By 1944, the Allies were winning the war, it was just a matter of time. Yet morale boosting entertainment was still popular. This film really fills the bill as giving you a look at small time American life pre-war, spotlighting the Sullivans as the kind of family every family would want to be, and showing the great sacrifice they made in the loss of all five of the sons of Thomas and Alleta Sullivan - George, Joe, Frank, Matt, and Al, ranging in ages from 20 to 28 years of age at the time of their deaths while serving on the same ship at their own request.The film does a great job of showing their togetherness, starting the story from their time as children and how they always stuck together, all for one, one for all. Dad (Thomas Mitchell) still speaks with a brogue, and worked as a train conductor, never missing a day, not even the day he finds out about the fate of his sons. The scene at the end of the film, on the train passing the water tower where his sons, as children, used to climb up and wave to him is a tribute to the loss he has suffered finally sinking in. Mom is stoic and hardworking, even offering a cup of coffee to the navy officer who has come to bring the bad news. Only the youngest son married and left behind one child, a son.It really is a window into another time - one when high school grads could make a living at factories that no longer exist. Even dad's profession is a rare one these days with these small towns being hollowed out hulls of places. I guess it's the historian in me that finds it hard to ignore these details. This is really a biopic more than a war film as the vast majority of it is focused on who the brothers were as people, before there ever was a Pearl Harbor. Highly recommended even if not entirely factual.

The Fighting Sullivans, originally free as The Sullivans, is a 1944 American biographical combat film going to by Lloyd Bacon and printed by Edward Doherty, Mary C. McCall Jr. and Jules Schermer. It was chosen for a now-discontinued arts school Award for Best tale.The tale follows the lives of the five Irish-American Sullivan brothers, who grow up in Iowa through the days of the enormous Depression and serve jointly in the United States Navy through World War II. Their ultimate deaths in the Pacific theater on the ship the light police car USS Juneau (done for on November 13, 1942 through the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal) are too chronicle in this movie, which is base on the brothers' accurate life tale. http://fullmovieonline85.blogspot.com

Sure. This is a slice of Americana made during the war years. I'm sure that a bit of dramatic licence was used, but that shouldn't detract from a stirring,emotionally made movie.A true story about five brothers who served and died on the same ship at the same time,still delivers a jarring note,even when seen today. Compare it with a similar scene in Saving Private Ryan,when a mother is told about the loss of her sons in battle. The cast of The Sullivans is perfect,as is the screenplay.The scene where Ward Bond informs the Sullivan family of the deaths of the five brothers still packs a emotional wallop.Thomas Mitchell leads the cast as the elder Sullivan,who teaches the boys the ways of life.There's touches of Irish wit and wisdom that adds humor to the film. Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Fighting Sullivans Like many promotional motion pictures made in wartime, this one was very moving, especially when all five of the brothers died when USS Juneau was sunk by enemy action at the Battle of Guadalcanal in November, 1942.Out came the tissues at the end.It was disappointing to see the five brothers apparently walking up to heaven at the end.This is quite offensive to many people I know, since I have little doubt that there is no place in heaven for men who kill other men, war or no war. (My family lost relatives in both world wars.) It's easy for a clergyman, who doesn't believe in a Creator anyway, to pray dead soldiers, criminals, even tiny infants, off to heaven saying God needed another angel.What an insult to God! That posture says that God was directly responsible for the death of your loved one, or mine.God does not seem to need more angels, he has over 100 million of them already. Anyway, if he decides he does need more, he is quite capable of creating them, without destroying the happiness of humans.55 million lives were lost in World War II (about 15 million in World War I). Did God 'need' 70 million more angels? According to the information He has given to humankind, a provision has been made for all of the ones lost in war (as well as all others who have died in the past), to be restored to life, but life, not in heaven, but rather here on earth, (not immediately) after it has been restored to a condition of paradise.Why would our Creator bother to make a promise, such as that found at Apocalypse/Revelation 21:4, if it was just a pipe dream, or pie in the sky? You will never hear this in any church, since the pastors do not believe this promise, nor any other that God makes. They would never admit it, because, no matter what they say, most of them are atheists.