ensemble cast the script attempts to portray a realistic "day-in-the-life" of a single platoon fighting in Italy. For these soldiers the war has become a never ending succession of missions with no clear purpose or direction. Loyalty to the platoon and to each other is their only motivation. Their philosophy and attitude would be right at home in "The Thin Red Line" or "Saving Pvt Ryan", in fact both films, and the earlier classic "The Big Red One" owe much to this one. Considering the political and social environment when it was released, 1946, it's anti-hero sentiment is all the more remarkable.
But courageous sentiment doesn't necessarily make for a good movie, and unfortunately this one has some serious flaws. First the script indulges in too many soliloqy scenes that bog down the film's pace. Secondly the score, even by the standards of the day, is absurdly over-the-top and clashes with the down-played tone of the actors. Third, either the DVD transfer was botched or the original cinematography was poor. The first quarter of the film is so dark it's all but impossible to make out what is going on. On the plus side, some lesser Hollywood lights get a chance to put in very convincing performances. Dana Andrews and Lloyd Bridges work well with the stiff script but the stand-out is Richard Conte as a wise-cracking chain-smoking machine gunner. Here Conte creates a character that went on to become a staple of practically every war movie ever made, and he single-handedly gives this film it's dynamic range.
Definitely not a masterpiece but as an interesting example of the darker (literally) take on the war-movie genre it's worth checking out.
Trev
Member Reviews
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A Walk In The Sun - Trev1
This is an earnest attempt to de-glamourize war, which makes it stand out from the crowd of John Wayne action hero films Hollywood churned out in the late forties and fifties. Using a strong ensemble cast the script attempts to portray a realistic "day-in-the-life" ...