''Up Front'' is a 1951 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Alexander Hall Alexander Hall (January 11, 1894 – July 30, 1968) was an American film director, film editor and theatre actor. Biography Hall acted in the theatre from the age of 4 through 1914, when he began to work in silent movies. Following his military ...

and starring

Tom Ewell Tom Ewell (born Samuel Yewell Tompkins, April 29, 1909 – September 12, 1994) was an American film, stage and television actor, and producer. His most successful and most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in ''The Seven Year Itch'' ...

and

David Wayne David Wayne (born Wayne James McMeekan; January 30, 1914 – February 9, 1995) was an American stage and screen actor with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life and career Wayne was born in Traverse City, Michigan, the son of Helen M ...

very loosely based on

Bill Mauldin William Henry Mauldin (; October 29, 1921 – January 22, 2003) was an American editorial cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his work. He was most famous for his World War II cartoons depicting American soldiers, as represented by the ...

's World War II characters ''

Willie and Joe Willie and Joe are stock characters representing United States infantry soldiers during World War II. They were created and drawn by American cartoonist Bill Mauldin from 1940 to 1948, with additional drawings later. They were published in a gag ...

''. Mauldin repudiated it and refused his advising fee; he claimed never to have seen it. It takes place during the Italian Campaign of World War II.

Plot

Based on the famed W.W.II cartoons: Lowbrow G.I.s Willie and Joe, on the Italian front, are good soldiers in combat, but meet the antics of gung-ho Captain Johnson and other military snafus with a barrage of wry comments. On a 3-day pass in Naples, Joe's penchant for wine and women involves the pair with luscious Emi Rosso and her moonshiner father, whose tangled affairs land them in ever deeper trouble.

Pre-Production

Mauldin sold the film rights of ''Up Front'' to International Pictures in 1945, receiving assurance from producer

William Goetz William B. Goetz (March 24, 1903 – August 15, 1969) was an American film producer and studio executive. Goetz was one of the founders of Twentieth Century Pictures, and later served as vice president of 20th Century Fox after the studio's me ...

that he would maintain creative control. Frustrated with the quality of Hollywood war movies, Mauldin was determined for ''Up Front'' to be "the first honest war picture." Brothers John and

Ring Lardner Jr. Ringgold Wilmer Lardner Jr. (August 19, 1915 – October 31, 2000) was an American screenwriter. A member of the "Hollywood Ten", he was blacklisted by the Hollywood film studios during the late 1940s and 1950s after his appearance as an " ...

were hired to write the screenplay. The film's production was put on hold due to Universal's acquisition of International Pictures and eventually shelved, with executives believing that public interest in war movies had diminished. Production picked up again in 1949, but Lardner's involvement in the

Hollywood Ten The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

made his script politically risky for the studio to work with. It was at this point that the script was rewritten by

Stanley Roberts Stanley Corvet Roberts (born February 7, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played center. He was said to have the potential to be the best center of all time. He played college basketball for Louisiana State Unive ...

and the promise of Mauldin's creative role rescinded.

Cast

as Joe *

as Willie *

Marina Berti Elena Maureen Bertolino (29 September 1924 – 29 October 2002), known professionally as Marina Berti, was an Italian film actress. She was born in London from an Italian father and an English mother. Biography Her first screen appearance was ...

as Emi Rosso *

Jeffrey Lynn Jeffrey Lynn (born Ragnar Godfrey Lind; – November 24, 1995) was an American stage-screen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time. T ...

as Capt. Ralph Johnson * Richard Egan as Capa * Maurice Cavell as Vuaglio *

Vaughn Taylor Vaughn Taylor may refer to: * Vaughn Taylor (golfer) * Vaughn Taylor (actor) {{hndis, Taylor, Vaughn ...

as MP Maj. Lester * Silvio Minciotti as Poppa Rosso *

Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...

as Col. Akeley *

Roger De Koven Roger De Koven (born Roger Bemet DeKoven; October 22, 1907 – January 28, 1988)"Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7CM-2LN : Sat Mar 09 19:26:23 UTC 2024), Entry for Ro ...

as Sabatelli * Grazia Narciso as Signora Carvadossi *

Tito Vuolo Tito Vuolo (22 March 1893 – 14 September 1962) was an Italian-born American actor, best known for his supporting work playing often stereotypical Italian characters. Prior to his film career, he toured the United States as a stage actor. His wi ...

as Tarantino *

Mickey Knox Abraham Knox (December 24, 1921 − November 15, 2013) was an American actor with nearly 80 films to his credit. Knox was also a screenwriter, film producer, and novelist. Knox was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, and he subsequently moved t ...

as Driver *

Hal Baylor Hal Harvey Fieberling (born Hal David Britton; December 10, 1918Texas, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1903-1932 for Hal David Britton, 1918 > 057451-061848, retrieved from Ancestry.com – January 15, 1998)Hal Harvey Fieberling in the U.S., Social ...

as Smitty *

John Doucette John Arthur Doucette (January 21, 1921 – August 16, 1994) was an American character actor who performed in more than 280 film and television productions between 1941 and 1987. A man of stocky build who possessed a deep, rich voice, he p ...

as Walsh *

William Frambes The Bowery Boys are fictional New York City characters, portrayed by a company of New York actors, who were the subject of 48 feature films released by Monogram Pictures and its successor Allied Artists Pictures Corporation from 1946 through 195 ...

as Rogers * Henry Rowland as Krausmeyer *

Kenneth Tobey Jesse Kenneth Tobey (March 23, 1917 – December 22, 2002) was an American actor active from the early 1940s into the 1990s, with over 200 credits in film, theatre, and television. He is best known for his role as a captain who takes charg ...

as Cooper *

Arthur Space Charles Arthur Space (October 12, 1908 – January 13, 1983) was an American film, television and stage actor. Today's audiences know him as the eccentric inventor opposite Laurel and Hardy in '' The Big Noise'' (1944), and as veterinarian Doc W ...

as Col. Hayes *

James Seay James Seay (September 9, 1914 – October 10, 1992) was an American character actor who often played minor supporting roles as government officials. Early years Seay demonstrated an interest in acting at an early age, as he and his mothe ...

as Lt. Ferguson *

Harlan Warde Harlan Warde (born Harlan Ward Lufkin; November 6, 1917 – March 13, 1980) was a character actor active in television and movies. Career Warde showed up in supporting roles as detectives, doctors, and ministers. Warde made five guest app ...

as Lt. Myers *

Selmer Jackson Selmer Adolf Jackson (May 7, 1888 – March 30, 1971) was an American stage film and television actor. He appeared in nearly 400 films between 1921 and 1963. His name was sometimes spelled Selmar Jackson. Jackson was born in Lake Mills, Iowa ...

as General *

Eugene Borden Eugene Borden (born Élysée Eugène Prieur-Bardin, March 21, 1897 – July 2, 1971) was a French-American actor, active in Hollywood from the silent era until the mid-1960's. Born in Paris, he immigrated to the United States as a teenager, and e ...

as French Captain *

Vito Scotti Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway theatre, Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from th ...

as Sergeant Clerk * John McGuire as Military Police Lieutenant *

James Flavin James William Flavin Jr. (May 14, 1906 – April 23, 1976) was an American character actor whose stage, film, and television career lasted some forty years. Early life Flavin was born in Portland, Maine, and attended the West Point, where he pl ...

as Military Policeman *

Peter Graves Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor who portrayed Jim Phelps in the television series ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' from 1967 to 1973 and in its reviv ...

as Military Policeman *

Ann Tyrrell Ann Tyrrell (February 6, 1909 – July 20, 1983) was an American stage, film and television actress. Tyrrell is best known for her roles in both of the Ann Sothern CBS sitcoms '' Private Secretary'' (1953–1957) and ''The Ann Sothern S ...

as Nurse *

Midge Ware Midge Ware Colton (born Muriel Florence Bendelson; October 20, 1927 – June 3, 2020) was an American model and stage, screen and television actress. She had a career lasting over 30 years in the show business. Early life Born in The Bronx ...

as Nurse *

Gino Corrado Gino Corrado (born Gino Liserani; 9 February 1893 – 23 December 1982) was an Italian-born film actor."Obituaries." '' Variety'' (Archive: 1905–2000); Los Angeles. Vol. 309, Iss. 10, (5 January 1983): 78–79. He appeared in more than 400 ...

as Waiter *

Lucille Barkley Lucille Barkley (born Lucille Oshinski, November 3, 1924 – March 19, 1979) was an American film actress. Early years The daughter of Florian and Verna Oshinski, Barkley was born in Pennsylvania but considered Rochester, New York, her h ...

as Nurse Receptionist *

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She is best known for providing the voice of Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid''. She made guest appearances in many popular television series including '' ...

as Italian Girl

References

External links

* * 1951 films 1951 comedy films American black-and-white films American comedy films Films based on American comics Films directed by Alexander Hall Italian Campaign of World War II films Military comedy films Universal Pictures films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-US-comedy-film-stub