Review of A Walk in the Sun (1945) by Bruce B — 11 Feb 2013

This is one of the best and most interesting WWII movies ever made. I had not seen it since I was a teenager in the early 1960s, yet the title has staid with me ever since. The juxtaposition of killing and dying with the simple title works better than the Audy Murphy "To Hell and Back" autobiographical film.

The mix-ups (getting separated on landing on the beach), the human frailties (the sergeant having a nervous breakdown after having to take command), the tough-talking New York cabbie-machine gunner who did not qualify as a machine gunner but bribed someone to land the job, John Ireland's character writing a letter in his head to his sister back home, .

. . you feel as though you know/knew these people and were there with them in Italy 65 years ago. I had forgotten that the film was directed by Lewis Milestone, who also directed the 1930 film version of "All Quiet on the Western Front.

" The only flaw that I noticed this time is a slight one. The pacing of the film is intentionally slow, leading up to the violent combat at the end. However, in achieving this cinematic effect, Milestone seemingly has some events take place over a much longer period of time that they would have in "real life" (e.

G., the landing craft seem to take forever to reach shore). All in all, this is a terrific movie. I own very few movies; I'm glad I own this one. 3 Stars 1-15-13.