Walk in the Sun, A (1945)
Synopsis
A Walk in the Sun is a World War II American combat film based on the epony-
mous novel by Yank writer Harry Brown. Adapted to the screen by Robert Rossen;
directed by Lewis Milestone; and starring Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, George
Tyne, John Ireland, Lloyd Bridges, and Sterling Holloway (with narration by Bur-
gess Meredith), the film follows a U.S. Army platoon as it fights its way inland dur-
ing the 1943 Allied invasion of Italy.
Background
Just after D- Day ( June 1944), Alfred A. Knopf published A Walk in the Sun, a grip-
ping combat novel by a 27- year- old Yank magazine staff writer named Harry Brown
(1917–1986). Written in just two weeks, the book generated excellent reviews and
impressed actor Burgess Meredith, who persuaded his friend, producer/director
Samuel Bronston (coincidentally a nephew of Leon Trotsky), to undertake produc-
tion of a film version. An adaptation was rushed out by screenwriter Robert Ros-
sen (Body and Soul) so the film could appear before the war ended—an ambition
unrealized; the movie was released on 3 December 1945, three months after VJ
Day ended the Second World War.
Production
Upon review by Joseph Breen at the Hays Office, Rossen’s script was cleansed of
words like “virgin,” “geez,” “chunk of hell,” and “bloody.” Also vetting the script, the
War Department called for changes that explained why a U.S. infantry platoon
would assault a farm house defended by Wehrmacht machine gunners without
recourse to bazookas to destroy the building. Scenes were added showing all the
platoon’s bazooka rockets being used up beforehand to take out enemy armor.
Directed by Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front), A Walk in the Sun was
shot in the winter of 1944–1945 at Malibou Lake and the Conejo Valley between
the Simi Hills and Santa Monica Mountains, 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles—
terrain suitably similar to the topography near Salerno— but the shoot ran into
unexpected production snafus at the outset: four straight days of rain in an area
where precipitation is extremely rare. Money proved to be another headache. Just
days into shooting Samuel Bronston ran out of funds, abrogating a distribution deal
with United Artists and forcing a shooting hiatus as Milestone scrambled to find
alternative financing and distribution. Luckily, he secured a new backer: Johnny