Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

A Walk in the Sun Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 30, 2022

Richard Attenborough's 1969 film Oh! What a Lovely War isn't overly well remembered these days, but it was a curious entry in Attenborough filmography which attempted to blend a musical comedy revue element with a depiction of World War I. "Musical" and "war film" may seem like awfully strange bedfellows, and that may be one reason why, some two decades plus before Attenborough's film saw the cinematic light of day, A Walk in the Sun evidently removed several songs that had been expressly written for the film about World War II, albeit as part of the "underscore", rather than tunes sung by characters in the actual story. As commentator Alan K. Rode gets into in his really interesting dissection of a laundry list of issues this film faced both before, during, and after production, the removal of some of the songs (after preview audiences gave them a big "thumbs down") was just one hurdle the creative staff had to overcome to adapt a best selling book by Harry Brown. Bankruptcies, newly forged partnerships, lawsuits and a whole litany of other potential disasters beset this production almost from the get go, and a less than fulsome budget kept this "war film" from ever really exploiting the kind of epic battle scenes that typically inform this genre. The result is therefore something of a "talk fest", but it's an interesting character study nonetheless, and it features a host of remarkable actors giving some memorable performances.

Rode kind of understandably laments the fact that director Lewis Milestone is pretty much forgotten nowadays, this despite the fact that he helmed any number of legendary films, including one of the most iconic war films in the annals of world cinema, 1930's Best Picture winner All Quiet on the Western Front. Just that accomplishment alone would seem to argue for Milestone's continued remembrance, but when you add in such subsequent titles as the original film version of The Front Page, Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, and the original version of Ocean's 11, one might reasonably conclude that Milestone's name should ring at least an occasional bell among film fans. Although his contributions to the film are the subject of some scholarly debate, I'd also list the massive 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty as being one of Milestone's most impressive efforts, if only because he had to come into an incredibly tense situation where Carol Reed had already departed the film and Marlon Brando was pretty intent on letting everyone know where the real power lay. Despite those obstacles, I'd argue that at least some elements of the remake are viscerally compelling from an emotional standpoint and technically brilliant in terms of film craft.

Milestone was perhaps also at a disadvantage with regard to his involvement in A Walk in the Sun, which occurred only after future impresario Samuel Bronston was forced to withdraw due to financing issues (personal and professional), and despite the fact that Milestone evidently invested considerable amounts of his own dough into the project, there's still a somewhat inadequate feeling to things from almost the first moment, which purportedly portrays a platoon on a so-called Higgins Boat, which unfortunately seems to have no water anywhere near it and which is curiously stationary almost all of the time. Later moments, which at least get the cast outside in the supposed Italian countryside, only fitfully provide skirmishes with the enemy, and use of stock footage is more than obvious.

Those perhaps niggling qualms aside, the thing that really sets A Walk in the Sun apart from some of its World War II film siblings is its emphasis on the almost "forced" camaraderie of a bunch of disparate guys. The "mission" here, such as it is, is almost secondary, with the troops heading out on a multi-mile hike through the country to get to their objective, a bridge and a farmhouse. But that's basically a "McGuffin" which simply provides the context for an examination of men of different backgrounds and how they respond to the vagaries of being in battle and, not so coincidentally, with each other.

The large cast (all male) includes a number of standout stalwarts, including Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Horton and John Ireland. Two perhaps unexpected performers are Norman Lloyd and Sterling Holloway, neither really giving the kind of characterization they were otherwise known for. It's interesting to see how Milestone and cinematographer Russell Harlan attempted to overcome the apparently minimal budget, and this is a "war film" that tends to offer mises en scène that are almost filled to the brim with extreme close-ups.

A Walk in the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A Walk in the Sun is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kit Parker Films and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. The back cover of this release touts a "4K master from the UCLA Film and Television Archive 35mm photochemical restoration funded by The Film Foundation. The British Film Institute also receives a text card at the beginning of this presentation. This is a beautifully organic looking presentation, one with a healthy, but typically quite tightly resolved, grain field, and with a nicely solid accounting of contrast, black levels and overall gray scale. Due to the prevalence of extreme close-ups mentioned above, there's very nice fine detail on display, offering precise renderings of facial features and things like scuffs on helmets. There are still a few minor signs of age related wear and tear, especially in and out of optical dissolves, and a few prominent scratches can be spotted (see screenshot 18). The stock footage is at times almost hilariously at odds with how the rest of the presentation looks (see screenshots 17 and 19).

A Walk in the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A Walk in the Sun features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track that has occasional boxiness in some of the musical elements, as well as the admittedly few outbursts of things like explosions and/or gunfire. But there's really no issues whatsoever with regard to the film's most prominent element, its dialogue. There are also no real issues with regard to any outright damage, distortion or dropouts. Optional English subtitles are available.

A Walk in the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1 - Feature Film (Blu-ray)

• Audio Commentary by Author Alan K. Rode

Disc 2 - Special Features (DVD)

• Zanuck Goes to War: The WWII Films of Fox (SD; 48:25) is a well done featurette from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures which kind of interestingly begins with a bunch of pacifist sentiments voiced by various citizens, which C. Courtney Joyner then weaves into the context of studios not wanting to alienate Germany in the early days of the nascent conflict, since they were still doing so much business there. Alan K. Rode is again on hand as an informative narrator (he also wrote the narration).


• Living History: Norman Lloyd on Saboteur and A Walk in the Sun (SD; 41:05) brings back Alan K. Rode as the moderator of a fantastic celebration honoring Norman Lloyd on his 100th birthday.


• The Battle of San Pietro (SD; 38:10) is a vintage WWII documentary, transferred from the Academy Film Archive preservation negative.


• WWII Fox Movietone Newsreels (SD; 6:01 and 8:15, though there are multiple newsreels within each of the separate timings)


• Theatrical Trailer (SD; 1:45)

A Walk in the Sun Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A Walk in the Sun may not be a "typical" war film, but that in fact may be one of its chief assets. This isn't a film for those who thrive on battle scenes, but it's an often chilling assessment of both the kind of random mortality of being in a war as well as what everyday "grunts" experienced . Technical merits are generally solid, and while some may wish the supplements were in high definition, they're also excellent. Recommended.