THE SULLIVANS / THE FIGHTING SULLIVANS
US, 1944, 112 minutes, Black and white.
Anne Baxter, Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle, Edward Ryan, Trudy Marshall, John Campbell, James Cardwell, John Alvin, George Offerman Jr, Roy Roberts, Ward Bond.
Directed by Lloyd Bacon.
The Fighting Sullivans is based on a true story, five brothers in the Sullivan family, coming from Iowa, who volunteered to fight in World War Two after Pearl Harbour, saw action in the Pacific and all died in the one raid.
The fate of the Sullivans, well known in the United States, moved the authorities to decree that brothers would not serve in the same place at the same time. This theme was taken up in Saving Private Ryan, the death of the different Ryan brothers and the search for Private Ryan to bring him home to his mother.
The film is very much in the atmosphere of the patriotic films of 1944, the recreations of the various battles in the Pacific and the Philippines, including Bataan, Wake Island, films like So Proudly We Hail.
Thomas Mitchell had won an Oscar for Stage Coach and had appeared in Gone with the Wind, portrays the father here, a solid Irish Catholic, stoic yet loving his family, experiencing the sadness of his sons’ deaths. Selena Royle plays his wife. The actors who portray the Sullivan brothers did not become famous. However, Anne Baxter portrays the sister. Roy Roberts is the family priest and Ward Bond is the officer responsible for communicating the deaths to the family.
While there is war action, this is very much a family film, in the tradition of the Irish Catholics and their contribution to American society.
1. A film of the 1940s? Its importance during World War Two? Based on a true story – well known at the time? Its impact in later decades?
2. A family saga, the presentation of the parent generation, the children generation? The film as propaganda? The film as emotional? Emotional patriotism? The impact at the end?
3. Black and white photography, Iowa town, life, the US military forces in World War Two, action? The musical score?
4. The family saga in its context, the country town, the Midwest, its traditions, American, Catholic, middle class?
5. The baptisms, five boys and a girl? The staunch attitudes of the parents? Their love for their children, the code for behaviour in the home, the religious dimension?
6. The children, the portrait of each of the boys, as they grew up, together, fighting, the neighbours? Particular sequences: Al, the confession and fight? The advice of the priest? The boat and its sinking? Smoke and the father’s device? Rivalries? The wood box and the mess? George taking the blame? Running away, the search? Reconciliation with his father? How well delineated the character of each son?
7. The portrait of the parents, their training their children, the mother and her care, wisdom, exasperated? The clash with George? The devotion to the church?
8. The grown-up men, their work, the bonds between them, Al and Katherine Mary, the meeting, the attraction, the ring, the invitation, the dinner? Hurt, throwing the ring, the reconciliation, the wedding? Al and his work and money?
9. The outbreak of the war, the decision to go, the reaction of the parents? The five signing up? The reaction of the officer, their being allowed to go together, the training?
10. The action sequences, the attack on the ship, the deaths? The news and the impact of its delivery? Leading to the launching of the ship in their name?
11. Katherine Mary, love, support, the child?
12. The stoic reaction of the parents? The father, his routines, going to work, yet the deep grief?
13. American response to this kind of patriotic family story? Worldwide audiences – and a possibility of understanding the impact of World War Two on Americans?
