ard Doherty (story) and Mary C. McCall, Jr. Film Genre: DramaCast: Edward Ryan, Anne Baxter, Thomas Mitchell, Selena RoyleThis is the story of the five Sullivan brothers. They grow up in Iowa. They have one sister, but the five brothers do everything together. The film shows events from their life as they grow up. The one common theme as they are growing up is that the Sullivans stick together. As they get older, World War II is approaching. The youngest, Al, gets married and has a kid. Soon after, the family hears about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Sullivan brothers want to go sign up immediately for the navy to go fight. The only problem is that Al cannot leave his wife and child. So the four other brothers head off to enlist, and Al’s wife tells him that he should go, too. Her reasoning was that they had spent their whole lives together, and they should all go to war together, too. So all five enlist in the navy and get put on the same ship with each other. During a battle in the Pacific, the ship is hit and all five brothers die. The bad news is relayed to their parents and family that they have lost the five Sullivan brothers. At the end of the movie, a ship is named the U.S.S. Sullivan in memory of them. The film is not very realistic. It was made in 1944 so it has that kind of “Leave it to Beaver” or “Father Knows Best” feel to it. The family is kind of corny and the lines and acting are corny. An example of that is when the father’s hat gets knocked off every time he walks underneath the clothesline. Another example is the sister ironing the boys’ pants. She was very cheerful about it and enjoyed it. This is not realistic. Realistic would be she ironed them, but complained about it. The family is almost too perfect. It is a nice portrayal of what a close-knit family is like and how close brothers can be, but it was a little bit over the top.The Sullivan b...
