Review of Sergeant York (1941) by Leighton T — 31 Jul 2011

Chronicling the life of the World War I hero, this film is pretty much the standard when it comes to biopics, but it's Gary Cooper's "born to play the role" quality he brings to the table that makes it a great film.

The first half is treated with simplicity, showing the ordinary of his life in a very charming way. The second half is the war and though it feels radically different in its pacing and style, the two seem to fit only because Cooper is there to manage them with his amazing performance.

There are so many other things that make up this film including superb support from Brennan and Margaret Wycherly, masterful editing, and great sound for its time. Howard Hawks is one of the most underappreciated directors in Hollywood's golden years.

He knew how to balance so many different kinds of genres and I'm sad that he got his one and only Oscar nomination for this film, probably one of his least interesting directorially. The only thing that still bothers me is that film reeks of propoganda at a time when we were about to go to war again.

Watching the film it feels like it uses a man's beliefs against war and turns them on its head into a support of enlisting, joinging, fighting. I know this is the real life story of a man, and it happened this way for him, but the maneuvering of it, the dialogue of it, and then the way he comes back to the base, with God's support in his back pocket, seems like nothing more than a tool to say to kids in 1941 to join no matter what.

If God's okay with it, well then why not?