1945 Directed by William A. Wellman
War correspondent Ernie Pyle joins Company C, 18th Infantry as this American army unit fights its way across North Africa in World War II. He comes to know the soldiers and finds much human interest material for his readers back in the States.
Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe, The Story of G.I. Joe
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it's a weird kind of irony that william wellman, who had such a passion for aviation after being a decorated WW1 combat pilot, ended up directing a WW2 film not about the fancy flyers, but about the average unglamorous grunts that made up the bulk of the allied forces. grounding this in the gritty details and observations of real war correspondents of the time helps story of g.i. joe avoid becoming the mere propaganda that many war films were at the time. this is a story about a collective effort by men who knew defeat as much as they knew success; not valorous heroes charging in, but slowly marching through the tediousness of waging war and persisting against mind-numbing odds.…
Made in the terminal months of WW2, The Story of G.I. Joe is a superb study of men in conflict and comradeship, the Band of Brothers of its day. By insisting on a collaborative approach to the material between war correspondents, Army brass and his actors, and infused with his own experiences in the First World War, director William A Wellman ensures that realism wins out over Hollywood convention - though this independent production from Lester Cowan looks as damn fine as any studio product.
Allied to the strong compositions from Wellman, the photography from Russell Metty is sharp and resonant, the extreme close-ups of individual soldiers proving as eloquent as the script. Despite being shot while the war hadn't…
This is a lurker of a war movie. There are action scenes, but this is mainly a road trip with surprisingly little dialogue considering this is a story of a war correspondent. For that reason some patience is needed. But as long as you understand what this picture tries to to do, this film hits a nerve. Not to mention, having brilliantly constructed scenes. Burgess Meredith has the role of the rather gentle reporter and does a seemingly credible portrayal of Ernie Pyle, but there is no denying it's young Robert Mitchum that's the face of this journey through various war situations. My favorite bit was the battle in the church ruins.
Perhaps it should be watched at in another way. But I did not understand which.
If visually it's powerfully realistic, the tone of the narrative is light and inconsistent. A bit like Mitchum: he has probably never been so fascinating*, but his figure appears one-dimensional. We know almost nothing about him. Like any other soldier. Their profile consists of a few sketches repeated several times (the vinyl recording of his own child's crying).
*With this film Mitchum is definitively consecrated as a Star. This is his only Oscar nomination.
Ernie Pyle, war correspondent, tried to tell it as it was: not a matter of heroism but of exhaustion, inconvenience and muddling through.
He died just before this film came out and he is played in it by Burgess Meredith, following the campaign from North Africa up through Italy.
Pyle would have approved: it's beautifully made, patently honest and well acted by a little-known cast - apart from Robert Mitchum as the captain in charge.
Genre de film qui te lance dans des recherches parce que tu te demandes en maudit pourquoi t'as jamais entendu parlé de ça avant. Chronique basée sur les correspondances de guerre d'Ernie Pyle (jeune Burgess Meredith), c'est plus une série d'anecdotes, tournées en majorité avec des soldats, avec comme fil conducteur l'épuisement des hommes qui essaient d'avancer mais n'en finissent pas de s'enliser dans la boue. Un film extraordinaire sur des visages, dont celui de Mitchum, bien jeune lui aussi, étrangement à sa place parmi ces soldats, dans un rôle plus ou moins secondaire (sa seule nomination aux Oscars, sûrement pour sa scène où l'alcool se rajoute à l'épuisement alors qu'il essaie de compter les morts). Avec une mise en…
Such a tough, textured, collective look at war. Episodic, more interested in character than narrative. Rich characterizations. Incredibly poignant without being sentimental. Mitchum the leader of a strong, charismatic cast.
The film follows correspondent Ernie Pyle as his follows an infantry company on their campaign to Rome, during WWII. Robert Mitchum (my guy) is the Lieutenant leading the group of men. They encounter many battles, struggles, and downright awful situations.
The film uses Pyle as the audience surrogate. We barely see him write anything. He is played by Burgess Meredith. He is there to give the viewer a window into this world that we can't possibly even understand.
The movie came out just one year after Rome was liberated. That is stunning to think about, compared to modern day lapses between wars and war films.
I'll gush for a second on Mitchum. The man's hair is a national monument. His…
Beautifully filmed and lit B&W. Puts the humanity of WWII soldiers front and center, movingly, through the words of an embedded journalist:
mediaschool.indiana.edu/erniepyle/wartime-columns/
Each character is given depth and individuality, and Wellman lovingly lingers on their faces in shot after shot. I've recently been thinking a lot about those guys, a vanishing cohort. They were often only kids, most of whom had never been away from home before, undergoing incredible hardships and intense battles for a cause most of them fervently believed in. Many of them never spoke of their experiences when they returned stateside, and suffered silently afterward, despite being lauded as heroes. This is definitely one of the best American WWII movies ever made.
Loved this film. Had never heard of it before but boy is it good. Touching and tough and at times gruelling. Unexpected from a film released while the war was still in progress. You have madness, mud and meaningless death.
"The Story of G.I. Joe" is a tribute to the anonymous grunts who made up the U.S. infantry during WWII. It's an odd film in many ways compared to other war movies of the time. It's light on the propaganda and morale boosting, and doesn't really even have a plot. It's rather an episodic series of vignettes that shows what a day in the life of an infantry soldier could consist of. It's even a bit surreal in the way that I imagine war can be, where one moment you're having a conversation about something mundane, the next moment you're dodging bullets and bombs, and the moment after that you're back to your mundane conversation. There's not a mission to…
Burgess Meredith is one of cinema's most passive heroes as war correspondent Ernie Pyle, who spends most of Story of G.I. Joe gazing admiringly at his enlisted companions or shedding a quiet tear over their demise. A young Robert Mitchum provides much-needed vitality as his soldier-friend who rises through the ranks as his unit travels from Africa to Europe. Strangely, as far as I can recall not one enemy soldier is shown on screen. Despite its basis in fact, the use of stereotypical characters prevents this effort from standing out.
