Written by Gabriel Serrano Denis
The war film has no shortage of classics. From patriotic, morale-boosting epics to anti-war indictments, war on film has proven throughout history to engage audiences in visceral, emotional, and even spiritual ways. Few however manage to successfully convey the horrors of war while also exploring the human toll of constant violence and social detachment.
Today we can point to classics such as Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Paths of Glory, and Saving Private Ryan, but in 1945, during the tail-end of World War II, a small film called The Story of GI Joe dared to show the war as it was fought in the frontlines, focusing on the human cost rather than on heroics. Brought back to life by Ignite Films for a clean restoration, The Story of GI Joe still rings true in its natural portrayal of the everyday GI.
By no means an anti-war film, The Story of GI Joe is first and foremost a tribute to the infantryman and the war journalist who wrote about the reality of war firsthand, Ernie Pyle. Adapted for the screen from Pyle’s column for the Scripps-Howard newspaper that focused on what he called “the underdogs” of the US military, The Story of GI Joe centers on Pyle (beautifully played by the great Burgess Meredith) as he joins C Company, 18th Infantry during the European campaign. On the road through Tunisia and Italy, Pyle becomes close to the infantrymen, especially Lt. Bill Walker (Robert Mitchum in his first major role and only Academy Award-nominated performance) who later becomes a Captain to his men.
Told in an episodic structure with no real plot driving the narrative, the film centers on the everyday experiences of the infantryman. The film jumps between Pyle amongst the men and the soldiers themselves as they fight, rest, and patrol. In this way, the film captures the moments of boredom, danger, and camaraderie in equal measure. And of course, the film also highlights moments of levity, with a scene dedicated to one of the men’s marriage to a field nurse in the rubble of an Italian church. These are the moments where old Hollywood creeps in to inject the film with a cheesy lightheartedness that at times feel out of place in such a somber film.
Nevertheless, The Story of GI Joe never shies away from the brutality of war. Just as a couple is married and shares a night together in a tenderly funny sequence, the film quickly pivots to a grueling standoff at a monastery that tests even the sanity of the ordinary soldiers. Even though the Hollywood levity is on full-display, director William A. Wellman (who’s film Wings won the first Academy Award for Best Picture) keeps the film grounded in reality and true to Pyle’s writing. Just as we laugh and share in the camaraderie of the soldiers, so too must we experience their deaths and traumas.
Though the film is mostly a humane character study of a war ensemble, this doesn’t mean it isn’t without its share of action. The 18th Infantry’s first foray into war is a horrifyingly chaotic sequence of chiaroscuro images lit up only by shell blasts and gunfire. In a newsreel-type style we see the green men thrown into hell for the first time in a harrowing display of war rare for the time period. Another fight in Monte Cassino calls to mind Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan as we follow the soldiers through the warzone with few music cues, the sounds of bullets and tank missiles filling the air. It’s a stunning display of combat due its spare and straightforward portrayal of warfare.
Ignite Film’s enhanced restoration of the Academy Films Archive print is impressive in its cleanness and deep contrast. Working from a preservation element itself made from a duplicate nitrate print of the film, Ignite Film’s enhanced version does away with a lot of the flicker and scratches in the original print. It looks as close to what a modern audience in 1945 saw on the big screen.
A lot of work was put in to deflickering and grain management (as detailed in one of the great bonus features on the DVD and Blu-Ray, “The Story of The Story of GI Joe”, a featurette on the film’s restoration) and it’s quite obvious in certain wide shots that some detail has been smoothed out due to this process. This is due to the fact that the restoration was done from 3rd generation duplicate prints rather than the original negative (of which none is available). Notwithstanding, the film looks amazing and only a close inspection reveals some lack of detail in busier backgrounds. Faces and tighter shots yield much better results, as character’s in low-lit and intimate settings look crisp and textured.
The Story of GI Joe is a must-watch war film, not only for its unromanticized look at the lives of soldiers on the frontlines but also for the newfound love that went into the physical release of this unsung gem. This is the kind of film truly deserving of restoration and preservation. A modest success when it first released, it has been buried amongst the higher profile war films led by the big stars of its time. This new release introduces new audiences to a film like no other of its patriotic era, a film not interested in heroics or in the predominance of the American way. The only motive behind these average joes turned soldiers is the most basic and human of all: to come back home.
This is, simply, one of the greatest war films ever made. Up there with Come And See. Ignite did a great job with their 4K UHD of Invaders From Mars, I am sure they have done a great job with this. I expect some will whine that this is not UHD, but there would be no point given the film elements they had to deal with.
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