Hardly many war films are like this, nothing really happens here but it's still exciting. American infantry platoon lands at Salerno, Italy in 1943 and has orders to capture and hold a farmhouse some miles ahead. The men don't know nothing about what is waiting for them. Will the enemy open fire right at the beach and kill all of them? Will there be mines? Who is their enemy anyway, Germans or Italians? Will they get strafed by enemy aircraft of will 'our boys' control the skies? These are questions that a regular infantryman may ask from himself. They don't know what is waiting for them and they try to guess what the overall situation is. The movie is lots of talking, waiting and walking by the Italian countryside. The soldiers must be alert at all times and there may be false alarms too. Action comes suddenly and is also quickly committed.

This is another of those war movies that can be called 'realistic'. In many post-modern war movie realism is seen as a synonym of lots of blood and dying soldiers yelling 'mommy' and such. I don't call that realism - these men know exactly how to deal with disturbing things that war contains. They ignore things that they cannot emotionally handle and this must also be the way those things were handled in real war. This may well be seen as a dull movie, but it also shows the war as it really was. There is no pathos at all in this movie and that is why many people like it.

This war drama ranks among the best in its genre. An outstanding ensemble cast and intense story makes for an interesting look at the realism of war. This film follows a platoon of American soldiers from the time they land in Europe until they complete their mission...capturing a German occupied farmhouse in World War Two Italy. The talented and diverse cast includes:Dana Andrews, John Ireland, Lloyd Bridges, George Tyne, Huntz Hall and Richard Conte. Kudos also to director Lewis Milestone.

When "A Walk in the Sun" came out in 1945 it made a strong impression on the home front. It showed more of the reality of war than the string of patriotic we-can-do-it slap-the-Jap stun-the-Hun movies, mostly nonsensical tripe made during the war years. There are no John Wayne heroics here, no superhuman commandos, just the "poor bloody infantry". They are just a platoon of fairly ordinary men on a mission to march to a farmhouse and occupy it. It is not that Hollywood staple of "the mission that could change the course of the war". They lose their lieutenant. They take casualties from planes, maybe even their own planes. The sergeant who takes over the lead breaks down. They keep going. They talk - a lot. But what talk it is! It is the talk of soldiers. Commonplace stuff, where do you come from, what are you going to do after the war, do the brass know what they're doing, gimme a cigarette. The song that opens and closes the movie makes a point that is perhaps the point of the movie when it links them to soldiers of other places and times.

Incidentally, it is fun to look at the cast. Most of the major players in this movie were at the beginning of long and successful careers, notably Dana Andrews, Lloyd Bridges and Norman Lloyd. (Just another thought - after seeing "Saving Private Ryan", I realized that Steven Spielberg has seen "A Walk in the Sun" at least as many times as I have.)

My uncle, a veteran of Tunisia who went into Salerno as a Ranger, hated most war films, but not this one. He also told me that his company had a fight with a German armored car very similar to the one with the halftrack in this film.