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William Wellman's film was based on the newspaper columns of war correspondent Ernie Pyle (played by Burgess Meredith), and through him we get to know a small group of ordinary infantrymen as he follows them from North Africa into Italy. They're led by Captain Bill Walker (Robert Mitchum), who claims he earned his rank by living longer than the other lieutenants, and Sergeant Warnicki (Freddie Steele), a tough, gruff career soldier who carries a carefully wrapped recording of his son's voice across Italy in search of a gramophone. The soldiers--many played by real veterans of the Italian campaign--mature as we get to know them, becoming battle-hardened but increasingly exhausted.
Meredith is effective as Pyle, who quickly becomes something of a company mascot. He earns the respect of the GIs by sticking around when the shells start to fly, and he becomes an even bigger hit when he brings them all turkey and cigars at Christmas. But if this quintessential ensemble piece belongs to anyone, it's Mitchum as the battle-weary C.O. Fiercely loyal to his men, he feels every death as a personal loss but refuses to flinch from his duty. Mitchum brings an extraordinary depth of emotion to his performance, and he received a well-deserved Oscar nomination.
Much of the film's strength lies in the contrast between the human side of war--bored men trying to stay sane in cramped dugouts--and the inhuman randomness of its destruction. After every battle, ambush, or artillery attack there's a terrible moment when we wait to see who is dead--"We lost three," says Sergeant Warnicki as a few men stagger in from a patrol. The nerve-shatteringly realistic battle sequences bring to mind Saving Private Ryan, and The Story of G.I. Joe is a strong competitor with Spielberg's acclaimed film for the title of greatest-ever war movie.
Several of the soldiers who appear in the film, along with Ernie Pyle himself, died in action before The Story of G.I. Joe was released. Fifty-five years later it still stands as a memorial to them and to all of the ordinary men and women who died in World War II. --Simon Leake
| ACTORS: | Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | William A. Wellman |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 13 July, 1945 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Image Entertainment |
| MPAA RATING: | NR (Not Rated) |
| FEATURES: | Black & White |
| TYPE: | Feature Film-drama |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 014381905823 |
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Customer Reviews of The Story of G.I. Joe
The Story of GI Joe Until Saving Private Ryan came along, this film was considered the sine quo non of all war features. I saw it when it was first released and agree. It was on NY metro TV for a few years and then withdrawn until a few months ago. The problem was in copywright and ownership rights but that appears to have been resolved. Mitchum's breakthrough role, it has a toughness and reality of what an infantry rifleman's existence is all about--fear, terror, horrible living conditions, and the awful feeling that living long enough to get home is not an option any longer. Unknown to many, Mitchum plays the part of an actual infantry captain named Henry T. Waskow of Texas and several scenes depicting his death come from Ernie Pyle's book "Ernie's War", pages 195-197. Read the book; buy the film. You will be shaken to the core as Captain Waskow's men say their farewells to him as he lies next to an old stone wall. A wonderful, wonderful film and a tribute to the men who saved the world.
A Classic WWII Flick
Unlike modern films about WWII (i.e. Saving Private Ryan), the Story of G.I. Joe doesn't jump out and grab you. There are no explicit scenes of human body parts flying through the air, blood filled waters and no multi-million dollar special effects. This film though, conveys the horrors of war with more brutal emotion than any other film I have ever seen. The black and white celluloid projects soul were today's special effects only provide flash. The result is that the film takes a little time to engage you, but once you get caught up in the lives of the infantry soldiers, you really begin to care about and respect them. The acting in this film is brilliant and with great respect to Tom Hanks and the cast of Saving Private Ryan, who also did an excellent job, could never be duplicated today. Even though the characters in the Story of G.I. Joe become battle hardened soldiers, there is an innocence of time that half a century later is lost on modern actors. This same innocence is communicated through the script. The story walks a fine line between its message of the evil of war and the goodness of the men involved. Men who are blinded by their duty. This movie is a keeper, one to be watched over and over again so that the subtle meanings and stark images can be more deeply appreciated.
Take the good with the bad.
3.5 stars
Ernie Pyle's The Story of G.I. Joe (to use the full title) was written by committee, and it shows. Episodic and unfocused, the film can't decide exactly what it wants to concentrate on. Pyle, for example, flits in and out of the narrative, making it particularly awkward when, about halfway through the film, The Story of G.I. Joe momentarily becomes something of a biopic by tossing in a superfluous scene about Pyle winning a Pulitzer Prize.
Just as quickly, the movie forgets him as a central character and returns its focus to the company of soldiers it's more or less been following throughout. This is where the film shines, with exciting combat scenes (more so than in some more recent, graphic war films) and well-acted comedic or tragic vignettes about the daily grind experienced by US Army soldiers in the Italian campaign.
Overall, this is an above-average war film with some wonderful moments, but as a whole, it's just too clunky and awkward to fully live up to its hype. (Little, if any, effort was put into restoring the cut for DVD, either--it's pretty messy.) Fortunately, director William Wellman improved on this slice-of-life formula with the tauter, smoother, and more intense Battleground (1950), set in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.