The Fighting Sullivans

The Fighting Sullivans a.k.a.The Sullivans
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Directed by	Lloyd Bacon
Written by	Edward Doherty Mary C. McCall Jr. Jules Schermer
Produced by	Sam Jaffe Robert Kane
Starring	Anne Baxter Thomas Mitchell Selena Royle Edward Ryan Trudy Marshall John Campbell James Cardwell John Alvin George Offerman Jr.
Cinematography	Lucien N. Andriot
Edited by	Louis R. Loeffler
Music by	Cyril J. Mockridge
Distributed by	Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Release date	February 3, 1944(1944-02-03)
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 asThe Sullivans,is a 1944 Americanbiographicalwar filmdirected byLloyd Baconand written byEdward Doherty,Mary C. McCall Jr.,and Jules Schermer. It was nominated for a now-discontinuedAcademy Award for Best Story.

The story retells, with some poetic license, the lives of fiveIrish-AmericanSullivan brothers,who grew up inIowaduring the days of theGreat Depressionand served together in theUnited States NavyduringWorld War II.

Plot

The Irish-AmericanCatholicSullivan brothers are introduced through a progression ofbaptisms:George Thomas in 1914, Francis "Frank" Henry in 1916, Joseph "Joe" Eugene in 1918, Madison "Matt" Abel in 1919, and Albert "Al" Leo in 1922 in their hometown ofWaterloo, Iowa.There is also a sister, Genevieve, nicknamed "Gen", making the Sullivans a happy family of six.

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 Gen 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.

By 1939, only Al is still in high school. On the day that George wins a motorcycle race, Al meets Katherine Mary (played byAnne Baxter) an only child who lives with her father. Despite their youth, Al and Katherine Mary fall in love. Believing that Al is too young, his brothers nearly break the couple up, but realize what they have done and apologize. Soon after, Katherine Mary and Al are married, and ten months later, are expecting a baby. Al is fired for taking the afternoon off to escort his wife to the doctor, but his brothers vow to help them out.

Later, months after little Jimmy has been welcomed into the family, the Sullivans are relaxing on a Sunday—December 7, 1941. They hear about theattack on Pearl Harboron the radio. The boys realize that one of their friends, Bill Bascom (Bill Ball in real life), was onUSSArizonaand resolve to join the Navy to avenge him. Al decides that he cannot go with his brothers, due to his family responsibilities, but when Katherine Mary sees his despondent face, she tells him to go with the others to the recruiting station.

The brothers insist that they serve on the same ship, but the recruiting officer, LCDR Robinson (played byWard Bond), states that the Navy can make no such guarantees. The brothers leave, but later, George receives his draft notice, and writes to the Navy Department, obtaining official permission for the boys to serve together.

Later, Tom, Alleta, and Katherine Mary eagerly await letters from their loved ones, who are serving aboardUSSJuneauin the Pacific. Abattle rages off the Solomon Islands,and one day,Juneauis hit. Four of the brothers find each other, then realize that George is below in sick bay. They rush down to get him, the ship continuing to be battered by explosions, and when George insists they leave him behind, Al replies, "We can't go swimming without you." There is a large explosion and the screen fades to black, insinuating thatJuneauhas been sunk and all the brothers killed.

Soon after, LCDR Robinson visits the Sullivan home and tells Katherine Mary, Tom, Alleta, and Gen that all five of the brothers were killed in action. Stunned, Tom goes to work and salutes the water tower on which his sons used to stand and wave to him.

Sometime later, Tom, Katherine Mary, and Gen, who has joined theWAVES,watch with pride while Alleta christens a new destroyer,USSThe Sullivans.As Tom and Alleta watch the ship sail away, Alleta declares, "Tom, our boys are afloat again."

In actuality, only Frank, Joe, and Matt went down withJuneauwhen it sank. George and Al managed to make it to a life boat, but Al died the next day. George survived before suffering from delirium as a result ofhypernatremia,although some sources say he went mad with the grief of losing his brothers, and four or five days later he slipped quietly out of the raft, never to be seen again.

Cast

• Anne Baxteras Katherine Mary Sullivan
• Thomas Mitchellas Mr. Thomas F. "Tom" Sullivan, the father
• Selena Royleas Mrs. Alleta Sullivan, the mother
• Edward Ryan as Albert Leo "Al" Sullivan
• Trudy Marshallas Genevieve Marie "Gen" Sullivan
• John Campbell as Francis Henry "Frank" Sullivan
• James Cardwellas George Thomas Sullivan
• John Alvinas Madison Abel "Matt" Sullivan
• George Offerman as Joseph Eugene "Joe" Sullivan
• Roy Robertsas Father Francis
• Ward Bondas Lieutenant Commander Robinson
• Bobby Driscollas young Al Sullivan
• Buddy Swanas young George Sullivan

See also

• List of American films of 1944
• Saving Private Ryan,a 1998 film with a similar (but entirely fictional) theme

Further reading

• The Fighting Sullivans: How Hollywood and the Military Make HeroesbyBruce Kuklick,2016, University Press of KansasISBN978-0-7006-2354-9
• "Left To Die": The Tragedy of the USS Juneauby Dan Kurzman.

External links

• The Fighting Sullivans (aka The Sullivans)atIMDb
• The Fighting Sullivans (aka The Sullivans)atAllMovie
• The Fighting Sullivansat theTCM Movie Database
• The Fighting Sullivans (aka The Sullivans)at theAFI Catalog of Feature Films