THE FIGHTING SULLIVANS Movie Review

The Sullivans

1942 Lloyd Bacon

In many respects, this curious family drama barely qualifies as a war film. Virtually all of the action takes place in suburban Waterloo, Iowa; the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor doesn't occur until the 90-minute mark; scenes of military service and combat are so abbreviated they seem almost an afterthought. Even so, The Fighting Sullivans is still an influential addition to Hollywood's mosaic of World War II.

Today, the story behind the film is known best for being a partial inspiration for Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. The five Sullivan brothers were all killed when their ship, the Juneau, was sunk off Guadalcanal. The family's loss was so extreme that the armed services decided that so many brothers would never again be assigned to the same ship or unit. Since 1944 audiences were completely familiar with the brothers' fate, the filmmakers decided to emphasize their childhood and the more sentimental aspects of their maturation.

It begins with five quick christenings as George, Matt, Joe, Frank, and Al are born to Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan (Thomas Mitchell and Selena Royle). Their boyhood is depicted as a slightly more domesticated version of the Little Rascals. The kids grow up in a rough suburban fantasyland where they hop fences, play around in railroad yards, and climb water towers. They're mischievous tykes whose first big adventure involves their trying to repair a junked rowboat. That overt foreshadowing is typical of director Lloyd Bacon's heavy hand with emotions. Subtle he is not.

When the brothers reach young manhood, the children who have been playing the roles are replaced by adults and the focus settles on the youngest, Al (Edward Ryan), and his courtship of Katherine Mary (Anne Baxter). His brothers give him a hard time about her, precipitating a minor crisis which is easily overcome. Other problems are hinted at but dropped until that fateful Sunday morning when the family is sitting around the radio and hears the news.

Veteran director Lloyd Bacon was most comfortable with middle-of-the-road escapist fare (42nd Street, Knute Rockne—All American, It Happens Every Spring) and that's the way he handles the material. He's right to do so. It's difficult to manage large groups of individuals in scenes that are set in small rooms, and in almost every pivotal moment, space has to be made for at least five actors and the camera. The film looks and feels like a TV sitcom, an early pilot episode for My Three Sons or Ozzie and Harriet. The story really ends when the boys leave to go into the Navy. Whatever changes they must have gone through in adapting to that larger family are left out.

The conclusion, though, comes when the Navy's Lt. Robinson (Ward Bond) delivers the news to the parents. The emotional weight of that moment doesn't seem nearly as devastating as it does in Saving Private Ryan, but that is the difference between then and now. Audiences in 1944 were just as moved as they were in 1998. The sentiment is simply expressed differently.

Today, the film's aggressive innocence makes it a first-rate exercise in nostalgia.

Cast: Anne Baxter (Katherine Mary Sullivan), Thomas Mitchell (Mr. Sullivan), Selena Royle (Mrs. Sullivan), Eddie Ryan (Al Sullivan), Trudy Marshall (Genevieve Sullivan), James B. Cardwell (George Sullivan), Roy Roberts (Father Francis), Ward Bond (Lt. Robinson), Mary McCarty (Gladys), Bobby Driscoll (Al Sullivan, as a child), Addison Richards (Naval Captain), Selmer Jackson (Damage Control Officer), Mae Marsh (Woman), Harry Strang (Chief Petty Officer), Barbara Brown (Nurse), George Offerman Jr. (Joe Sullivan), John Campbell (Frank Sullivan), John Alvin (Matt Sullivan), Patrick Curtis (Joe Sullivan as a child), Nancy June Robinson (Genevieve Sullivan as a child), Marvin Davis (Frank as a child); Written by: Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall, Jules Schermer; Cinematography by: Lucien N. Andriot; Music by: Cyril Mockridge, Alfred Newman. Producer: 20th Century-Fox. Running Time: 110 minutes. Format: VHS.