''A Walk in the Sun'' is a 1945 American

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

based on the novel by Harry Brown, who was a writer for ''

Yank, the Army Weekly ''Yank, the Army Weekly'' was a weekly magazine published by the United States military during World War II. History The idea for the magazine came from Egbert White, who had worked on the newspaper Stars and Stripes during World War I. He ...

'' based in England. The book was serialized in ''

Liberty Magazine Liberty magazine may refer to: * ''Liberty'' (1881–1908), a political magazine published from 1881 to 1908 by Benjamin Tucker * ''Liberty'' (general interest magazine), published from 1924 to 1950 * ''Liberty'' (libertarian magazine), publis ...

'' in October 1944. The film was directed by

Lewis Milestone Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Moldovan-American film director. He is known for directing ''Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and '' All Quiet on the Weste ...

, stars

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts ...

and features

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

George Tyne Martin Yarus (February 6, 1917 – March 7, 2008), better known by the stage name George Tyne, was an American stage and film actor and television director. He was blacklisted in the 1950s, and was indicted for contempt of Congress but subsequen ...

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomin ...

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Ad ...

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...

Herbert Rudley Herbert Rudley (March 22, 1910 – September 9, 2006) was an American character actor who appeared on stage, films and on television. Early life Rudley was born in 1910 in Philadelphia and attended Temple University. He left Temple after winnin ...

and

Richard Benedict Richard "Pepe" Benedict (born Riccardo Benedetto, January 8, 1920 – April 25, 1984) was an Italian-American television and film actor and director. He was born in Palermo, Italy. He appeared in dozens of television programs and movies from ...

, with narration by

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

. In 2016, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

, and selected for preservation in its

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

Plot

In September 1943, the diverse group of fifty-three soldiers comprising a lead Platoon of the Texas Division anxiously await their upcoming

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General (Unit ...

on a beach near

Salerno, Italy Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. A landing barge carries them to their objective during the pre-dawn hours, and the increasing danger of their situation is demonstrated when their young platoon leader, Lieutenant Rand, is wounded by a shell fragment that destroys half of his face.

Platoon Sergeant In many militaries, a platoon sergeant is the senior enlisted member of a platoon, who advises and supports the platoon's commanding officer in leading the unit. Singapore In the Singapore Armed Forces, a platoon sergeant serves as the bridge be ...

Pete Halverson takes over command and orders Sgt. Eddie Porter to lead the men to the beach while he tries to find the company commander and confirm their orders. First aid man McWilliams remains with Rand, and the rest of the men hit the beach and dig in while trying to elude the shelling and machine-gun fire. Sgt. Bill Tyne wonders what they will do if Halverson does not return, and after the sun rises, the sergeants send the men into the woods to protect them from enemy aircraft. Tyne remains on the beach to wait for Halverson, but learns from McWilliams that both Rand and Halverson are dead. Soon after, McWilliams is shot by an enemy airplane when he goes to a bluff to view the aerial attack on the beachhead. Tyne walks to the woods and there discovers that three other men have been hit, including Sgt. Hoskins who was the senior surviving NCO. Hoskins' wound means he cannot continue and Porter as the next senior NCO is forced to take command. Hoskins warns Tyne as he is leaving to keep an eye on Porter because he suspects Porter is going to crack under the pressure of command. Porter, Tyne and Sgt. Ward then lead the men in three squads along a road toward their objective, a bridge that they are to blow up that is near a farmhouse. Porter knows that the six-mile journey will be a dangerous one, and grows agitated. He warns the men to watch out for enemy tanks and aircraft. As they walk, the men shoot the breeze and discuss their likes and dislikes, the nature of war and the food they wish they were eating. Enemy aircraft appear and one of them strafes the platoon as they run for cover in a ditch. Some of the men are killed while one is wounded, Pvt. Smith. Porter grows increasingly agitated. Afterwards Porter is distracted when two retreating Italian soldiers surrender to the platoon and confirm that they are on the right road. The Italians warn them that the area is controlled by German troops, and soon after, the platoon meets a small reconnaissance patrol of American soldiers. After the patrol's motorcycle driver offers to ride to the farmhouse and report back, Porter becomes even more edgy as minutes pass without the driver's return. Finally Tyne tells the men to take a break while he sits with Porter. As machine gunner Rivera and his pal, Jake Friedman, razz each other, Porter begins to break down and tells Ward (also called Farmer) that he is putting Tyne in charge. Porter has a complete breakdown when a German armored car approaches, but Tyne's quick thinking prevails and the men blast the car with grenades and machine-gun fire. The bazooka men, who Tyne had sent ahead to search for tanks, blow up two tanks and another armored car, but expend all of their bazooka ammunition. Tyne leaves a private named Johnson to guard the still-crying Porter, Tyne pushes on, and as the men march, Friedman tells Rivera that he is a travelling salesman who is "selling democracy to the natives." The men finally reach the farmhouse, but when a small patrol attempts to crawl through the field in front of the house, they are shot at by the Germans, and two men are killed. Tyne and Ward are baffled about what to do next when Windy, a calm, introspective soldier suggests circling around the farm via the river and blowing up the bridge without first taking the house. Tyne sends two patrols, headed by Ward and Windy, to accomplish the mission, then orders Rivera to strafe the house while he leads a column of men in an attack on the house, which he hopes will distract the Germans. The remaining men nervously wait for their comrades to reach the bridge, until finally Rivera opens fire and Tyne and his men go over the stone wall and into the field. Tyne's sight blurs as he crawls toward the house, and when he comes across the body of Rankin, one of the fallen men, still cradling his beloved Tommy-gun, the platoon's constant refrain, "Nobody dies," resounds through his head. The bridge is blown up, and despite heavy losses, the platoon captures the house. Then, at exactly noon, Windy, Ward and the remaining men wander through the house as Farmer fulfils his dream of eating an apple and Tyne adds another notch to the butt of Rankin's pet Tommy-gun.

Cast

as Staff Sgt. Bill Tyne *

as Pvt. Rivera *

as Pvt. Jake Friedman *

as PFC. Windy Craven *

as Staff Sgt. Ward *

as Pvt. McWilliams *

as Pvt. Archimbeau *

as Staff Sgt. Eddie Porter *

as Pvt. Tranella *

Huntz Hall Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920 – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular "Dead End Kids" movies, including ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), and in the later " Bowery ...

as Pvt. Carraway * James Cardwell as Sgt. Hoskins * George Offerman Jr. as Pvt. Tinker * Steve Brodie as Pvt. Judson * Matt Willis as Plt. Sgt. Pete Halverson *

Chris Drake Chris Drake (born James Christian Droste, December 11, 1923 – July 9, 2006) was an American actor best known for his co-star role of the 1950s television series ''Sheena, Queen of the Jungle'', in which he co-starred with Irish McCalla. Earl ...

as Pvt. Rankin * Alvin Hammer as Pvt. Johnson * Victor Cutler as Pvt. Cousins * Jay Norris as Pvt. James * John Kellogg as Pvt. Riddle * Danny Desmond as Pvt. Trasker * Robert Horton as Pvt. Jack

Production

Actor

, who eventually narrated the film, persuaded his friend

Samuel Bronston Samuel Bronston (March 26, 1908 – January 12, 1994) was a Bessarabian-born American film producer, film director, and a nephew of socialist revolutionary figure, Leon Trotsky. He was also the petitioner in a U.S. Supreme Court case that set a ...

to produce a film based on the book by Harry Brown. Due to problems with creditors, Bronston had to shut down production and the project was taken over by Superior Productions, which included the director

TC
"Notes"
/ref> Bronston filed a lawsuit, and in an out-of-court settlement received 21.25% of the film's profits. The film was shot at 20th Century Fox's ranch, alongside that studio's production of ''

A Bell for Adano ''A Bell for Adano'' (1945) is a film directed by Henry King and starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney. It was adapted from the 1944 novel of the same title by John Hersey, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1945. In his review of t ...

''. The Army assigned Colonel Thomas D. Drake to the film as

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a ...

. Drake had risen from private to sergeant in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was later commissioned and eventually commanded the 168th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division in the North African campaign, where he and his regiment were captured by the Germans at the Battle of Kasserine Pass. Drake had recently been exchanged as a prisoner by the Germans due to his ill health, returning to the States in 1944. Because of war-time shortages, US vehicles and aircraft stand in as enemy vehicles; most notably an American half-track is painted as a German half-track, and a

P-51 The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

plays the role of an "enemy" aircraft (probably intended to be either a C.205 or

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

). Later,

P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

s (as American aircraft) engage a radial engined "enemy" plane (a

T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air force ...

posing as a

Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' ("Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, t ...

) during the film's climax. In January 1945, Milestone showed the film to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

for their approval. The Army was pleased with the film but requested two changes. They suggested that a remark be placed in the film explaining why the

bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a Man-portable anti-tank systems, man-portable recoilless Anti-tank warfare, anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the ...

was not used during the attack on the farmhouse. Milestone complied with this request by shooting a scene where the bazooka crew reported that they used up all their shells in a battle with enemy

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s. The Army also requested a briefing scene at the film's beginning to explain the platoon's mission. They believed the film gave the impression that the platoon meandered about without an objective. Milestone authorized the shooting of such a scene but whether it was filmed but later edited out of the release no one is sure; however, a brief scene in the

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

has the platoon sergeant explaining to the men, and the audience, that they had been briefed on their mission. Though several film companies showed strong interest in acquiring the film,

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

acquired the film for release in July 1945 so as not to compete with Fox's ''A Bell for Adano'' released earlier. However, when Japan surrendered, Fox's head of production,

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

, stopped production of all war films. The film was released in June 1946 to critical and popular acclaim but also a strong critique of the film from director

Samuel Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and World War II veteran known for directing low-budget B movie, genre movies with controversial themes, often ...

, which he sent in the form of a letter to Milestone.

Robert Rossen Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades. His 1949 film ''All the King's Men'' won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Bes ...

's screenplay follows Brown's book very closely. Milestone also recommended that Brown become a screenwriter in Hollywood, which led to a prolific career.

Soundtrack

Milestone commissioned

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s from

Millard Lampell Millard Lampell (born Milton Lampell, January 23, 1919 – October 3, 1997) was an American movie and television screenwriter who first became publicly known as a member of the Almanac Singers in the 1940s. Early life and career Lampell was bor ...

and

Earl Robinson Earl Hawley Robinson (July 2, 1910 – July 20, 1991) was a composer, arranger and folk music singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is remembered for his music, including the cantata "Ballad for Americans" and songs such as " Jo ...

to accompany the action at intervals throughout the film. The songs, which were sung by Kenneth Spencer, replaced much of composer

Freddie Rich Frederic Efrem Rich (January 31, 1898 – September 8, 1956) was a Polish-born American bandleader and composer who was active from the 1920s to the 1950s. Among the musicians in his band were the Dorsey Brothers, Joe Venuti, Bunny Berigan, and ...

's original instrumental score. The ballad in ''A Walk in the Sun'' predates the ballad in ''

High Noon ''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in real time, centers on a town marshal whose sense of ...

'', which also accompanied the film's narrative. Robinson and Lampell wrote other ballads that were deleted from the final print of the film due to objections, not only from composer Rich, but due to the comments of several preview audiences, who did not like the songs. Songs composed for the film include - * ''Ballad of the Lead Platoon'' * ''Texas Division'' * ''Waiting'' * ''One Little Job '' * ''The Platoon Started Out'' * ''Six-Mile Walk'' * ''Trouble A-Coming'' * ''Texas Division Blues'' * ''They Met Hitler's Best'' * '' Moving In'' * "

Black and White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

" * ''Walk in the Sun'' Traditional music * ''

The Army Goes Rolling Along "The Army Goes Rolling Along" is the official song of the United States ArmyArmy Regulation 220-90

'' by

Edmund L. Gruber Edmund Louis "Snitz" Gruber (November 11, 1879 – May 30, 1941) was an artillery officer and general in the United States Army who also gained popularity as composer of military music. He served as Commandant of the Command and General Staff Co ...

Re-release

''A Walk in the Sun'' was reissued by

Realart Pictures Realart Pictures was a motion picture distribution company founded in 1948 by Jack Broder and Joseph Harris. The company specialized in reissues of older pictures, particularly from the library of Universal Pictures, but also handled an occasion ...

in 1951 as ''Salerno Beachhead''. In the 1980s the film was released on VHS tape.

Notes

External links

* * * *
''A Walk in the Draft''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walk In The Sun, A 1945 films 1940s war drama films 20th Century Fox films American war drama films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films based on military novels Films directed by Lewis Milestone Films scored by Freddie Rich Films with screenplays by Robert Rossen Italian Campaign of World War II films World War II films based on actual events World War II films made in wartime United States National Film Registry films 1945 drama films