The Fighting Sullivans (1944)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Truly Dreadful Film

The acting in this movie is really good.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Sure. This is a slice of Americana made during the war years. I'm sure that a bit of dramatic licence was used, but that shouldn't detract from a stirring,emotionally made movie.A true story about five brothers who served and died on the same ship at the same time,still delivers a jarring note,even when seen today. Compare it with a similar scene in Saving Private Ryan,when a mother is told about the loss of her sons in battle. The cast of The Sullivans is perfect,as is the screenplay.The scene where Ward Bond informs the Sullivan family of the deaths of the five brothers still packs a emotional wallop.Thomas Mitchell leads the cast as the elder Sullivan,who teaches the boys the ways of life.There's touches of Irish wit and wisdom that adds humor to the film. Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

(I don't remember a time when I didn't know about the Sullivans. I have always been impressed by their character, inspired by their patriotism and certain of their bravery. My comments are in no way intended to denigrate their service to their country, nor the sacrifices of their family.)"The Fighting Sullivans" compresses the time frame of the Sullivans' long wait for answers about their five sons, all serving on the same ship, and substitutes a firm answer about their status for one that in reality was ambiguous and vague. But Hollywood propaganda movies of the WWII era typically made little angels out of future soldiers, saints out of dead ones, and absolved the military of blame or responsibility in the deaths of those who died to protect All We Hold Dear. The truth is always somewhere in between.Near the end of "The Fighting Sullivans," there is a scene at the kitchen table where Alleta Sullivan reads a letter from her eldest son, George, while the wife of the youngest brother, Al, reads his latest letter to her. We can assume this scene takes place in the fall of 1942. It's suggested that sitting down to read new letters from the boys is a regular occurrence, but no more is said of this.Soon those letters stopped coming. The brothers were killed aboard the USS Juneau on November 13, 1942, when it was sunk by Japanese torpedoes at Guadalcanal. Discovery of the fate of the ship was mired in red tape and confusion. The Navy Department, fearful of giving away the ship's position to the enemy ("Loose Lips Sink Ships"), delayed a formal search. When rescue teams arrived at the scene eight days after the sinking, they found that only ten sailors out of a crew of 700 had miraculously survived.Although approximately 100 sailors survived the ship's explosion, many had life-threatening injuries such as compound fractures or internal bleeding. They died first, and exposure, delirium, shark attacks or some ghastly combination claimed 90% of their shipmates over the next several days. The eldest Sullivan brother, George, survived the sinking in relatively good condition. He searched relentlessly for his brothers until he fell into delirium brought on by the effect of the elements and died just a day or two before the rescue.The fate of the Juneau and her crew went unknown to the public for weeks. The Sullivan parents must have been out of their minds with worry. Christmas must have been bleak and empty. It's reasonable to assume they made inquiries of the Navy Department, but they would not have gotten very far because definitive answers about the fate of the Juneau survivors would not come for many months. (Ultimately it was learned that there were over 25 sets of brothers on board, and that a family in Connecticut had lost four sons on the ship.)In early January 1943, their mother heard secondhand through a neighbor, "too bad about the Sullivan boys. I hear their ship sank." But there was no official word given to Tom and Alleta Sullivan about their sons for another week, two full months after the sinking. Even then, when Naval officers arrived at the Sullivan home on January 12 to bring the bad news, they could only tell the parents that their sons were missing in action. That was the official declaration of the US Navy at that time, but the sense of finality it carried for the Sullivan family was surely unmistakable. The desire for a tidy ending and a hasty release for "The Fighting Sullivans" left the story incomplete, but the film can serve as a point of departure for those wanting to learn all the dimensions of a story which went far beyond that of one family's incomprehensible tragedy.

I was a boy of 14 at boarding school in England when I saw this film on release. The memory of it is with me still at 75 so it must have had some merit emotionally if nothing else. The second world war was still on and we were all aware of the horrors daily being brought to notice. Fellow pupils were finding parent(s) and brothers/sisters lost in the conflict. The film I recall we who saw it went back a second time. Thomas Mitchell as the father was the dominant character in the film.I still think of him as a forerunner to characters played later by Ernest Borgnine who was in the same mould. Anne Baxter was not yet at her best but was a sympathetic player demanded by her sorely tested motherhood in this film.

The USS Sullivans is now anchored in a Naval Park in Buffalo, NY. This destroyer was named in honor of the Sullivan Brothers who all lost their life during the battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. After Pearl Harbor they all enlisted in the Navy with the condition of not being separated. While serving on the USS Juno they perished together. Shipmates reported that three of the brothers, when out of harms way, returned to the burning ship for their brothers when it went under. When news of this tragic loss was learned, the government instituted the rule that stands today, no brothers will serve in the same combat theatre. This was due to the Sullivans.I saw this movie one night with my mother on late night TV in 1981. Let me tell you, the very memory of the ending of this movie brings me to tears. A mixture of pride and sorrow. Do not hesitate, purchase, and watch this film.