Sergeant York

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Movie
German title Sergeant York
Original title Sergeant York
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 134 minutes
Rod
Director Howard Hawks
script Harry Chandlee
Abem Finkel
John Huston
Howard Koch
production Howard Hawks
Jesse L. Lasky
Hal B. Wallis
music Max Steiner
camera Sol Polito
cut William Holmes
occupation

Sergeant York is a US-based biopic about Alvin C. York by director Howard Hawks from the year 1941 with Gary Cooper in the lead role.

action

Alvin grew up in the provinces and is a reckless drunkard. He cultivates a small piece of land, but it does not produce large yields. That is why he hunts in the surrounding forests at a young age. He decides to hold Gracie Williams' hand. After some deliberation, the latter accepts his application. However, he keeps fighting with other drunkards from the village. When he was riding home one evening, lightning struck his shotgun. He survives this unscathed and attributes this act to God. Thereupon he decides to live his life according to the Bible and to renounce alcohol and violence. When it comes to standing up for the war in the army, he tries with the help of the village pastor to refuse his military service. However, his application is denied in all instances - Alvin has to move in.

In the training camp he quickly makes friends and, thanks to his many years of hunting experience, he turns out to be one of the best shooters in the army. A York superior discovers his attempted conscientious objection and confronts him. Alvin is then sent home to make a final decision for or against the army. Surrounded by the nature of his homeland, he decides to go to war. A little later he is embarked for France .

At the front he sees the horrors of war, he sees comrade after comrade fall. Eventually his superiors fall and he has to take command of the company . He leads the attack on a rifle mound of German soldiers. Many of his men were killed, but he single-handedly switched off several machine guns and captured over 100 Germans with his remaining seven comrades.

Back home, he is celebrated as a hero. He received several medals, also from France and Italy. He refuses several offers to advertise as he is of the opinion that no business can be made out of the death and suffering of his comrades. He returns to his village and receives a house and a few acres of land from the state of Tennessee . There he lives with his new wife Gracie.

Reviews

“Filmed in 1941 by Howard Hawks as a contribution to the psychological preparation for the USA's entry into the war, but without war glorification and propaganda. Noticeably outdated in style. "

- Lexicon of international film

background

The script, on which Sam Cowan also worked, was based on the diary entries of Alvin C. York , which were revised for the film by Tom Skeyhill.

The highly decorated Alvin C. York was initially against a film version of his experiences. After the outbreak of World War II , he gave his consent and spoke out in favor of Gary Cooper as the leading actor, who was awarded the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance .

The Warner Bros. film was never shown in German cinemas. Hartmut Reck dubbed Gary Cooper in the 1975 television version .

Awards

literature

  • Homer Dickens, Robert Fischer: Gary Cooper and his films (OT: The Films of Gary Cooper ). Citadel Movie Books. Goldmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-442-10218-9 .

music

In the 2019 album The Great War by the Swedish power metal band Sabaton, the story of Sergeant Alvin York is thematized in their song 82nd all the way .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sergeant York. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used