The Story of G.I. Joe

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As they march into yet another devastated Italian town, one of the soldiers of Company C neatly sums up the average infantryman's experience of World War II: "When this war's over, I'm gonna buy me a map and find out where I've been." Released less than three months after the German surrender, The Story of G.I. Joe is a gritty portrayal of the reality of war: defeat as well as victory, blood and mud as well as glory.

William Wellman's film was based on the newspaper columns of war correspondent Ernie Pyle (played by Burgess Meredith), and through him we get to know a small group of ordinary infantrymen as he follows them from North Africa into Italy. They're led by Captain Bill Walker (Robert Mitchum), who claims he earned his rank by living longer than the other lieutenants, and Sergeant Warnicki (Freddie Steele), a tough, gruff career soldier who carries a carefully wrapped recording of his son's voice across Italy in search of a gramophone. The soldiers--many played by real veterans of the Italian campaign--mature as we get to know them, becoming battle-hardened but increasingly exhausted.

Meredith is effective as Pyle, who quickly becomes something of a company mascot. He earns the respect of the GIs by sticking around when the shells start to fly, and he becomes an even bigger hit when he brings them all turkey and cigars at Christmas. But if this quintessential ensemble piece belongs to anyone, it's Mitchum as the battle-weary C.O. Fiercely loyal to his men, he feels every death as a personal loss but refuses to flinch from his duty. Mitchum brings an extraordinary depth of emotion to his performance, and he received a well-deserved Oscar nomination.

Much of the film's strength lies in the contrast between the human side of war--bored men trying to stay sane in cramped dugouts--and the inhuman randomness of its destruction. After every battle, ambush, or artillery attack there's a terrible moment when we wait to see who is dead--"We lost three," says Sergeant Warnicki as a few men stagger in from a patrol. The nerve-shatteringly realistic battle sequences bring to mind Saving Private Ryan, and The Story of G.I. Joe is a strong competitor with Spielberg's acclaimed film for the title of greatest-ever war movie.

Several of the soldiers who appear in the film, along with Ernie Pyle himself, died in action before The Story of G.I. Joe was released. Fifty-five years later it still stands as a memorial to them and to all of the ordinary men and women who died in World War II. --Simon Leake

Description

The mightiest action drama ever filmed! Robert Mitchum (Cape Fear) and Burgess Meredith (Of Mice and Men) star in this gripping World War II drama based on the newspaper columns of Pulitizer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Directed by legendary filmmaker William Wellman, "The Story of G.I. Joe" depicts Ernie Pyle's (Meredith) experiences with the men of Company C of the 18th Infantry and their role in the invasion of Italy. Pyle joins Captain Bill Walker (Mitchum) and his men in the desert of North Africa and follows these gallant soldiers as they fight their way from the beaches of Sicily to the hills of southern Italy. Few films have so honestly portrayed the harrowing existence of the infantry soldier in World War II--an unsentimental, often brutal, but always human story of the mud, blood and death that surround the infantryman in combat. Mitchum's performance made him a star and earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Critics and film historians agree--this is simply one of the best films ever made about World War II.

Customer Reviews:

The Story of G.I. Joe.......2007-06-25

Wellman's cinematic homage to the real-life Pyle, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, has been called one of the greatest war films of all time, and it certainly earns that distinction. The combat scenes are intense and realistic, but the film also shows the humdrum day-to-day duties and concerns of enlisted men with an almost documentary-like fidelity. Meredith lovingly evokes Pyle's humanistic and devoted attitude toward the ordinary soldiers who were his subjects, and Mitchum - in an early, star-making role - combines grit with gut-wrenching emotion. Pyle advised Wellman on this treatment, but sadly never saw the end result: He was killed in action in 1945.

The Story of GI Joe.......2007-05-27

My father served in the New Zealand infantry Italy during WWII - he always said that this was the most realistic war film he had ever seen. I served in the New Zealand infantry in Vietnam; The Story of GI Joe really distills the grind of the infantry experience, especially the scenes where Captain Walker and his men are living in holes in the mud below 'the Monastery' (Cassino)and are steadily getting whittled down. One of the top 5 war films.

A GIs Life.......2006-11-10

This movie seemed to accurately reflect with a GI's life was like during the Italian campaign of WWII. It did not show soldiers in clean uniforms fighting in dry sunny weather. Rather it showed the grim business of comabt under trying circumstances with characters that acted like real human beings.

The performances were good and the story interesting. Young people who play video war games and think combat is a game should watch this movie to get an understanding of what that generation of americans went through to give us the freedom we enjoy today.

Here Is Your War.......2005-02-27

I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. They are the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live without the necessities. And in the end they are the guys that wars can't be won without. - Ernie Pyle

Newspaper columnist Ernie Pyle reported from the front during World War Two, spending the majority of his time with the common infantry soldier and most often reporting on their daily doings, Pyle won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for `distinguished war correspondence during the year 1943.' William Wellman's 1945 ERNIE PYLE'S STORY OF G.I. JOE is one of the great World War II movies made by and for that generation. It's important, I think, to heed the full title. This movie is very much Ernie Pyle's vision of the war. You can find a number of columns written by Pyle by doing a simple internet search, and anthologies of his war reporting are still in print.
The movie episodically follows Pyle (Burgess Meredith) and the infantrymen of Company C from their landing in Italy to the eve of their assault on Rome. The low-key approach Pyle brought to his writing is duplicated here. There's a gritty realism without the false heroics or gung ho attitude that marked most recruitment movies of that era. It's an ensemble work, with Meredith and then newcomer Robert Mitchum (who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Capt. Walker) standing out in a strong lineup.
This is a movie made by, and for, the WWII generation. The soldiers - your sons, America - are tired and dirty and somehow inured to the killing. As Pyle wrote, and this movie captures, `every line and sag of their bodies speaks their inhuman exhaustion.' They're shown in episodes that could almost be given column headings - The Company Adopts a Dog, Sarge Looks for a Phonograph, Christmas at the Front, A Marriage During War.
STORY OF G.I. JOE is a wonderful movie that, upon release, claimed fans as diverse as Dwight Eisenhower (who said it was the greatest war movie he'd ever seen) to James Agee, who praised Mitchum `(t)he development of the character of [Lieutenant Walker] is so imperceptible and so beautifully done that, without any ability to wonder why, you accept him as a great man in his one open attempt to talk about himself and the war' in particular and the movie `(the) closing scene seems to me a war poem as great and as beautiful as any of Whitman's' in glowing terms indeed.
Ernie Pyle died while with the troops in Okinawa, shot down by a Japanese machine gunner on the island of Ie Shima. ERNIE PYLE'S STORY OF G.I. JOE is a fine testament to a great writer.

Ernie Pyle's coverage of the common soldier.......2005-02-14

This unforgettable classic, based on Ernie Pyle's "Here is Your War" and "Brave Men", is considered by many to be one of the best war films ever made. Even General Dwight Eisenhower considered it the best movie to come out of World War 2. William Wellman, the director, initially didn't want to make the movie, but after a telephone conversation with Ernie Pyle himself, Wellman relented. Wellman later admitted that Pyle's pleas for the common soldier were so touching that Wellman was nearly brought to tears.

"The Story of G.I. Joe" follows the beloved correspondant Pyle (played to perfection by Burgess Meredith) as he meets and becomes close friends with C Company of the 18th Infantry as they fight their way from Sicily to Rome in 1942 and 1943. Pyle becomes especially close to Captain Bill Walker (played by Robert Mitchum, in his oscar nominated breakthrough role). The combat scenes are brief but very realistic, and no one is safe from death on the battlefield (including the Captain).

This movie is an unflinching look at the daily struggles of the infantrymen, who struggle with the enemy troops and the mud. Wellman wisely used 150 veterans of the army's Italian campaign as extras, and gave some of them speaking parts. Unfortunately, many of these extras would later be killed fighting in the Pacific after the film was completed. And Ernie Pyle would also meet his death in the Pacific, killed by a sniper's bullet. "The Story of G.I. Joe" would be the one and only film he made that Wellman refused to watch.

Undoubtably one of the finest-crafted war films ever made, "The Story of G.I. Joe" is a lasting monument to not only Ernie Pyle's great coverage of the brave American foot soldiers, but also to the soldiers themselves, who loved Pyle more than all the other correspondants of World War 2. Perhaps the best line of the whole film is at the very end when Burgess Meredith (as the film's narrator) says, "And for those beneath the wooden crosses, there is nothing more we can do, except perhaps to pause and murmur, "Thanks, pal."

Biggie & Tupac: The Story Behind the Murder of Rap's Biggest Superstar

Average customer rating:

I liked this
Did Suge Do It?
Ignore martee and his vice.god accounts
The real scoop
A Fascinating Murder Mystery.

Biggie & Tupac: The Story Behind the Murder of Rap's Biggest Superstar
Starring: Frank Alexander (IV) , The Notorious B.I.G. , Marshall Bigtower , Lil' Cease , and Joe Clair
Manufacturer: Razor & Tie Theatric
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B000087F6O
Release Date: 2003-02-18

Amazon.com

It would be an exaggeration to say that Nick Broomfield solved the murders of Biggie and Tupac. Nonetheless, he makes a convincing case as to who the perpetrators were and why they weren't brought to justice. Broomfield (Kurt and Courtney), who narrates and appears on camera, comes across like a scruffy Robin Leach, but he's done his homework and sniffs out the clues with the tenacity of a bloodhound. Time and again, he refuses to be intimidated--even when his life appears to be at stake. Fortunately, he was able to convince Voletta Wallace, beloved mother of Biggie Smalls (a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G.), to cooperate, and that opened many doors. Unfortunately, Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, refused to participate or to allow access to his music. She had nothing to fear. Broomfield is fair to both rappers, although the soundtrack is all-Biggie. Easily one of the most fascinating documentaries of 2002. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

I liked this.......2006-04-12

It has an honest in your face tone to it and the style of the interviews lends a high degree of credibility.

The obvious reluctance of the people being interviewed makes it known that these murders were seriously planned by persons who can make ones life very uncomfortable..even cease.

This is a highly believable documentary.

That Suge has something to do with Tupac's 'disappearance' is wthout a doubt ...but I doubt the truth will ever be known.

Did Suge Do It?.......2005-11-01

I've always been interested in the theories of Tupac's death, so decided to buy this documentary. This obviously deals entirely with the theory that Suge Knight arranged the hit, and then also Biggie's death, to make it look like retaliation. The problem with this theory is that i wasn't buying it before and after watching this im still not. It goes something like this, Suge suspected that Pac was possibly trying to get out of Death Row, he realised that if he killed him, he would have access to all his music, which amounted to hundreds of tracks. Also he would probably make more money from him if dead, as he would have become sort of a martyr. Up to this point it is believable, what isn't are the circumstances of his death. If Suge wanted Pac dead, why would he have a car pull up alongside and fire across the car right where he was also sitting (he also received a minor flesh wound), there would have been better ways to arrange this. Nick Broomfield fails to answer this, and i still can't really beleive Suge Knight planned it. It is much more likely that Orlando Anderson (the guy beaten up at the MGM beforehand) was behind the killing, or even that Biggie himself arranged the hit with the Crips that carried it out (though im not really buying that one either). Overall this documentary was interesting and worth watching, but it failed to provide anything more than speculation, and no answers.

Ignore martee and his vice.god accounts.......2005-08-18

Hes upset of successful people because they can use their subconscious for success but unlike martee/druggie tell amazon.com to delete him.Buy this dvd if you like 2 pac, i don`t like this dvd much but i respect the fact he used his spiritual subconscious for real success.

The real scoop .......2004-12-29

I think two or three men (mainly one) Go out out to find out about as much information they can get about 2pac and Notorious B.I.G. They go to some of their old friends, relatives people like that. They even went to Suge Knight that was in prison when they interviewed him. And Biggie's mother and even more 2pac's father in the flesh. All were on this movie. Telling their sides of how they felt and what happened with them since the death of 2pac and Biggie.

A Fascinating Murder Mystery........2004-07-05

Perhaps no murders in the music culture from the last decade have caused so much fascination and debate as those of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. The killings of these two rap stars remain important footnotes in the debate about the influence of rap music and the relevance of rap in today's popular culture. Nick Broomfield's latest film, "Biggie And Tupac," is both an exploration of the gangsta rap underworld and a fascinating search for answers and testimony involving the murders. As was the case with Broomfield's previous icon murder mystery, "Kurt & Courtney" which tried to find a link between Courtney Love and the suicide between her rock star husband, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, "Biggie And Tupac" doesn't solve the case or even come to a solid conclusion. Instead it presents us with a gallery of both corrupt and truth searching characters and lots of questions, many valid. Fans of Broomfield know he will stop at nothing to at least get a few comments, the man will try everything from sneaking mikes to chasing down reluctant sources to get some form of information. The stakes here are higher because the people Broomfield is investigating are not angry Punk rockers or disgruntled former friends but people linked to dangerous California gang circles, corrupt policemen and a record label boss who fashions himself as a modern day Al Capone. What we get out of the film is that Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls started off as good friends and as soon as they found real success with their craft other forces such as Suge Knight began to influence events with a negative air due to money and rivalries with figures such as Sean "Puffy" Combs. The main theory here is that Knight had connections with corrupt L.A. P.D. officers who worked for Death Row records on the side and planned BOTH executions and then blame them on the East Coast vs. West Coast "rap wars." It may sound like a wild idea, but look at the evidence and people Broomfield uncovers and it becomes more valid. And here Broomfield has more material to use. "Kurt & Courtney" was plagued by Courtney Love's restriction of Broomfield using footage and music, and eventhough Shakur's mother doesn't let him use songs, Broomfield uses interviews, early performance footage and photographs to describe the rise of Biggie and Tupac and point out those who were present and witnessed important events. It's a suspenseful ride at times, playing like a real life murder mystery. We learn a great deal about the gang world of California where being a "snitch" is a death sentence and Broomfield gives a tour of the excessive, edgy world of rap music. Bodygaurds and ex-cops are interviewed, all telling what they saw and we realize that indeed these are two murders surrounded by such strange stories, eyewitness accounts and corruption that there is no way these were random killings. And Broomfield does it with gusto and style, never relenting and even going for the big fish when he gets access into a prison facility to face Suge Knight in person. "Biggie & Tupac" is the kind of documentary those who don't even care for rap can enjoy because it is more about the mysteries surrounding the two stars' murders, it plays like a dark detective story that still hasn't found an answer. Broomfield scores again.

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