1h 48min | Biography, Drama, War | 18 June 1945
Director: William A. Wellman
Stars: Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038120/
The only reasonably priced discs were Region 2, shipped from UK, so this took a bit long to get here, and I'm watching this more than 6 months out of sequence. VE-day (8 May) is a few weeks prior to the premiere of this film. VJ-day (2 Sep) has yet to come.
RM had made 25 films before this, but began only in 1943 (lots of oaters among those early films). So he is NOT an established star, and had to audition for this part. He received his only Oscar nom (for best supporting actor) here.
This is hailed as a realistic film about the infantry. It certainly gives an unpleasant impression of the experience. Cold, wet, dirty, hungry, making little or no progress, losing comrades to death, it's no propaganda film to boost morale and enlistment. But it honors the infantry nonetheless.
My first thought as the film rolled: did the cast/crew think "We really need to get this right. Our boys are dying over there; we got dirtied by the makeup department, and can have a hot bath tonight."
Except for BM, this is a cast of unknowns, and made a star out of RM.
On my copy, starting around chapter 9 (of 11), the sound goes out of sync; (might want to check online versions next time). Then again, it just adds to the chaos. And no, you didn't miss anything: the final death in the film was not explained, it just was.
Lester Cowan Productions, distr. UA, dir. Wellman; 8
