The Sullivans(a.k.a. "The Fighting Sullivans")
US (1944): Biography/War
This is the real-life story of sacrifice that inspired one aspect of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998). Five brothers -- Al (Edward Ryan), Frank (John Campbell), George (James Cardwell), Matt (John Alvin), and Joe Sullivan (George Offerman) -- from Waterloo, Iowa, enlist in the Navy after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Al is married to Anne Baxter with a family on the way, but he's encouraged to join his brothers since they've been a team throughout their lives. Leaving home, the brothers go through boot camp, request assignment together, and board the Juneau, a battleship doomed to go down at Guadalcanal. After all five lives are lost, the government issued an order forbidding family members to serve in the same unit. Unsparing in its depiction of the pain of loss, it's also unsentimental in demonstrating the patriotic pride that drives men to serve. Lloyd Bacon directs for Fox. The Sullivans was retitled The Fighting Sullivans soon after its initial release due to a mediocre box-office response. (amctv.com)
1 nomination
· Writing (Original Story) 1944: Edward Doherty, Jules Schermer