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The Story of G.I. Joe Overview:

The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) was a Biographical - Drama Film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Lester Cowan and David Hall.

SYNOPSIS

Mitchum's big break came in Wellman's harrowing biopic of WWII correspondent Ernie Pyle. Pyle (Meredith) follows an exhausted platoon as they fight their way from town to town in Italy. The platoon's captain (Mitchum) becomes the focus of his men's lives and of the film. Privately, he anguishes over having to send his men into mortal danger and writes letters to the mothers of all the soldiers who have died under his command. Pyle records the emotional breakdowns and physical courage of the common foot soldier, a point of view that endeared him to the soldiers and his readers. Pyle saw only a rough cut of this fine war drama before he was killed in a Pacific battle.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

The Story of G.I. Joe was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2009.

Academy Awards 1945 --- Ceremony Number 18 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Supporting ActorRobert MitchumNominated
Best Music - ScoringLouis Applebaum, Ann RonellNominated
Best Music - SongMusic and Lyrics by Ann RonellNominated
Best WritingLeopold Atlas, Guy Endore, Philip StevensonNominated
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The Story of G.I. Joe Quotes:

[Final Line]
Ernie Pyle: (Voice-over): For those beneath the wooden crosses, there is nothing we can do, except perhaps to pause and murmur, "Thanks pal, thanks."
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The Story of G.I. Joe Facts
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called this the finest war film he had ever seen.
Several of the humorous lines spoken by G.I.s in the film are taken, uncredited, from WWII cartoonist Bill Mauldin's "Willie and Joe" characters.
The extras in the film were real American GIs, in the process of being transferred from the war in Europe to the Pacific. Many of them were killed in the fighting on Okinawa - the same battle in which Ernie Pyle was killed by a Japanese machine gunner - never having seen the movie in which they appeared.
William A. Wellman, nicknamed "Wild Bill", was a fighter pilot in World War I and hated the infantry, and therefore had no interest in making a film about them. Producer Lester Cowan tried several times to convince Wellman to direct the film, including showing up uninvited at Christmas with gifts for Wellman's children. Wellman finally agreed to take the job only after meeting and spending several days with Ernie Pyle at Pyle's home in New Mexico, where he saw how much former infantrymen revered him.
War correspondent Ernie Pyle acted as advisor to the film. Pyle was killed not long after the film was completed.
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