Blu Ray Review: A Walk in the Sun (1945)

Back in 1930, Lewis Milestone made the quintessential World War One drama All Quiet on the Western Front, which became an early Best Picture winner. Fifteen years later Milestone made the definitive World War Two drama A Walk in the Sun, which has now been released in a definitive restoration by Kit Parker Films thru Sprocket Vault.

Harry Brown’s book had been serialized in Liberty Magazine in 1944 and was planned as a film to be produced by Samuel Bronston. Bronston started pre-production, but ran out of funds, so Lewis Milestone took over the project. Bronston sued, and was allowed a percentage of the film, but it is Milestone’s production.

As with his aforementioned 1930 classic, Milestone offers a very serious and compelling war drama, with a top cast that includes Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, Lloyd Bridges, and Norman Lloyd. He also allowed actors who usually played comedy, like Sterling Holloway and Huntz Hall, to play serious roles, with great success. The movie is dialog-driven, not narrative driven, and remains captivating for its entire running time. A Walk in the Sun was screened privately for the military before release, garnering their strong approval. Lewis Milestone agreed to make a couple of minor changes that were proposed before the movie hit theaters.

Several different studios were interested in this film’s distribution, and 20th Century Fox picked it up for release. However, right about that time, the war ended and Fox head Darryl Zanuck ceased production on war dramas. A Walk in the Sun finally got a general release in early 1946, to great critical acclaim and audience popularity.

For many years A Walk in the Sun was in the public domain, allowing a lot of low-rent distributors to make heavily duped prints available at cut-rate prices on various home video formats over the years. This definitive 4k restoration presents the film in the best condition, with sharp, clear visuals and strong sound. This is the version of the movie one should have.

Kit Parker’s blu ray is a two disc set. Along with the film, a second disc offers several special features including a 2014 interview with actor Norman Lloyd and the preservation negative.

Highly recommended to libraries, research centers, and classic film fans, this definitive restoration of A Walk in the Sun is available for purchase at this link: WALK-SUN