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The Fighting Sullivans
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- The Sullivans was also an Australian-made drama television series which ran from 1976 until 1983.
The Fighting Sullivans, originally released as The Sullivans, is a 1944 biographical war film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr. and Jules Schermer. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story.
The story follows the lives of the five Irish-American Sullivan brothers, who grew up in Iowa during the days of the Great Depression and served together in the United States Navy during World War II.
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Encyclopedia
- The Sullivans was also an Australian-made drama television series which ran from 1976 until 1983.
The Fighting Sullivans, originally released as The Sullivans, is a 1944 biographical war film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr. and Jules Schermer. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story.
The story follows the lives of the five Irish-American Sullivan brothers, who grew up in Iowa during the days of the Great Depression and served together in the United States Navy during World War II. Their eventual deaths in the Pacific theater aboard the light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52) (sunk on 13 November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal) are also chronicled in this film, which is based on the brothers' true life story.
Cast
- Anne Baxter as Katherine Mary Sullivan
- Thomas Mitchell as Mr. Thomas F. Sullivan, the father
- Selena Royle as Mrs. Alleta Sullivan, the mother
- Edward Ryan as Albert Leo Sullivan
- Trudy Marshall as Genevieve Sullivan
- John Campbell as Francis Henry Sullivan
- James Cardwell as George Thomas Sullivan
- John Alvin as Madison Abel Sullivan
- George Offerman, Jr. as Joesph Eugene Sullivan
- Roy Roberts as Father Francis
- Ward Bond as Lieutenant Commander Robinson
- Bobby Driscoll as young Albert Sullivan
Synopsis
We are introduced to the young Irish-American, Catholic family of the Sullivans through a series of progressive baptisms: George Thomas in 1914, Francis "Frank" Henry in 1916, Joseph Eugene in 1918, Madison "Matt" Abel in 1919, and Albert Leo in 1922. There is also sister Genevieve, making the Sullivans a happy family of 8. As the boys grow, they are doted upon by their mother and sister Genevieve and given stern but loving guidance by their father, who is a railroad freight conductor. Each day the boys climb the water tower by the tracks and wave to their father as he passes by train.
The day before Al's first communion, he must attend confession. His brothers wait for him outside the church and are hassled by neighborhood boys over the appearance of their new dog, Chiefie. The Sullivan boys, known to do everything together, engage in a huge brawl, resulting in Al receiving a "shiner." Their mother is horrified by their conduct, and even threatens to withdraw Al from receiving his first communion, but Father Francis allows Al to take communion after the boys assure him that they bear no grudge against their rivals.
Later, the boys get into more mischief when they happen upon a broken-down boat and decide to repair it by filling its holes with mud. The vessel stays afloat for a happy moment until it reaches the middle of a lake, then begins to sink. Upset by Al's near-drowning, Alleta makes her sons promise that they will not set foot in a boat again until they are adults, and only when she lets them know that they are adults.
Later, the youngsters are complaining about their daily chores, including fetching wood for the stove. Their father Tom makes an offhand remark about building a wood box in the kitchen wall. Wanting to help their mother and save themselves some work, the boys obtain lumber on credit and begin building the wood box. The oldest son George becomes irritated by his younger brother's Frank's bossiness, and leaves the project. The boys then take an ax to the side of the house, wherein they break a water pipe and the kitchen is flooded. George rushes to help, and when Tom arrives and surveys the damage, he assumes that George is responsible as the oldest. Before George can explain their good intentions, Tom slaps him, and George runs away. His brother Frank confesses the whole story to their mother, and she lets her husband know of the mistake. All is silent at the dinner table that night, but as the meal progresses, each family member invents an excuse to leave the table and search for George in the cold night air. George arrives the next morning, insisting it's just to get his things, but his mother pleads with him to apologize, as it was a father's "right" to raise his hand. After reconciling with his son, Tom declares that this should teach the Sullivans to stick together.
Years later, in 1939, the boys are grown and only Al is still in high school. On the day that George wins a motorcycle race, Al meets Katherine Mary, an only child who lives with her father. Despite their youth, Al and Katherine Mary fall in love, and soon Al shows Gen the engagement ring that he has purchased. The brothers find a letter that Al was going to send to Katherine Mary, and reading some of the lines, they realize he's considering marriage. Believing that their little brother is too young, they tease Katherine Mary when she comes for dinner and convince her that Al uses the same lines on all the girls he dates, quoting verbatim some of the sentences from the letter they found. After Katherine Mary leaves in tears and Al sinks into despair, the brothers realize the damage they have done, and the whole Sullivan family goes to apologize to Katherine Mary. Soon after, Katherine Mary and Al are married, and ten months later, are expecting a baby. Al is fired for taking the afternoon off to escort his wife to the doctor, but his brothers vow to help them out.
Later, months after little Jimmy has been welcomed into the family, the family is relaxing on a Sunday -- December 7, 1941. The Sullivan family hears a radio report about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The boys realize that one of their friends, Bill Ball, was on the USS Arizona and resolve to join the Navy to avenge him. Al decides that he cannot go with his brothers, due to his family responsibilities, but when Katherine Mary sees his despondent face, she tells him to accompany the others to the recruiting station. At the recruitment center, the brothers insist that they serve on the same ship, but the recruiter states that the Navy can make no such guarantees. The brothers leave, but later, George receives his draft notice, and writes to the Navy Department, obtaining official permission for the boys to serve together.
Later, Tom, Alleta and Katherine Mary eagerly await letters from their loved ones, who are serving aboard the USS Juneau in the Pacific. The fighting in the Pacific grows more intense as a battle rages off the Solomon Islands, and one day, the Juneau is hit. Four of the brothers find each other, then realize that George is below in sick bay. They rush down to get him, and when George insists they leave him behind, Al replies, "We can't go swimming without you."
Soon after, the same recruiter from before visits the Sullivan home and tells Katherine Mary, Tom, Alleta and Gen that all five of the brothers were killed in action. Stunned, Tom goes to work and salutes the water tower on which his sons used to stand and wave to him. Sometime later, Tom, Katherine Mary, and Gen, who has joined the WAVES, watch with pride while Alleta christens a new destroyer, the USS The Sullivans. As Tom and Alleta watch the ship sail away, Alleta declares, "Tom, our boys are afloat again."
Film vs Fiction
The film never reveals that Genevieve was the girlfriend of Bill Ball, whose death at Pearl Harbor prompted her brothers to join the Navy to avenge him.
The film never shows that George and Frank had served in the Navy before.
The movie lets us assume that all 5 brothers died instantly, yet survivors of the attack reported that Frank, Joe, and Matt died instantly, while Al drowned the next day, and George survived for four or five days after that.
In popular culture
Footage from the movie was used in the music video "Sullivan" by Caroline's Spine. The song was released on their major label debut album, Monsoon, in 1997. Singer Jimmy Newquist felt compelled to write the song after hearing the story of five brothers.
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