Tuesday | November 8, 2005 9:00 pm

Sergeant York

Screening on Film

Directed by Howard Hawks.
With Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie.
US, 1941, 35mm, black & white, 134 min.

Based on the true story of Alvin York, a Tennessee hellraiser turned bible-thumper (by a lightning strike, no less) who, after being drafted in 1917, applied for conscientious objector status on religious grounds and was refused. He went on to become the most decorated soldier of the first World War, single-handedly killing twenty-five German soldiers and taking over one hundred prisoners. York refused to let his story be turned into a movie unless he would be portrayed by Gary Cooper, who won his first Academy Award for his role in the film.