A Walk in the Sun

Synopsis: In the 1943 invasion of Italy, one American platoon lands, digs in, then makes its way inland to blow up a bridge next to a fortified farmhouse, as tension and casualties mount. Unusually realistic picture of war as long quiet stretches of talk, punctuated by sharp, random bursts of violent action whose relevance to the big picture is often unknown to the soldiers.
Genre: Drama, War
Director(s): Lewis Milestone
  Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins.
 
IMDB:
7.3
APPROVED
Year:
1945
117 min
290 Views


This book tells a story that

happened long ago, way back in 1943,

when the lead platoon of the

Texas Division hit the beach

at Salerno, sunny Italy.

It tells of Sergeant Tyne,

never had much urge to travel.

Providence Rhode Island may

not be much as cities go,

but it was all he wanted...

a one-town man.

Rivera, Italian American.

Likes opera and would like a wife

and kids, plenty of kids.

Friedman, lathe operator

and amateur boxing champion...

New York City.

Windy, minister's son. Canton, Ohio.

Used to take long walks

alone and just think.

Sergeant Ward, farmer.

Knows his soil.

Good farmer.

McWilliams, first aid man.

Slow, Southern, dependable.

Archimbeau,

platoon scout and prophet.

Talks a lot, but he's all right.

Porter, Sergeant Porter,

well, he has a lot on his mind.

A lot on his mind.

Tranella speaks two languages.

Italian and Brooklyn.

And a lot of other men.

Here's a song about them. Listen.

# And poets are writing

# The tale of that fight

# And songs for children to sing

# Let them sing of the men

of a fighting platoon

# Let them sing of the job they've done

# How they came across the sea

# To sunny Italy

# And took a little walk in the sun

# They took a little

walk in the sun. #

Douse that light.

Douse that light!

Dear Frances,

I'm writing you this letter relaxing

on the deck of a luxury liner.

On shore, the natives have

just spotted us and they're

getting up a little reception...

fireworks, music

and that sort of stuff.

The musicians in our own band

have also struck up a little tune.

Ha-ha.

The gentle waters of Mare Nostrum.

That's really good.

Mare Nostrum.

Hey, Tinker, hey, Tinker.

Hey do you spell Mari Nostrum?

What's that?

- Mediterranean.

That's what the eye-ties call it.

It means our sea.

I want to know how to spell it.

- Why?

I'm writing to my sister.

What do you mean,

you're writing to your sister?

You're packed on a landing barge,

bouncing on your Mare Nostrum,

waiting to hit the beach

like the rest of us slobs.

I'm writing the letter

in my head.

When I get a minute I put

down what I remember in my head

and the letter's written.

It's the best way.

What a system. Does it work?

- Sure.

You just make up the letter in

your head, then write it down later.

That's pretty good.

Maybe I'll try it.

Works, huh?

- Every time.

Suppose you've got a bad memory.

Have you got a bad memory?

- I've got a good one.

Then why are you worrying?

I'm not. I just wondered.

What was that word

you wanted to spell?

Mare Nostrum.

I never learned it just

in the city of Saint Paul.

Still up there.

You're going to get killed.

Pull one, too high.

Those shells ain't interested in us.

- And vice versa.

When a shell's looking for a guy,

it don't whine, it snarls.

You kill me. You guys kill me.

At Messina they

pitched a few strikes.

Here, no control.

What's so funny about Messina?

Lost a lot of good Joes there.

What do you want us to do?

Cry about it?

That's a lot of cocky chatter.

Better than having the jitters.

Would it make you feel better if we

told you we had the jitters?

- Yeah.

It would.

Well... we got them.

Bet that new

lieutenant's got them bad.

Don't load your pack

on the other guy's shoulders.

I'm not.

His first time out leading a platoon

he's never worked with before.

Boy, I wouldn't want

his job for anything.

Nobody's giving it to you.

Porter.

It's a fine time you picked

to go to sleep, soldier.

HE GROANS:

Anything the matter, sir?

Mary and Joseph, all gone...

Pete. Hey, Pete.

What?

- Shell splinter got the lieutenant.

Smashed his face all to...

I can't see anything.

- I can feel it. It's messy.

I think it took his whole face away.

Where's your flashlight?

- You can't shine a light here.

I can shine a light if I have

to shine a light. Where is it?

Cover over.

Take a quick look.

Told you.

Left cheek and his eye,

covered with blood.

Can't even tell whether

the eye's there or not.

Douse that light.

Go and get the first aid man,

what's his name?

McWilliams.

- Yeah. He might as well

start earning his money.

Where is he?

- Down at the stern.

I saw him down in the stern.

Where's McWilliams?

Where's McWilliams,

the first aid man?

Who's that?

- Sergeant Porter.

Oh, here I am, Sergeant.

You want me, Sergeant?

- Lieutenant's hurt.

Sergeant Halverson said for you to go up.

- What's wrong with him?

Get up there and see.

You want me to bring him here?

Just asking.

What is it, Mac?

- What's up?

The lieutenant...

That last shell, uh?

Don't know. Going up to see.

Well, whadya know?

I told him.

What's the matter with

the lieutenant, Sarge?

Old rocking-chair get him?

He had his head over the side.

Looking through binoculars.

What was he looking at?

Is he dead?

Not yet.

What do you know.

It's a purple heart,

sure as little apples.

How'd you like to

have a purple heart, Jake?

Depends on where I got the

purple heart. In the legs, OK.

In the guts, no.

Purple heart means a nice

quiet trip to Jersey City.

I would like a nice

trip to Jersey City.

I'd like a nice quiet trip anywhere.

Haven't had a nice

quiet trip since this war started.

Jersey City would do fine.

I should go back and see

if I can do anything.

- Why don't you?

Lieutenant's going to die,

he's going to die.

Nothing I can do about it.

Nothing in the world.

Blew a hole out

the side of his head.

In the head, no. I don't want

a purple heart in the head.

Joey Sims got

one in the head.

I'll bet he'll look better

when they're through with

him than you do now.

I don't want a purple heart

in the head.

Is Sergeant Halverson

in command now, Sergeant?

He knows what to do.

He always knows what to do.

- Shut up.

What did the lieutenant

do before the Army?

He was a businessman.

He worked in an office.

Well, I worked in an office,

but I was no businessman.

The whole Army's

made up of businessmen.

You kill me.

He'll be a businessman in 1956 while

we're fighting the Battle of Tibet.

I've got the facts down cold.

Put him on a nice hospital ship

and take him to a nice hospital

and give him a couple of nice

medals and take him home

and give him his walking papers

and he'll go back to business

while we're fighting the Battle of Tibet.

I've got the facts.

Maybe he'll die.

Nobody dies.

Nobody dies.

# These are the men

of the Texas division

# United States infantry

They are moving into hell

# And high water

# Rivera and Friedman,

Tyne and Porter,

# A Texan from Jersey

And one from Dakota

# A Texan from out

near Duluth, Minnesota

# Kansas, Maine

and Tennessee, Lord God

# They're all in the Texas Infantry

# They're all in

the Texas infantry. #

I've got to get word to the captain.

As soon as we land,

I've got to get word to him.

- Do you know what to do?

Course I know!

We've been briefed.

The farmhouse may be

pretty hard to find.

- It's on the map.

There's a road from

the beach that leads right past.

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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 Best Supporting Actress, while Rossen was nominated for an Oscar as Best Director. He won the Golden Globe for Best Director and the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. In 1961 he directed The Hustler, which was nominated for nine Oscars and won two. After directing and writing for the stage in New York, Rossen moved to Hollywood in 1937. There he worked as a screenwriter for Warner Bros. until 1941, and then interrupted his career to serve until 1944 as the chairman of the Hollywood Writers Mobilization, a body to organize writers for the effort in World War II. In 1945 he joined a picket line against Warner Bros. After making one film for Hal Wallis's newly formed production company, Rossen made one for Columbia Pictures, another for Wallis and most of his later films for his own companies, usually in collaboration with Columbia. Rossen was a member of the American Communist Party from 1937 to about 1947, and believed the Party was "dedicated to social causes of the sort that we as poor Jews from New York were interested in."He ended all relations with the Party in 1949. Rossen was twice called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), in 1951 and in 1953. He exercised his Fifth Amendment rights at his first appearance, refusing to state whether he had ever been a Communist. As a result, he found himself blacklisted by Hollywood studios as well as unable to renew his passport. At his second appearance he named 57 people as current or former Communists and his blacklisting ended. In order to repair finances he produced his next film, Mambo, in Italy in 1954. While The Hustler in 1961 was a great success, conflicts on the set of Lilith so disillusioned him that it was his last film. more…

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