The Fighting Sullivans
| The Fighting Sullivans aka The Sullivans |
|
|---|---|
DVD cover of The Fighting Sullivans Commemorative Edition
|
|
| Directed by | Lloyd Bacon |
| Produced by |
Sam Jaffe Robert Kane |
| Written by |
Edward Doherty Mary C. McCall Jr. Jules Schermer |
| Starring |
Anne Baxter Thomas Mitchell Selena Royle Edward Ryan Trudy Marshall John Campbell James Cardwell John Alvin George Offerman Jr. |
| Music by | Cyril J. Mockridge |
| Cinematography | Lucien N. Andriot |
| Edited by | Louis R. Loeffler |
| Distributed by |
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1944) (USA) (original theatrical distributor) Realart Pictures Inc. (1951) (USA) (theatrical re-release) Crystal Pictures Inc. (1956) (USA) (theatrical re-release) |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
112 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | 2.429,684 admissions (France) $1 million (US rentals) |
The Fighting Sullivans, originally released as The Sullivans, is a 1944 American biographical war film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr., and Jules Schermer. It was nominated for a now-discontinued Academy Award for Best Story.
The story follows the lives of the five Irish-American Sullivan brothers, who grew up in Iowa during the days of the Great Depression and served together in the United States Navy during World War II. Their eventual deaths in the Pacific theater aboard the light cruiser USS Juneau (sunk on November 13, 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal) are also chronicled in this film, which is based on the brothers' true life story.
The Irish-American, Catholic Sullivan brothers are introduced through a progression of baptisms: George Thomas in 1914, Francis "Frank" Henry in 1916, Joseph Eugene "Joe" in 1918, Madison "Matt" Abel in 1919, and Albert Leo "Al" in 1922 in their hometown of Waterloo, Iowa. There is also sister Genevieve, nicknamed "Gen", making the Sullivans a happy family of eight. Based on the apparent ages of the boys, the first part of the plot occurs in the late 1920s. As the boys grow, they are doted upon by their mother and sister Genevieve and given stern but loving guidance by their father, who is a railroad freight conductor. Each day, the boys climb the water tower by the tracks and wave to their father as he passes by on the train. The brothers are shown getting into their fair share of trouble growing up: a fight, a near drowning (after which their mother makes them promise not to set foot on a boat again until they are adults), and accidentally flooding the kitchen.
...
Wikipedia