ID

FBW001091      Fiction

Country / Year

USA, 1943

Original Title

THE IMMORTAL SERGEANT

Directed by

John M. Stahl

Produced by

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY

Staff

Producer: Lamar Trotti; Script: Lamar Trotti (Based on the novel by John Brophy); Based on: John Brophy; Camera: Arthur Miller, Clyde De Vinna; Editing: James B. Clark; Art direction: Richard Day, Maurice Ransford; Music: Alfred Newman; Musical arrangements: David Buttolph

Cast

Henry Fonda (Colin); Maureen O'Hara (Valentine); Thomas Mitchell (Sgt. Kelly); Allyn Joslyn (Cassidy); Reginald Gardiner (Benedict); Melville Cooper (Pilcher); Bramwell Fletcher (Symes); Morton Lowry (Cottrell); David Thursby (Bren Carrier Driver); Guy Kingsford (Lorry Driver); Bud Geary (Driver); Peter Lawford; Gordon Clark; John Whitney; John Meredith (Soldier); Bob Mascagno; Italia DeNubila (Dance Specialty); Donald Stuart (Post Corporal); Eric Wilton (Headwaiter); Anthony Marsh (Assistant Post Corporal); Charles Irwin; James Craven (Noncommissioned Men); Sam Waagenaar (German); John Banner (German Officer); Wilson Benge (Waiter); Leslie Vincent (Runner); Hans von Morhart; Henry Guttman; Fred Giermann (German Soldier)

Length

90'

Format

35mm/sw/1:1,37

Abstract

The drama shows Cpl. Colin Spence, a Canadian serving with the British Eighth Army in the Libyan desert. He and his comrades in arms, commanded by tough old Sgt. Kelly, are cut off from their lines and face annihilation. During a lonely night vigil with the dying Kelly, Colin contemplates his slim chance of leaving the desert alive, and, in flashback, we see his prewar life. A reporter and would-be novelist, he is deeply in love with Valentine but because of his reluctance to tell her so, she seems destined to pair up with Colin's rival, Benedict. After Kelly's death, Colin leads a desperate attack against a German position, destroying the enemy and their supplies. Spotting the burning stores, a British unit arrives to find only three men left alive, including the wounded Colin. After recuperating in a Cairo hospital, he summons the courage he has found on the battlefield and sends a wire to Valentine, proposing and they get married.

Subject Terms

Anti-Nazi films (US)

Bibliography

- Nash, Ray R. / Ross, Stanley R. / Conelly, Robert B. (Ed.): Motion Picture Guide. Chicago, IL: Cinebooks, 1987