Sergeant York

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Sergeant York
Directed by	Howard Hawks
Produced by	Howard Hawks, Jesse L. Lasky, Hal B. Wallis
Written by	Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston, Howard Koch
Starring	Gary Cooper
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date(s)	July 2, 1941 (USA)
Running time	134 min
Language	English
Budget	$1,400,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

For the unsuccessful U.S. weapon system, see M247 Sergeant York.

Sergeant York is a 1941 biographical film about the life of Sergeant Alvin York, the most decorated American soldier of World War I. It stars Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie, George Tobias, Stanley Ridges, Margaret Wycherly, Ward Bond, Noah Beery, Jr., June Lockhart and Dickie Moore. It was directed by Howard Hawks, and was the highest-grossing film of the year.

The movie was adapted by Harry Chandlee, Sam Cowan (uncredited), Abem Finkel, John Huston and Howard Koch from the diary of Alvin York as edited by Tom Skeyhill. Alvin York was originally against the idea of making a movie of his experiences. When World War II broke out, York allowed the government to produce his biography on the condition that Gary Cooper played him.

It won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper) and Best Film Editing and was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Walter Brennan), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Margaret Wycherly), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Director, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture, Best Picture, Best Sound, Recording and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Trivia 3 Early life 4 World War I 5 External links 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Alvin York (Gary Cooper), a poor Tennessee hillbilly, is drafted into the army for World War I. At first, he tries to get out as a conscientious objector due to his religious beliefs, but a sympathetic commanding officer persuades him to stay, though York still doubts he can kill someone who has not done him any harm. During basic training, his superiors find out that he is a phenomenal marksman and promote him to Corporal.

His unit is shipped out to Europe and participates in an attack. Pinned down by murderous German fire and seeing his friends being shot down all around him, his self-doubt disappears. He works his way around behind German lines and shoots with such deadly effect that the Germans surrender in droves. He and the handful of other survivors take back 132 prisoners. York becomes a national hero and is awarded the Medal of Honor.

[edit] Trivia

• The actual firearm used by York to dispose of a line of seven Germans was not a Luger as depicted in the film, but rather a 1911 .45 ACP automatic. The Luger was preferred for the filmmaking, however, purely on the basis that they couldn't get the .45 to fire blanks.

• Alvin C. York allowed the making of a movie based on his life only under the condition that Gary Cooper should play him.

• Ronald Reagan was considered for the role of Alvin York, but York insisted that Cooper should play him.
• The movie utilizes a Springfield 1903 rifle whereas York actually used an M1917 Enfield rifle to capture the germans.

• The American Film Institute ranked Alvin York #35 in their list of the top 50 heroes in American cinema.

• The American Film Institute ranked Sergeant York #57 in their list of the top 100 inspirational movies in American cinema.

[edit] Early life

York was born in Pall Mall, Tennessee in the Valley of the Three Forks of the Wolf, the third of eleven children born to William York and Mary Elizabeth York, née Brooks. As was typical of the area and times, his family subsisted by farming and hunting. As a result, young Alvin became an expert marksman in the area woods. When Alvin’s father died in 1911, he rejected Christianity. As he stated in his diary, "I got in bad company and I broke off from my mother's and father's advice and got to drinking and gambling and playing up right smart…I used to drink a lot of Moonshine. I used to gamble my wages away week after week. I used to stay out late at nights. I had a powerful lot of fistfights."

On 1 January 1915, Alvin attended a revival meeting conducted by Reverend H.H. Russell. During the sermon, York felt as if lightening hit his soul and was moved to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. From this point his life was forever changed and he immediately abandoned “smoking, drinking, gambling, cussing and brawling.” York took this commitment serious, grew in his faith, taught Sunday school, led the choir and eventually became an elder in his church.

York’s old friends tried to persuade him to go drinking, but he continually refused. It took a lot of moral courage for York to remain firmly committed to His Lord. But with the strength of the Holy Spirit and his personal resolve, York remained on the Lord’s side. This sharpened York’s character and moral courage, directly contributing to his heroic deeds in the midst of battle only two years later.

But, his conversion led him to file as a conscientious objector at the start of World War I. According to York's diary,^[1] his mother and his pastor filed the application for conscientious objector status on York's behalf.

(portions of the above are from an extract of a book being written by Army Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Mastriano, on York's character - used by permission).

[edit] World War I

"The Argonne Forest, France, 8 October 1918. After his platoon suffered heavy casualties, Alvin York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machinegun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machinegun nest was taken, together with 4 German officers and 128 men and several guns,"

(Extract from York's Medal of Honor Citation)

York eventually was drafted into the United States Army and assigned to the 82nd Infantry Division in 1917.

When York received his draft notice, he wanted to serve his country, but, as a new Christian, he hesitated to join the army because the violence of war troubled him. After spending two days in prayer on a mountain near his home, however, York told his family, "I'm going" and enlisted in the army.

As a corporal in the 2nd battalion, 328th Infantry, in the Battle of Meuse River-Argonne Forest on 8 October 1918, he assumed command of his detachment after three other NCOs fell. York’s battalion’s mission was to take the German Decauville Rail-line and sever it. Taking the railroad was vital since it would sever lateral support and communications behind the German lines and open the way for a broader Allied attack. The line of attack took the 328th up a funnel shaped valley, which became narrower as they advanced. On each side and the far side of the valley were steep ridges, occupied by German machine gun emplacements and infantry troops. As the Americans advanced up the valley, it encountered intense German machine gun fires from the left and right flanks and the front. Soon, heavy artillery poured in upon the beleaguered Regiment, compelling the American attack to stall. The Americans were caught in a deadly cross-fire. As York recollected:

“The Germans got us, and they got us right smart. They just stopped us dead in our tracks. Their machine guns were up there on the heights overlooking us and well hidden, and we couldn’t tell for certain where the terrible heavy fire was coming from…And I'm telling you they were shooting straight. Our boys just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home. Our attack just faded out… And there we were, lying down, about halfway across [the valley] and those German machine guns and big shells getting us hard.”

The blistering German fire took a heavy toll on the regiment with the survivors seeking cover wherever they could find it. Something had to be done to silence the German machine guns. Sergeant Bernard Early was ordered to take three squads of men (which included York’s squad) to get behind the German entrenchments to take out the machine guns. They successfully worked their way behind the German positions and quickly overran the headquarters of a German unit, capturing a large group of German soldiers who were preparing to counter-attack against the US troops.

Early’s men were contending with the prisoners when machine gun fire suddenly peppered the area, killing six Americans and wounding three others. The fire came from German machine guns on the ridge, which turned their weapons on the US soldiers. The loss of the nine put Corporal York in charge of the eight remaining US soldiers. As his men remained under cover, and guarding the prisoners, York worked his way into position to silence the German machine guns.

"And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a 'racket in all of your life. I didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush... As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting. I don't think I missed a shot. It was no time to miss… All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn't want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had." Sergeant Alvin York

One of York’s prisoners, a First Lieutenant Vollmer, emptied his pistol trying to kill York (while York was contending with the machine guns). Failing to injure York, and seeing his mounting loses; he offered to surrender the unit to York, which was gladly accepted. By the end of the engagement, York and his seven men marched 132 German prisoners back to the American lines. His actions silenced the German machine guns and were responsible for enabling the 328th Infantry Regiment to renew the offensive to capture the Decauville Railroad.

The fact York deserves credit for his heroism is without question. York saved his battalion from destruction by his actions which resulted in the silencing of thirty-five machine guns and the captured of 132 German prisoners from the 120th and 125th Wurttemberg regiments, the 7th Bavarian Minning Company and the 210th Prussian Reserve Regiment. The evidence supporting York's actions is overwelming. In October 2006, a team of military experts and researchers found all 21 of the cartridges fired by York - in the exact location where both the German and American records said the events transpired. *Photos and details of the discovery of the site where SGT. York earned the Medal of Honor.*Alvin York and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive

Initially, York's chain of command honored this accomplishment by awarding him the Distinguished Service Cross. France, whose forces he was directly aiding and whose territory was involved, added its Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor. Italy and Montenegro, also allies, awarded him their Croce di Guerra and War Medal, respectively. The Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, which was presented to York by the commanding general of the American Expeditionary Force, John J. Pershing.

At the time of his heroics, York was in fact still a corporal. His promotion to sergeant was part of the honor for his valor but resulted in his becoming known to the United States (and much of the world) as "Sergeant York".

How did York accomplish such a feat? A conversation between Sergeant York and his Division Commander, General Lindsey, in January 1919 when they toured the site where York captured 132 Germans three months earlier reveals Alvin's thought about this:

General Lindsey: "York, how did you do it?"

Alvin York: "Sir, it is not man power. A higher power than man power guided and watched over me and told me what to do." And the general bowed his head and put his hand on my shoulder and solemnly said”

General Lindsay: "York, you are right."

Alvin York: “There can be no doubt in the world of the fact of the divine power being in that. No other power under heaven could bring a man out of a place like that. Men were killed on both sides of me; and I was the biggest and the most exposed of all. Over thirty machine guns were maintaining rapid fire at me, point-blank from a range of about twenty-five yards. When you have God behind you, you can come out on top every time.”

(portions of the above is taken from an extract of a book being written by Army LTC Mastriano, on York's character - used by permission).

[edit] External links

• Sergeant York at the TCM Movie Database

[edit] External links

• Church of Christ in Christian Union
• Sergeant York And His People, by Sam Cowan, 1922, from Project Gutenberg
• Alvin York and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, by Douglas Mastriano, Military History magazine, Sept 2006.
  (Corporal York's actions as seen from the German perspective.)
• Photos and details of the discovery of the site where SGT. York earned the Medal of Honor, Discovered 21 October 2006 by the Sergeant York Discovery Expedition.
• International Herald Tribune article announcing the discovery of where York earned the Medal of Honor.