Sergeant York

Howard Hawks's film is not as well known as it should be. For one thing, it won Gary Cooper an Oscar for his portrayal of a Tennessee backwoods farmer, Alvin C. York, who put aside his pacifism to become a hero in the First World War, during which he captured over 100 Germans and killed a goodly few more, too.

His preferred method of sniping was to imitate a turkey call and when the German put his head up over the trench to see where the bird was, he generally got it between the eyes from the practised sharpshooter.

Hawks was also a huntin'n'shootin' man, and he moves the film along with confident purposefulness.

Its impact on the US public probably contributed to the growth of patriotic opinion that led to America's entry into the Second World War.

Most watched News videos