No true stories touched America during World War II as that of The Sullivans. The five Irish Catholic brothers who grew up in Ames, Iowa and had the all American boyhood that is idealized who all died in the same ship at the battle for Guadalcanal. It was inevitable that a film be made of their lives as soon as it was feasible to do so.
By that I mean that with war time restrictions on battle news the whole Solomon Islands struggle had to be well in the past before the Armed Forces would give out with any details. Although it's not spelled out in the film it was two months before the parents of The Sullivans were given details of what happened to all five of their sons. And it was two years before the film was made.
The story of The Sullivans and the film made from it had special significance of course to Irish Catholics. It was sixteen years before that the first Catholic candidate ran for president on a major party. At that time Alfred E. Smith's loyalty was questioned, the whole notion that a Catholic would have first allegiance to a foreign church headquartered in Rome came into play in that campaign. The story of The Sullivans had a special significance for the time that we in this new century can't possibly appreciate.
20th Century Fox opted to give five fairly unknown actors the roles of The Sullivans as adults. To have cast folks as Tyrone Power or Don Ameche as one or two of the brothers would probably have detracted from the story. Sad to say the five players, Edmond Ryan, John Campbell, James Cardwell, John Alvin, and George Offerman, Jr. stayed obscure even after the film was released.
The parents were played by Thomas Mitchell and Selena Royle with Anne Baxter as their sister who joined the WAVES after her brothers were killed. Not mentioned, but in real life she was married and lost a husband at Pearl Harbor. Ward Bond plays the Navy recruiter who signed up the five Sullivan boys and who also brings the most awful news that any parent could possibly hear.
The Sullivans still holds up well today as a fine piece of film making and a tribute to America's fighting spirit. Which we hope will never waver.
By that I mean that with war time restrictions on battle news the whole Solomon Islands struggle had to be well in the past before the Armed Forces would give out with any details. Although it's not spelled out in the film it was two months before the parents of The Sullivans were given details of what happened to all five of their sons. And it was two years before the film was made.
The story of The Sullivans and the film made from it had special significance of course to Irish Catholics. It was sixteen years before that the first Catholic candidate ran for president on a major party. At that time Alfred E. Smith's loyalty was questioned, the whole notion that a Catholic would have first allegiance to a foreign church headquartered in Rome came into play in that campaign. The story of The Sullivans had a special significance for the time that we in this new century can't possibly appreciate.
20th Century Fox opted to give five fairly unknown actors the roles of The Sullivans as adults. To have cast folks as Tyrone Power or Don Ameche as one or two of the brothers would probably have detracted from the story. Sad to say the five players, Edmond Ryan, John Campbell, James Cardwell, John Alvin, and George Offerman, Jr. stayed obscure even after the film was released.
The parents were played by Thomas Mitchell and Selena Royle with Anne Baxter as their sister who joined the WAVES after her brothers were killed. Not mentioned, but in real life she was married and lost a husband at Pearl Harbor. Ward Bond plays the Navy recruiter who signed up the five Sullivan boys and who also brings the most awful news that any parent could possibly hear.
The Sullivans still holds up well today as a fine piece of film making and a tribute to America's fighting spirit. Which we hope will never waver.