A Walk in the Sun

Plot

Harry Brown's honest, unsentimental WW2 novel A Walk in the Sun has been effectively adapted for the screen by Robert Rossen. Dana Andrews stars as Sgt. Tyne, a platoon squad leader in Italy who ends up assuming command of his platoon after a series of deaths. As they prepare to attack an isolated Nazi-held farmhouse, each of the infantymen reveals his true character as he dwells upon his background and contemplates the job at hand. The film's effectiveness lies in the non-cliched characterizations by a carefully chosen all-male cast. Huntz Hall of "East Side Kids" fame is particularly good in a scene wherein he argues over whether the human body or the leaf is the most complicated natural structure. Director Lewis Milestone's use of a ballad to link the action predates High Noon by some seven years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Review

Lewis Milestone's solid, low-key war film manages to avoid the flag-waving clichés of most WWII pictures, as it concentrates on the thoughts of the members of an infantry platoon as they undertake an assault on a German-held farmhouse outside Salerno. Robert Rossen's script is less dramatic than novelistic in its effect, as the voice-over narration allows the characters to express the fear of death, boredom, cynicism, and even their rapport with their weapons, in a way that's rare in a combat film. Emphasizing the isolation of the group of G.I.s united only by their common mission, the closest the film comes to gung-ho sentiment is their quietly repeated pet phrase, "Nobody dies." In the equanimity with which the soldiers advance on the farmhouse, Milestone underlines the many battles these veterans have yet survived, and the peace that even the most frightened have made with death. Dana Andrews projects quiet authority in a film that is more than most an ensemble piece, leading a cast that includes John Ireland, Lloyd Bridges, Richard Conte, and surprisingly good Huntz Hall. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Cast

• Dana Andrews - Sgt. Tyne
• Richard Conte - Rivera
• John Ireland - Windy
• George Tyne - Friedman
• Norman Lloyd - Archimbeau
• Lloyd Bridges - Sgt. Ward
• Sterling Holloway - McWilliams

Huntz Hall - Carraway; Herbert Rudley - Sgt. Porter; Richard Benedict - Tranella; James B. Cardwell - Sgt. Hoskins; Chris Drake - Rankin; George Offerman - Tinker; Danny Desmond - Trasker; Victor Cutler - Cousin; Steve Brodie - Judson; Alvin Hammer - Johnson; Matt Willis - Sergeant Halverson; Robert Lowell - Lieutenant Rand; Tony Dante - Giorgio; Harry Cline - Cpl. Kramer; Dick Daniels - Long; John Kellogg - Riddle; Grant Maiben - Smith; Jay Norris - James; Malcolm O'Giuinn - Phelps; Don Summers - Dugan; George Turner - Reconnaissance; Ted Offenbecker - Tinker

Credit

Lewis Milestone - Director, Duncan Mansfield - Editor, Freddie Rich - Composer (Music Score), Millard Lampell - Songwriter, Earl Robinson - Songwriter, Russell Harlan - Cinematographer, Lewis Milestone - Producer, Robert Rossen - Screenwriter, Harry Brown - Book Author

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