THE STORY OF G.I. JOE
DIRECTED BY WILLIAM A. WELLMAN
PRODUCED BY LESTER COWAN/ DAVID HALL
LESTER COWAN PRODUCTIONS
UNITED ARTISTS
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
War correspondent Ernie Pyle joins Company C, 18th Infantry as this American army unit
fights its way across North Africa in World War II.
He comes to know the soldiers and finds much human interest material for his readers
back in the States.
Later, he catches up with the unit in Italy and accompanies it through
the battles of San Vittorio and Cassino.
He learns from its commanding officer, Lt. (later Capt.) Bill Walker
of the loneliness of command, and from the individual G.I.'s
of the human capacity to survive drudgery, discomfort, and the terror of combat.
Written by Jim Beaver
Full Cast
Burgess Meredith ... Ernie Pyle - Scripps-Howard War Correspondent
Robert Mitchum ... Lt. Walker
Freddie Steele ... Sgt. Warnicki
Wally Cassell ... Pvt. Dondaro
Jimmy Lloyd ... Pvt. Spencer
John R. Reilly ... Pvt. Murphy (as John Reilly)
William Murphy ... Pvt. Mew (as Bill Murphy)
Sicily and Italy Combat Veterans of the Campaigns in Africa ... Themselves
William 'Billy' Benedict ... Pvt. Whitey (uncredited)
Michael Browne ... Sergeant (uncredited)
Bob Hope ... Himself (voice on radio program) (voice) (uncredited)
Yolanda Lacca ... Amelia, Italian Girl (uncredited)
Tito Renaldo ... Lopez (uncredited)
Dick Rich ... Sergeant at Showers (uncredited)
William Self ... Pvt. Cookie Henderson (uncredited)
Nino Tempo ... Begging Child (uncredited)
Dorothy Coonan Wellman ... Nurse Lt. Elizabeth 'Red' Murphy (uncredited)
Writing Credits
Leopold Atlas (screenplay) &
Guy Endore (screenplay) &
Philip Stevenson (screenplay)
Ben Bengal additional dialogue (uncredited)
Ernie Pyle books "Brave Men" and "Here Is Your War" (uncredited)
Original Music
Louis Applebaum
Ann Ronell
Cinematography
Russell Metty
Trivia
The extras in the film were real American GIs, in the process of being transferred from the war in Europe to the Pacific. Many of them were killed in the fighting on Okinawa - the same battle in which Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gunner - never having seen the movie in which they appeared.
William A. Wellman, nicknamed "Wild Bill", was a fighter pilot in World War I and hated the infantry, and therefore had no interest in making a film about them. Producer Lester Cowan tried several times to convince Wellman to direct the film, including showing up uninvited at Christmas with gifts for Wellman's children. Wellman finally agreed to take the job only after meeting and spending several days with Ernie Pyle at Pyle's home in New Mexico, where he saw how much former infantrymen revered him.
Several of the humorous lines spoken by G.I.s in the film are taken, uncredited, from WWII cartoonist Bill Mauldin's "Willie and Joe" characters.
War correspondent Ernie Pyle acted as advisor to the film. Pyle was killed not long after the film was completed.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called this the finest war film he had ever seen.
Goofs
Continuity
After 34 minutes a camouflaged M4 Sherman is seen firing. Moments later when the tank is hit and burns it has transformed into a non camouflaged M3 Lee. flagged M3 Lee.
Crew or equipment visible
When Ernie leaves his sleeping bag and other heavy gear before crossing a small stream, the shadows of the camera crew, boom mics, etc are clearly visible as he begins entering the water.
In a night battle scene of US soldiers advancing, it is lit only by artillery explosions, a cameraman in visible in the middle distance pointing a hand=held camera back towards the men.
Factual errors
The unit Pyle is with -the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division- never fought in the Italian campaign. After the Sicilian campaign ended, it was brought back to England and began training for the D-Day invasion in Normandy. The 1st Division would eventually spearhead the assault on Omaha Beach.
Much of this film revolves around the battles around Monte Cassino and the controversial bombing of the abbey, with several references to the monastery being used by the Germans as an observation post. Although the film acknowledges that the Germans used it as a defensive position after the bombing, it does not mention that the abbey had been unoccupied by the Germans and that the bombing was unnecessary. Given that this movie was filmed in 1945 while the war was still being fought, it is perhaps understandable that this fact was not mentioned.
Filming Location
Selznick International Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA