Rating: 
Summary: War like it is
Review: This movie is the real deal. This movie is the story of Ernie Pyle, the famous war correspondent who won the Pulitzer Price. He was loved by the civilians, but the people who loved him most were the people he wrote about: the grunt. Most correspondents have gone to the glamorous Army Air Corps, where at least they got hot meals, hot showers, dances, woman, all of the time they were on the ground. No correspondents had dared to write about the average soldier. This movie, which I expected would be the typical chauvinistic patriotic crap, actually turned out extremely good. The action, expecually in that small town, is actually extremely realistic, despite the lack of blood, it is a good example of small town fighting. Much of the movie, as in real life, is not about action or gung-ho, it's about being freezing, dirty, hungry, stuck in a foxhole until you're called out to go on patrol, where you're thrown into the fray. This part takes place at Monte Cassino, where if you will remember was the sight of extremely bloody fighting to take the heavily defended monastery. Robert Mitchum shines as the intelligent, disallusioned Captain. Burgess Meredith is perfect for Ernie Pyle. A classic movie, suitable for the whole family unlike SPR, but still showing the horror and grittiness of war without blood.
Rating:
Summary: Ernie Pyle's coverage of the common soldier
Review: This unforgettable classic, based on Ernie Pyle's "Here is Your War" and "Brave Men", is considered by many to be one of the best war films ever made. Even General Dwight Eisenhower considered it the best movie to come out of World War 2. William Wellman, the director, initially didn't want to make the movie, but after a telephone conversation with Ernie Pyle himself, Wellman relented. Wellman later admitted that Pyle's pleas for the common soldier were so touching that Wellman was nearly brought to tears.
"The Story of G.I. Joe" follows the beloved correspondant Pyle (played to perfection by Burgess Meredith) as he meets and becomes close friends with C Company of the 18th Infantry as they fight their way from Sicily to Rome in 1942 and 1943. Pyle becomes especially close to Captain Bill Walker (played by Robert Mitchum, in his oscar nominated breakthrough role). The combat scenes are brief but very realistic, and no one is safe from death on the battlefield (including the Captain).
This movie is an unflinching look at the daily struggles of the infantrymen, who struggle with the enemy troops and the mud. Wellman wisely used 150 veterans of the army's Italian campaign as extras, and gave some of them speaking parts. Unfortunately, many of these extras would later be killed fighting in the Pacific after the film was completed. And Ernie Pyle would also meet his death in the Pacific, killed by a sniper's bullet. "The Story of G.I. Joe" would be the one and only film he made that Wellman refused to watch.
Undoubtably one of the finest-crafted war films ever made, "The Story of G.I. Joe" is a lasting monument to not only Ernie Pyle's great coverage of the brave American foot soldiers, but also to the soldiers themselves, who loved Pyle more than all the other correspondants of World War 2. Perhaps the best line of the whole film is at the very end when Burgess Meredith (as the film's narrator) says, "And for those beneath the wooden crosses, there is nothing more we can do, except perhaps to pause and murmur, "Thanks, pal."
Rating:
Summary: A Classic WWII Flick
Review: Unlike modern films about WWII (i.e. Saving Private Ryan), the Story of G.I. Joe doesn't jump out and grab you. There are no explicit scenes of human body parts flying through the air, blood filled waters and no multi-million dollar special effects. This film though, conveys the horrors of war with more brutal emotion than any other film I have ever seen. The black and white celluloid projects soul were today's special effects only provide flash. The result is that the film takes a little time to engage you, but once you get caught up in the lives of the infantry soldiers, you really begin to care about and respect them. The acting in this film is brilliant and with great respect to Tom Hanks and the cast of Saving Private Ryan, who also did an excellent job, could never be duplicated today. Even though the characters in the Story of G.I. Joe become battle hardened soldiers, there is an innocence of time that half a century later is lost on modern actors. This same innocence is communicated through the script. The story walks a fine line between its message of the evil of war and the goodness of the men involved. Men who are blinded by their duty. This movie is a keeper, one to be watched over and over again so that the subtle meanings and stark images can be more deeply appreciated.
Rating:
Summary: The Story of GI Joe
Review: Until Saving Private Ryan came along, this film was considered the sine quo non of all war features. I saw it when it was first released and agree. It was on NY metro TV for a few years and then withdrawn until a few months ago. The problem was in copywright and ownership rights but that appears to have been resolved. Mitchum's breakthrough role, it has a toughness and reality of what an infantry rifleman's existence is all about--fear, terror, horrible living conditions, and the awful feeling that living long enough to get home is not an option any longer. Unknown to many, Mitchum plays the part of an actual infantry captain named Henry T. Waskow of Texas and several scenes depicting his death come from Ernie Pyle's book "Ernie's War", pages 195-197. Read the book; buy the film. You will be shaken to the core as Captain Waskow's men say their farewells to him as he lies next to an old stone wall. A wonderful, wonderful film and a tribute to the men who saved the world.
Rating:
Summary: First rate story with fine cast.
Review: While this is Hollywood's version of war, it is one of the best films of this type. The story is simple and direct. The acting is really supperb. Burges Meridith and Bob Mitchum may have given the best performances of their outstanding careers. The supporting cast is also great with several very execellent performances.Interestingly, many who have seen this film think the end is a little overdone. But it is esentially taken directly from an Ernie Pyle dispatch to the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. This also appears in his second book of WWII reports "Brave Men" as part of Chapter 11, "Mountain Fighting." I have waited many years for this film to reappear as a video. They really don't make films like this anymore. See it, you won't be dissappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Tough Old Gut
Review: Winston Churchill called the Italian Campaign that "tough old gut" which was very true. My dad was also a combat engineer with the 85th Infantry Division and fought up the "boot" to Austria and he told me this was the most realistic portrayal of life as a GI and of combat in Italy he had ever seen (with "TO HELL AND BACK" a close runner up). Burgess Meredith was brilliant as Ernie Pyle and my dad read all of his books postwar. This movie was based on his book, "Brave Men", I believe. Robert Mitchum deserved his Oscar nomination for his role as the war weary Company commander. This movie is a fitting memorial to all of those who fought in and especially those who died in the Italian Campaign. May they rest in peace and the grace of God. Arrivaderci.
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