Sergeant York (1941)

I'm not sure if you could call this film a biography, since I think you have to span the life of the subject to be a biography. This is the "story" of Alvin York, a decorated war hero from World War I. When York was approached about making his story into a film he insisted that the part be played by Gary Cooper. He was told that Cooper was too old, but he insisted that they make it work or not do it. It worked out well, because the film won two Oscars for editing, and Cooper won best actor.

The film starts in the backwoods of Tennessee where Alvin is a drunkard with an unsuccessful farm. In real life he was converted and saved by his wife, in the film he was struck by lightning... I guess that was more dramatic. He enlists in the draft but applies to be a conscientious objector, he is refused and sent to boot camp. They find out he is an excellent sharpshooter and put him in a Sergeant position training others. He pulls off some pretty amazing war exploits that I will reserve for you to see for yourself.

A really good war film, with a really good cast. Look at the date of release and you can guess that this definitely a pro-war film, so keep that in mind.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034167/

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