calvinnme By 1944, the Allies were winning the war, it was just a matter of time. Yet morale boosting entertainment was still popular. This film really fills the bill as giving you a look at small time American life pre-war, spotlighting the Sullivans as the kind of family every family would want to be, and showing the great sacrifice they made in the loss of all five of the sons of Thomas and Alleta Sullivan - George, Joe, Frank, Matt, and Al, ranging in ages from 20 to 28 years of age at the time of their deaths while serving on the same ship at their own request.The film does a great job of showing their togetherness, starting the story from their time as children and how they always stuck together, all for one, one for all. Dad (Thomas Mitchell) still speaks with a brogue, and worked as a train conductor, never missing a day, not even the day he finds out about the fate of his sons. The scene at the end of the film, on the train passing the water tower where his sons, as children, used to climb up and wave to him is a tribute to the loss he has suffered finally sinking in. Mom is stoic and hardworking, even offering a cup of coffee to the navy officer who has come to bring the bad news. Only the youngest son married and left behind one child, a son.It really is a window into another time - one when high school grads could make a living at factories that no longer exist. Even dad's profession is a rare one these days with these small towns being hollowed out hulls of places. I guess it's the historian in me that finds it hard to ignore these details. This is really a biopic more than a war film as the vast majority of it is focused on who the brothers were as people, before there ever was a Pearl Harbor. Highly recommended even if not entirely factual.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . "No, it's ALL," the Navy recruiter replies to Al's widow Katherine, as one little letter costs her four brothers-in-law, to add insult to the injury of losing her husband. Yep, George Thomas, Frank Henry, Joseph Eugene, and Madison Abel have joined their youngest sibling, Albert Lee "Al"/"Small Change" Sullivan of Waterloo, IA, at the bottom of the sea near the Solomon Islands in 1942. The first 44 1/2 minutes of this Bio-Pic is devoted to the five brothers as mischievous lads, foundering boats in the local river and chopping holes in the side of their house. The middle 42 minutes are devoted to Al's love affair with his eventual wife, Katherine Mary Roof. (Apparently, only Al had time to get hitched before the cruiser Juneau was torpedoed and sunk.) The final 24 1/2 minutes deal with WWII, including a recreation of the Juneau's last four minutes afloat. It's not too graphic; then the late Sullivans have the first of two Navy vessels named for them, and are pictured walking arm-in-arm atop the clouds toward Heaven. Fortunately, this all happened in the 1940s. The sixth Sullivan, only daughter Geneieve, stayed home safe in Waterloo. If this story took place nowadays, "Gen" surely would have been on the Juneau with her brothers.

wes-connors First of all, be aware that several of the reviews here give away the ending of this story. Probably, at the time of release, most people knew about the tragic event, but you may want to enjoy the story without knowing what happens, exactly… In the years before World War II, small-town Iowa train conductor Thomas Mitchell (as Thomas "Tom" Sullivan) and his wife Selena Royle (as Alleta) raise five eventually draft-aged boys. When the Japanese attack American troops at Pearl Harbor, the US enters the war. Many young men volunteer. Close from birth to young adulthood, the Sullivan sons insist on serving together. Based on a true story, this film might qualify as the first five-handkerchief tear-jerker. It's manipulative and maudlin, but difficult to argue against...Of the five sons, the camera focus mainly on youngest Edward Ryan (as Albert "Al" Sullivan); he is played by Bobby Driscoll as a boy. Only Mr. Ryan gets a real romance – with pretty Anne Baxter (as Katherine Mary Roof). Secondary story concern goes to Buddy Swan (as George Sullivan); he is played by James Cardwell as a young man. Otherwise, the ten actors are treated as a unit, which certainly seems appropriate. Producer Sam Jaffe presents it as Americana –blissful family interaction with mishaps; notably, Mr. Mitchell's father has some management problems when it comes to disciplining his children. Director Lloyd Bacon guides the story well; the bracketing scenes involving Mitchell on his train, looking for his sons on a water tower, are beautifully done.******* The Sullivans (2/3/44) Lloyd Bacon ~ Edward Ryan, Thomas Mitchell, Anne Baxter, Selena Royle

Ducko137 I remember when I was a young boy and seeing this movie. It had all the fun and sadness of that time frame. I related to the father since my dad worked on the railroad. The boys receiving their first communion and I begin catholic and my brother in law serving in the navy. I know it had a sad ending and of course it wasn't till later in life did I realize the importance of the story. I have seen it a couple of times over the past years on T V but its been awhile now. I recommend that any father and mother if they can rent or buy this movie for their sons and daughters to watch they should do it. It is truly an Inspiration to America.