The Fighting Sullivans = The Sullivans

The Fighting Sullivans directed by Lloyd Bacon (Marked woman) is a moving and sensitive portrayal of a tragic true story about a close-knit family of five brothers— Al, Frank, George, Matt and Joe Sullivan—who end up losing their lives in battle during World War II. The film is told in a series of vignettes of the Sullivan brothers at varying ages as young boys, and then young men, during the depression in Waterloo, Iowa. At the heart of this family are the parents, played by Selena Royle and Thomas Mitchell, whose values and ideals of family, love, loyalty and patriotism have been passed down to the Sullivan boys and their sister Genevieve. It is these very ideals that lead to the brothers enlisting in the US Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Refusing to be separated, the brothers all ended up serving together at Guadalcanal in 1942 on the cruiser Juneau which was shot down by enemy fire resulting in the loss of all their lives. This horrific incident that caused such an enormous sacrifice for one family, eventually resulted in the Navy never again allowing all enlisted members of one family to serve on the same ship. This moving story was the primary source for Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”. Screenplay by Mary C. McCall, Jr. Cast also includes Anne Baxter, Edward Ryan, John Campbell, James Cardwell, John Alvin, George Offerman, Jr, Trudy Marshall, Ward Bond, Bobby Driscoll, Roy Roberts.