Story of GI Joe (United Artists) (1945)

* * VI * (t 3 * * « PYLE ROLE One of the major problems that faced Producer Lester Cowan when he undertook to bring to the screen Ernie Pyle’s best-seller, “Here Is Your War,” was to find an actor who could impart the same human qualities in the film that the be¬ loved war correspondent pos¬ sessed. How superbly he met the chal¬ lenge is plainly evident when you see Burgess Meredith in Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G. I. Joe,” now showing at the . Theatre. When word reached the public ear that Ernie Pyle would be a central character in the story, trouble began to brew. Thousands of letters poured into Mr. Cowan’s office, each suggesting someone else for the Pyle role. A great percentage of the mail came from soldiers who knew the famous correspondent. A typical letter read: “0. K. Bud, so you’re going to make a pcture about Er¬ nie. It better be good—and it bet¬ ter be a good picture of Ernie, be¬ cause a lot of us knew him and loved him, and we knew what he was like.” Mr. Cowan wanted someone who looked as much like Ernie as possible, but beyond that, the ac¬ tor had to possess the same hu¬ manness, the same humility, the same great-heartedness that was so much a part of Ernie. Every prospect was investigated whether he was an experienced actor or not and after many ex¬ haustive tests Lester Cowan made the decision — Captain Burgess Meredith was to play the xole of Ernie Pyle in this United Artists release. Having been placed on inactive duty status by the War Depart¬ ment, Meredith returned to grease¬ paint in order to play the most dif¬ ficult part in his career. Prior to his entry into the service, he had successfully invaded every phase of the entertainment world in the capacities of actor, writer and di¬ rector. Some of his notable screen ap¬ pearances were “Winterset,” “Spring Madness,” “Idiot’s De¬ light,” “Of Mice and Men,” “That Uncertain Feeling,” “Tom, Dick and Harry” and “Street of Chance.” The magnificent performance which Meredith brings to the screen in Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G. I. Joe” is a tribute to Lester Cowan’s good judgment. FOR THE FIRST TIME in the present conflict, the late Lt. General McNair’s plea for “a bit of glory” for the American Infantryman is answered in the monumental motion picture tribute to the mud-slogging soldier, now playing at the.Theatre. The film is Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G. I. Joe,” which is based on the beloved columnist’s best-seller, “Here Is Your War.” Pyle wrote: “I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. ’They are the mud-rain-front and wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live without the neces¬ sities, and in the end they are the guys that wars can’t be won without.” These words best reflect the spirit of the picture. Burgess Meredith portrays the famous war correspondent in this United Artists release which was directed by Academy Award-winner William A. Wellman. 19D—Three Column Scene (Mat .45) * 0 * Ten Commandments Guide For Film Following the announcement that Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G.I. Joe,” now playing at the. Theatre, was to be made, Producer Lester Cowan was flooded with mail from servicemen everywhere, pleading for a realistic inter¬ pretation of the combat infantryman. The sum and substance of their comments is best contained in the letter re¬ ceived from Sgt. Jack Foisie, special correspondent for The Stars and Stripes. He listed “Ten Commandments” which should be followed. They are: 1. If there’s going to be any heroine, it should be an evacuation hospital nurse and she should really look “heat up” but still good to a guy who’s in pain and far from home. 2. Don’t have all the wounded gritting their teeth; a few do cry; and not all men die with a terrific punch line on their lips. 3. There is humor in war but it’s often subtle and bitter. 4. Don’t make the film sentimental, and the G. I.’s patriotism shouldn’t be obvious—it has been in most Hollywood pictures. His belief in the right of what he’s fighting for should be sensed rather than seen or heard. 5. Since the story is based on Ernie Pyle’s book, with Ernie himself as a character, the actor who portrays him should really meet him, even if he has to be sent to the front to do it. 6. Show as many new weapons as possible and stress the infantryman’s in¬ genuity in using them, and his initiative in unforseen conditions. 7. Background shots should be authentic, even if they are nothing but re¬ issued combat shots by combat cameramen; there can be no substitute for the real “McCoy” in this. 8. Make the picture like Bill Mauldin’s cartoons. This is not my quote but one often-repeated from G. I.’s of the 5th Army Area where his cartoons appear in The Stars and Stripes. 9. A plug for the Red Cross wouldn’t be out of place; they’re doing a good job for the man in the rear; there is very' little anyone can do to alleviate the hardships of combat. 10. Let the infantryman be queen of battle, also king. No fighting man of any branch will disagree with you in this. Producer Cowan, for his part, kept faith with these precepts and the result is a magnificent tribute to the ordinary foot-slogging soldier, which is being favor¬ ably compared to “The Big Parade,” that great film of World War I. In his portrayal of the famous correspondent, Burgess Meredith achieves new heights of stardom in Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G.I. Joe.” William A. Well¬ man, the Academy Award winner, directed this United Artists release. Reading Pyle Column Does The Trick Take Director William Wellman’s word for it. The real G.I.’s the army lent for participation in the battle scenes for Lester Cowan’s production of Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G. I. Joe” are as responsive as any ex¬ perienced Hollywood actor. Yet none of these boys, the majority of them veterans from the Italian and African campaigns, had ever faced a camera before. On location at Victorville, Calif., Wellman photographed the tragic retreat of Kassarine Pass. Rushes viewed at the studio brought unstinted praise from Cowan and Burgess Meredith, who plays the famed war correspondent in this film now showing at the . Theatre. Actual Assure “G.I.’s” Realism “When the bullet hits you, just fall—don’t flop around like the movies do it.” It’s Captain Milton M. Thornton talking, and he’s telling Corp. Earl Mauppin of Wynne, Ark., how to fall when & machine-gun bullet drills him in Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G.I. Joe,” now showing at the . Theatre. Captain Thornton, lent by the Army as a techni¬ cal adviser for the film, knows what he’s talking about because he saw many of our men hit in the battle of North Africa, and was himself wounded. An interested listener is Burgess Meredith, in the role of Ernie Pyle, on whose best-selling book, “Here Is Your War,” Lester Cowan’s production is based. Another is William A. Wellman, Academy Award winner, who directed this United Artists release. Bob Mitchum’s Success Story “Yes,” muttered Wellman, “I had a good director and swell actors.” “How do you mean that?” Meredith asked. “Well,” replied Wellman, “I had those actual G. I.’s for my players and I got them together and told them I wasn’t going to have any top kick de¬ scribe to them what I wanted in the scene nor was I going to try myself. “I simply read them Ernie Pyle’s column on the retreat. And those men listened! You should have seen their faces. When I finished, no more was said. We went to work. Affected by Ernie’s words, the men gave me the exact dramatic values that I wanted. What might have been a difficult sequence requiring three or four days to shoot if we had used actors, we completed in a morning. “So, if you like the scene, congratulate the G. I.’s and give Pyle the credit. He was the director in this case. What is interesting is that these sequences are enacted on sets which are replicas of Kasserine Pass, Sicily, Salerno and Cassino. “G. I.’s” and war cor¬ respondents, as well as visitors who have “been across” during the war, among them Bob Hope, Bob Landry and Frances Langford, all commented on the realism of the sets. One ruined town with rubble-piled streets was constructed at a cost of $100,000—an expensive bit of desolation. Another outstanding set represented the territory around Gassino—a mass of mud and wet and foxholes, with the Monastery crowning the top of a hill in the distance. And thus every effort was put forth to make Ernie Pyle’s “Story of G.I. Joe” a factual narra¬ tive of men who fought their way through with cold steel, muscle and courage. Page Twenty-one