Hollywood has produced hundreds, perhaps thousands, of films about the US Infantry in World War II and other conflicts. Partially this may be cultural, with the lowly dogface rifleman as the everyman hero. Partially it might be logistics, since it is fairly easy to dress and rehearse an infantry squad, even on a sound-stage. (Although this limitation did not seem to prevent large numbers of aviation and naval films using planes and ships.) Off the top of my head, only Battle of the Bulge, Sahara, and Fury have focused at all on tanks and their crews. In all other movies they appear just as nameless support for the infantry.
The drama focuses on Staff Sgt. Sullivan, who replaces a popular platoon sergeant and his conflict with the crew. Sullivan is a hard-driving glory seeker, which causes conflict with subordinates and superiors. There are also several side-plots, the most notable involving a German-born crewman with a special purpose in returning home.
But the real point and beauty of the film is the armored combat. With clear (and somewhat anachronistic) support from the US Army, there is finally a film showing widescale tank maneuvers, using a mixture of combat footage and contemporary scenes courtesy of the Army. This is a desperately needed niche in WWII films.
A few quibbles. I don't complain about the anachronistic supporting vehicles, since very few 1944 standard ones would be available in 1951. But there are a few things that don't quite work. Although Sullivan is almost suicidally brave, some of the maneuvers are too aggressive and would likely get him relieved, and demoted, even when he succeeds. I can't imagine any tank commander deliberately getting hung up on dragon's teeth. Also, Sullivan is assigned as the platoon sergeant, but we never see him doing any leadership beyond his own crew. Finally, there is a short interlude between Sullivan and a female war correspondent that seems to indicate some history is there, but this is never followed up. It is unusual to have a female character in a combat movie that does not develop into someone's romantic interest.
The drama focuses on Staff Sgt. Sullivan, who replaces a popular platoon sergeant and his conflict with the crew. Sullivan is a hard-driving glory seeker, which causes conflict with subordinates and superiors. There are also several side-plots, the most notable involving a German-born crewman with a special purpose in returning home.
But the real point and beauty of the film is the armored combat. With clear (and somewhat anachronistic) support from the US Army, there is finally a film showing widescale tank maneuvers, using a mixture of combat footage and contemporary scenes courtesy of the Army. This is a desperately needed niche in WWII films.
A few quibbles. I don't complain about the anachronistic supporting vehicles, since very few 1944 standard ones would be available in 1951. But there are a few things that don't quite work. Although Sullivan is almost suicidally brave, some of the maneuvers are too aggressive and would likely get him relieved, and demoted, even when he succeeds. I can't imagine any tank commander deliberately getting hung up on dragon's teeth. Also, Sullivan is assigned as the platoon sergeant, but we never see him doing any leadership beyond his own crew. Finally, there is a short interlude between Sullivan and a female war correspondent that seems to indicate some history is there, but this is never followed up. It is unusual to have a female character in a combat movie that does not develop into someone's romantic interest.