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Sergeant York

Play trailer Poster for Sergeant York Released Sep 27, 1941 2h 14m War Play Trailer Watchlist
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85% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Prize-winning Tennessee marksman Alvin York (Gary Cooper), a recent convert to Christianity, finds himself torn between his non-violent beliefs and his desire to serve his country when recruited to fight in World War I. Kindly Major Buxton (Stanley Ridges) convinces York to engage in battle, where the pacifist's prowess with a rifle earns him honors as he continues to struggle with his decision to kill. Howard Hawks directs this adaptation of the real York's memoirs.
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Sergeant York

Critics Reviews

View All (26) Critics Reviews
Variety Staff Variety For Gary Cooper the role is made to order. May 27, 2008 Full Review Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: 4/5 Feb 8, 2004 Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times The performance of Gary Cooper in the title role holds the picture together magnificently, and even the most unfavorable touches are made palatable because of him. Rated: 4/5 May 20, 2003 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins One of the phoniest of all war pictures, exhibiting limited entertainment value, blandly stereotypical personas, a routine construction (and a painfully overlong runtime), and minimal genuineness. Rated: 4/10 Sep 16, 2024 Full Review Pare Lorentz McCall's It is an uneven production, and no one was comfortable with the locale. Yet it is a strong picture, and an honest one. Oct 30, 2023 Full Review Danielle Solzman Solzy at the Movies Gary Cooper delivers a marvelous performance as the acclaimed World War 1 hero in Sergeant York but the film is propaganda of the era. Rated: 4/5 Nov 11, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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harwee h Excellent Hawks film, he was nominated here for his direction. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/25/24 Full Review Charley J One of the best true story Christian movie, I have ever seen. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/18/24 Full Review Leaburn O Rip roaring stuff about a ridiculously simple minded good egg soldier who was an American hero. Propaganda puff piece at a time of war. It's all a bit too simple but he's a jolly good fellow and the good vibes carry us through quite easily. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/22/23 Full Review Paul S Good classic movie! When movies were movies! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/26/23 Full Review Chris M I had no expectations one way or the other. But I found myself enjoying this more than I thought I would. True that there are character issues and like a lot of movies from the time the pacing drags too much at times. Plus a couple of lines of dialog from supporting characters came out less than stellar. But once it finally gets going it is really worth the wait through the draggy talkie parts. Slow but still pretty good. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/15/22 Full Review Audience Member At the height of World War II, America needed a good shot of patriotism. "Sergeant York" was just that movie. It became the biggest film of the year. The story of a God fearing country yoke from Tennessee who became a war hero during World War I. It's an interesting story, that is surprising true. Gary Cooper excelled at playing the simple, every man is what America needs. He is a bumpkin, but not simple-minded. He is thoughtful and holds tight to his beliefs. Directed by Howard Hawkes, the film is rich and well shot as one would expect from Hawkes. It's over-the-top propaganda becomes too much however. The score of patriots greatest hits sounds too bombastic and obvious today. It's easy to admire the filmmaking and performances, especially from Cooper. But the film doesn't date well. It's interesting to see how it spoke to it's audience and the country at the time, but it misses being a true classic that it could have been. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Sergeant York

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Movie Info

Synopsis Prize-winning Tennessee marksman Alvin York (Gary Cooper), a recent convert to Christianity, finds himself torn between his non-violent beliefs and his desire to serve his country when recruited to fight in World War I. Kindly Major Buxton (Stanley Ridges) convinces York to engage in battle, where the pacifist's prowess with a rifle earns him honors as he continues to struggle with his decision to kill. Howard Hawks directs this adaptation of the real York's memoirs.
Director
Howard Hawks
Producer
Howard Hawks, Jesse L. Lasky, Hal B. Wallis
Screenwriter
Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston, Howard Koch
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers
Genre
War
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 27, 1941, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
2h 14m
Sound Mix
Mono
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.37:1)
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