A Walk in the Sun stars Dana Andrews as Sgt. Tyne, one of the officers leading an attack on a farmhouse in the Italian countryside which functions as a German stronghold. When the ranking officers are killed soon after the platoon lands on the beach, Tyne must take over. He leads his men along an ill-defined road toward the farmhouse while the company is periodically strafed. As they walk, each character has his own preoccupations: Windy (John Ireland) writes mental letters to his sister, Rankin (Chris Drake) talks lovingly about his "baby," his submachine gun. But there is one phrase all share: "Nobody dies." As they approach the farmhouse, Sgt. Ward (Lloyd Bridges) takes a scout patrol across the field with fatal results for two of his men. After he blows the only bridge to the farm, the rest of the platoon moves in for the final assault.
Directed by
Lewis Milestone
Written by
Harry Brown (novel); Robert Rossen (screenplay).
Starring
Dana Andrews (Sgt. Bill Tyne); Richard Conte (Pvt. Rivera); George Tyne (Pvt. Jake Friedman); John Ireland (Pvt. Windy Craven); Lloyd Bridges (Sgt. Ward); Sterling Holloway (McWilliams); Norman Lloyd (Pvt. Archimbeau); Herbert Rudley (Sgt. Eddie Porter); Richard Benedict (Pvt. Tranella); Huntz Hall (Pvt. Carraway); James Cardwell (Sgt. Hoskins); George Offerman Jr. (Pvt. Tinker); Steve Brodie (Pvt. Judson); Matt Willis (Sgt. Pete Halverson); Chris Drake (Rankin). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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An Original Take on WWII
Mark Banks (United Kingdom)
Opinion: Recommended
Many reviews and synopsis for A Walk in the Sun describe the film as having a more realistic approach to life in WWII. How realistic its approach is I cannot vouch for, but considering that much of the film is taken up by dialogue, travelling and waiting, I would naturally assume that its approach is more accurate than those films that focus their entire efforts on the bigger battles and encounters of the war - which by reason alone can only have taken up a fraction of the soldiers' time. In terms of realism and re-creating the fear of war for the viewer A Walk in the Sun isn't much of a touch on Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, but then that film did focus on one of, if not the, greatest battlefield atrocities of the campaign. Instead A Walk in the Sun recreates to great effect the camaraderie and emotional (and psychological) ups and downs that the soldiers experience throughout their assignment. That the film (albeit in black and white) is set in the Italian countryside is also a welcome variation on the majority of WWII films. The one downside of the film, in stark contrast to Lewis Milestone's earlier picture All Quiet on the Western Front, is that the true tragedy of war and loss of life that results, is not conveyed with nearly as much strength - perhaps due to the climate of the time with the year of production being 1945 and a propaganda war still to fight. All in all A Walk in the Sun is worth watching, features some good acting and offers a welcome break from the all-out fighting and action scenes of the majority of war films that have been produced.
