The Fighting Sullivans

Last updated
The Fighting Sullivans
a.k.a. The Sullivans
1951 - State Theater Ad - 26 Apr MC - Allentown PA.jpg
Newspaper advertisement
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
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office2.429,684 admissions (France) [1]
$1 million (US rentals) [2]

The Fighting Sullivans, originally released as The Sullivans, is a 1944 American biographical war film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr., and Jules Schermer. It was nominated for a now-discontinued Academy Award for Best Story.

Contents

The story retells, with some poetic license, the lives of five Irish-American Sullivan brothers, who grew up in Iowa during the days of the Great Depression and served together in the United States Navy during World War II.

Plot

The Irish-American Catholic Sullivan brothers are introduced through a progression of baptisms: 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 of Waterloo, 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 by Anne 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 the attack on Pearl Harbor on the radio. The boys realize that one of their friends, Bill Bascom (Bill Ball in real life), was on USS Arizona and 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 by Ward 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 aboard USS Juneau in the Pacific. A battle rages off the Solomon Islands, and one day, Juneau is 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 that Juneau has 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 the WAVES, watch with pride while Alleta christens a new destroyer, USS The 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 with Juneau when 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 of hypernatremia, 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

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<i>The Caine Mutiny</i> (1954 film) 1954 war drama film by Edward Dmytryk

The Caine Mutiny is a 1954 American military trial film directed by Edward Dmytryk, produced by Stanley Kramer, and starring Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Robert Francis, and Fred MacMurray. It is based on Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1951 novel of the same name. Set in the Pacific theatre of World War II, the film depicts the events on board a U.S. Navy destroyer-minesweeper and the subsequent court-martial of its executive officer for mutiny.

USS <i>Juneau</i> (CL-52) Atlanta-class light cruiser

USS Juneau (CL-52) was a United States Navy Atlanta-class light cruiser torpedoed and sunk at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942. In total, 687 officers and sailors, including the five Sullivan brothers, were killed in action as a result of her sinking. Only 10 survivors were rescued after eight days in the water. To honor the five Sullivan brothers and Juneau, the U.S. Navy has since commissioned two ships named USS The Sullivans and two ships named USS Juneau. On 17 March 2018, Paul Allen's research crew on board RV Petrel located the wreck of Juneau at a depth of about 4,200 m (13,800 ft) off the Solomon Islands.

USS <i>Wake</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Wake (PR-3) was a United States Navy river gunboat operating on the Yangtze River. Originally commissioned as the gunboat Guam (PG-43), she was redesignated river patrol vessel PR-3 in 1928, and renamed Wake 23 January 1941. She was captured by Japan on 8 December 1941 and renamed Tatara. After her recapture in 1945, she was transferred to Chinese nationalists, who renamed her Tai Yuan. Communist forces captured her in 1949. On 1 May 1949 Tai Yuan was sunk by Nationalist aircraft in the Caishiji River.

USS <i>The Sullivans</i> (DDG-68) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) is an Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer. She is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the five Sullivan brothers–George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan, aged 20 to 27–who died when their ship, USS Juneau, was sunk by a Japanese submarine in November 1942 in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. This was the greatest military loss by any one American family during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trudy Marshall</span> American actress (1920–2004)

Gertrude Madeline "Trudy" Marshall was an American actress and model.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sullivan brothers</span> Irish-American brothers killed in World War II

The Sullivan brothers were five brothers from Waterloo, Iowa who served together on the light cruiser USS Juneau. They were all killed in action when Juneau served in the Naval battle of Guadalcanal, November 13th, 1942. Juneau was crippled by a torpedo fired from the destroyer Amatsukaze, then finished off by a torpedo fired from the submarine I-26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melancthon Taylor Woolsey</span>

Melancthon Taylor Woolsey was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812 and battles on the Great Lakes. He supervised warship construction at Navy Point in Sackets Harbor, New York, and later had a full career in the Navy.

<i>Midway</i> (1976 film) 1976 film by Jack Smight

Midway, released in the United Kingdom as Battle of Midway, is a 1976 American war film that chronicles the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II. Directed by Jack Smight and produced by Walter Mirisch from a screenplay by Donald S. Sanford, the film starred Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda, supported by a large international cast of guest stars including James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Ed Nelson, Hal Holbrook, Robert Webber, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Pat Morita, Dabney Coleman, Erik Estrada and Tom Selleck.

<i>The Sullivans</i> Australian television series (1976-83)

The Sullivans is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-class Melbourne family and the effect that the Second World War and the immediate post-war events had on their lives. It covers the period between 1 September 1939 to 22 August 1948. It was a consistent ratings success in Australia, and also became popular in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Gibraltar, Greece and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Battle of Fort Fisher</span> Battle of the American Civil War

The First Battle of Fort Fisher was a naval siege in the American Civil War, when the Union tried to capture the fort guarding Wilmington, North Carolina, the South's last major Atlantic port. Led by Major General Benjamin Butler, it lasted from December 24–27, 1864.

USS <i>Ballard</i> (DD-267) Tender of the United States Navy

The second USS Ballard (DD-267/AVD-10) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Edward J. Ballard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Llewelyn Davies</span> Royal Navy officer

John Llewelyn Davies was the second eldest of the Llewelyn Davies boys befriended by Peter Pan creator J. M. Barrie, and one of the inspirations for the boy characters in the story of Peter Pan. He served in the Royal Navy during World War I. He was the first cousin of the English writer Daphne du Maurier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David B. Macomb</span> United States Navy admiral

Rear Admiral David B. Macomb, USN was an admiral and engineering officer of the United States Navy. He served on blockade duty during the American Civil War, and was also a noted inventor.

<i>The Howards of Virginia</i> 1940 film by Frank Lloyd

The Howards of Virginia is a 1940 American drama war film directed by Frank Lloyd, released by Columbia Pictures, and based on the book The Tree of Liberty written by Elizabeth Page. The Howards of Virginia live through the American Revolutionary War, with Cary Grant starring as Matt Howard, Martha Scott starring as his wife Jane Peyton Howard, and Alan Marshal and Sir Cedric Hardwicke starring as Jane's brothers Roger and Fleetwood Peyton. Fleetwood Peyton is Jane's elder brother, the patriarch of his family, and a member of the Tidewater aristocracy. The film includes a look at the young Matt Howard, Thomas Jefferson, and Jane Peyton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene E. Lindsey</span> United States Navy officer

Eugene Elbert Lindsey was an officer and aviator in the United States Navy. He is the namesake of the destroyer USS Lindsey (DD-771).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sullivan (song)</span> 1997 single by Carolines Spine

"Sullivan" is a song by Caroline's Spine and the debut single from their major label debut album, Monsoon. It was previously included on their independently released albums, Ignore the Ants and Huge, in 1995 and '96. The song was later included on the 2006 compilation, The Collection. It quickly became the band's most popular song, reaching #23 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Shannon (actor)</span> American actor (1890–1964)

Harry Shannon was an American character actor. He often appeared in Western films.

References