Based on the famed W.W.II cartoons: Lowbrow G.I.s Willie and Joe, on the Italian front, are good soldiers in combat, but meet the antics of gung-ho Captain Johnson and other military snafus with a barrage of wry comments. On a 3-day pass in Naples, Joe's penchant for wine and women involves the pair with luscious Emi Rosso and her moonshiner father, whose tangled affairs land them in ever deeper trouble.
Pre-Production
Mauldin sold the film rights of Up Front to International Pictures in 1945, receiving assurance from producer William Goetz that he would maintain creative control.[3] Frustrated with the quality of Hollywood war movies, Mauldin was determined for Up Front to be "the first honest war picture."[4] Brothers John and Ring Lardner Jr. were hired to write the screenplay.[5] The film's production was put on hold due to Universal's acquisition of International Pictures and eventually shelved, with executives believing that public interest in war movies had diminished.
Production picked up again in 1949, but Lardner's involvement in the Hollywood Ten made his script politically risky for the studio to work with. It was at this point that the script was rewritten by Stanley Roberts and the promise of Mauldin's creative role rescinded.
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