Story of G.I. Joe

Watch: Story of G.I. Joe

Unrated

7/13/19451h 48m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The mightiest action drama ever filmed ! ~

Overview:

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. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 2000.

Director:

William A. Wellman

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

journalist
army
italian
world war ii
infantry
us army
northern africa
reporter

Cast

Burgess Meredith

~ as ~

Ernie Pyle

Robert Mitchum

~ as ~

Bill Walker

Freddie Steele

~ as ~

Sgt. Steve Warnicki

Wally Cassell

~ as ~

Pvt. Dondaro

Jimmy Lloyd

~ as ~

Pvt. Spencer

John R. Reilly

~ as ~

Pvt. Robert 'Wingless' Murphy

William Murphy

~ as ~

Private Mew

Dorothy Coonan Wellman

~ as ~

Nurse Lt. Elizabeth 'Red' Murphy (uncredited)

William Benedict

~ as ~

Pvt. Whitey (uncredited)

Bob Hope

~ as ~

Bob Hope (Voice on Radio Program) (voice) (uncredited)

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 4 month(s) ago
7
A little like Australian wartime reporter Damien Parer, this story of a renowned American equivalent is also something that makes us realise just how perilous the job of correspondent really was. This film focuses on the segment of Ernie Pyle’s career when he (Burgess Meredith) joins an American company moving from North Africa to be at the vanguard of the invasion of Italy. He is paired up with Lt. Walker (Robert Mitchum) and across those gruesome theatres of war he reports honestly to his readers at home whilst befriending many of the war-weary soldiers. The production is interspersed with actuality which adds a richness to the engaging characterisations that illustrate really effectively just how ordinary these soldiers were, and therefore just how they reacted - each to their strengths and vulnerabilities - to the relentless onslaught and deprivations of war. These men are fighting tenaciously through the sand or the snow for every inch they can obtain, and this film doesn’t shy away from showing us the personal costs of war. Their enemies are well entrenched, well armed and ready for what is coming. Meredith himself fought in the war and presents a considered and personable performance of a brave and often sickened man, and he works well with an authentic looking Mitchum and a solid and small cast of supporters with whom Pyle became good friends. It’s not without it’s optimism, and there’s even a tiny bit of romance, but essentially it’s a grim indictment of a modern and indiscriminate conflict.