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My Love Is Like...Wo
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"My Love Is Like... Wo"
Single by Mýa
from the album Moodring
Released
June 10, 2003 (2003-06-10)
Format
CD single
12"
download
Recorded
Various[show]
The Record Plant
(Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
Interscope Studios
(Santa Monica, California)
Genre
R&B
Length
3:29
Label
Interscope
Songwriter(s)
Missy Elliott
Charles Bereal
Kenneth Bereal
Charlene Keys (uncredited)
Producer(s)
Missy Elliott
CKB
Mýa singles chronology
"Lady Marmalade"
(2001) "My Love Is Like... Wo"
(2003) "Fallen"
(2003)
"Lady Marmalade"
(2001) "My Love Is Like... Wo"
(2003) "Fallen"
(2003)
"My Love Is Like... Wo" is a song by American recording artist Mýa, released as the lead single from her third studio album, Moodring (2003). Mýa re-teamed up with rapper Missy Elliott after the global success of "Lady Marmalade" (2001) to record the song. Before being released, it took Mýa a whole year to decide to record the song because of its graphic lyrical content. The song was written by Elliott along with brothers Charles and Kenneth Bereal. Lyrically, the mid-tempo song is about self-love.
The song received generally mixed to positive reviews from contemporary music critics, applauding Mýa for her newfound sexual freedom. "My Love Is Like...Wo" became a top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for week of September 6, 2003; peaking and spending four consecutive weeks at number thirteen. It performed similarly on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at number seventeen. Internationally, the single charted within the top forty in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The song's accompanying music video was filmed by director Paul Hunter, who envisioned Harrison to perform a one-woman show. The video earned her two nominations at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Dance Video and Best Choreography, while choreographer Travis Payne garnered a nomination at the American Choreography Awards for Outstanding Achievement – Music Video.
Contents
[hide]
1 Background and composition
2 Critical reception
3 Commercial performance
4 Music video
5 Live performances
6 Remixes
7 Legacy
8 Track listings
9 Personnel
10 Charts
10.1 Weekly charts
10.2 Year-end charts
11 Release history
12 References
13 External links
Background and composition[edit]
Recorded in 2001, "My Love Is Like...Wo" was written and produced by American rapper Missy Elliott along with production duo CKB, consisting of brothers Charles and Kenneth Bereal.[1] Additional production on the song was handled by Ron Fair.[1] Before Harrison decided to release "My Love Is...Wo" as the first single from Moodring (2003), she admitted she was not always comfortable with the song and its graphic lyric content. Speaking to Billboard magazine, she explained, "Back then, I wasn't so confident in saying, 'My a** is like wo' [...] I was coming out of doing a program with young girls that talked about self-esteem and body image. I realized that I really couldn't worry about what people think of me. I'm at that point in my life now where I can say, 'My ass is like wo.' I wasn't even considering the song to be on the album at that time, but I later fought for it to be the single."[2]
"My Love Is Like...Wo" is a mid-tempo song composed in the key of G major. The song's tempo is set a slow moderate sixty-nine beats per minute in common time. Mýa's vocal range spans from G3 to D5.[3] The lyrics for "My Love Is Like...Wo" are composed in the traditional verse-chorus form. Mýa opens the song with brief spoken lyrics. She begins the first verse, followed by the chorus leading her into the second verse. The song continues to the bridge, chorus, then fades out with the piano and Mýa chanting "Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo! Wo!".
Critical reception[edit]
Billboard magazine gave the song a positive review:
"The doe-eyed girl next door is proving to be quite a versatile performer, with a decidedly vampish performance in the movie Chicago and new imaging that redresses Mýa as a sexy and certain young woman. The first single from forthcoming Moodring [...] is a playfully coy call to arms for the singer's more tactile attributes, from her love, her kiss, and her touch to her sex, ass, and body—all of which 'are like wo.' Get it? An appropriately hip-swaying beat swirls around the vocal, courtesy of ever-hitworthy producer Missy Elliott. This is the record that will propel Mýa to the A-list among today's pop/R&B icons; throughout the song, she delivers womanly strength and sass with a knowing wink. Moodring sounds like a perfect fit."[4]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the United States, "My Love Is Like...Wo" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number eighty-one on the issue dated June 28, 2003.[5] The song reached its peak position of number thirteen on the chart dated September 6, 2003, spending four consecutive weeks at its peak.[6] It spent twenty consecutive weeks altogether on the chart and became Mýa's fifth non-consecutive top forty solo hit on that chart. On Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, the single debuted at number sixty-two on June 21, 2003,[7] peaking at number seventeen on August 23, 2003. It spent a total of nineteen consecutive weeks on the chart and became Mýa's sixth non-consecutive top forty solo hit on that chart.
Elsewhere, "My Love Is Like...Wo" became a modest hit. The single debuted and peaked at number thirty-three on the UK Singles Chart for the week of September 14, 2003, dropping to number fifty-three the following week before falling off the top seventy-five.[8] It debuted on the Irish Singles Chart at number thirty-six on September 11, 2003, and it remained on the chart for one week.[9] In Australia, "My Love Is Like...Wo" debuted and peaked at number twenty-five on the ARIA Singles Chart during the week of September 1, 2003, spending three consecutive weeks at its peak position and twelve weeks in the top fifty.[10] The song debuted at number forty-nine in New Zealand for the week of September 21, 2003, peaking at number thirty-three six weeks later.[11]
Music video[edit]
The song's music video was featured on MTV's Making the Video. The video was filmed and directed by Paul Hunter, who had previously worked with Mýa on "Lady Marmalade" (2001) with Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim, and Missy Elliott. His concept for the video was to have Mýa act as a one-woman show. Although this initially was not Mýa's vision or idea for the song's video, she agreed to it. However, she did voice her opinion in the styling of the video from the many different costumes changes. She came up with the ideas of the pimpstress and gangster look. In the video, Mýa displayed her tap-dancing during the song's breakdown as well. The dance sequence in the video was choreographed by Travis Payne. The video was released on May 29, 2003.[12]
The video earned Mýa two nominations at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Dance Video and Best Choreography.[13]
Live performances[edit]
Mýa made several television appearances to promote and perform "My Love Is Like...Wo". She first performed the song on Live! with Regis and Kelly on the release day of Moodring album on July 22, 2003.[14] Mýa appeared on BET's 106 & Park and performed "My Love Is Like...Wo" again on July 25, 2003.[15] On August 6, 2003, Mýa performed a medley of "My Love Is Like...Wo" and "Whatever Bitch" (a track from Moodring) on The WB's Pepsi Smash. During the performance breakdown of "Whatever Bitch", she vogued with drag queens.[16]
Remixes[edit]
"My Love Is Like...Wo" spawned several remixes, including two official sequel remixes.[17] "Part II – My Love Is Like...Wo (Allstar Remix)" features additional production by Allen "Allstar" Gordon Jr. and contains an interpolation from Black Rob's 2000 song "Whoa!", written by Rob, Harve Pierre, and Buckwild and originally produced by the latter.[17] Rapper John Doe contributed additional vocals to this version.[17] "Part III – My Love Is Like...Wo (Swizz Mix)" was produced by Swizz Beatz, who recorded additional vocals with rapper Cassidy for the track.[17] It contains an interpolation from Eve's song "Double R What", which appeared on her 2002 album Eve-Olution and was also produced by Swizz Beatz.[17]
Legacy[edit]
In her interview with Singersroom former Bad Boy signee turned indie recording artist D∆WN praised Mýa as a dancer and her "My Love Is Like...Wo" video, commenting, "That’s something I want people to see as an R&B artist, because you haven’t seen any R&B artist do that many techniques and styles since really, Mýa. She was tap dancing in one of her videos. She was one of the first artists to really push different styles of dance in her videos." Speaking on behalf of "My Love Is Like...Wo" and its video, she gushed, In “[My Love is Like] Whoa” she was tap dancing and she did a little bit of hip-hop, then there was jazz moments." Concluding, Mýa was "really pushing the bar."[18] Australian singer Nicole Millar covered "My Love Is Like...Wo" with DJ/producer Zuri Akoko for their Covers EP (2015).[19] Out of the three tracks they chose to cover, Nicole cited "My Love Is Like...Wo" as her favorite cover.[20]
Track listings[edit]
US CD single
"My Love Is Like...Wo" – 3:29
"No Sleep Tonight" – 3:46
US 12" single[21]
A1. "My Love Is Like...Wo" (Main Mix) – 3:31
B1. "My Love Is Like...Wo" (Acapella) – 3:31
B2. "My Love Is Like...Wo" (Instrumental) – 3:29
European CD single[22]
"My Love Is Like...Wo" – 3:29
"Case of the Ex" – 3:55
European CD maxi single[23]
"My Love Is Like...Wo" – 3:29
"Case of the Ex" – 3:55
"Little Too Much, Little Too Late" – 3:24
"My Love Is Like...Wo" (Video)
UK 12" single[24]
A1. "My Love Is Like...Wo"
B1. "Part II – My Love Is Like...Wo" (Allstar Mix) (Main Pass)
B2. "Little Too Much, Little Too Late"
Personnel[edit]
Credits adapted from Moodring liner notes.[1]
Mýa – vocals
Sue Ann Carwell – additional backing vocals
CKB – co-producers
Eric Dawkins – vocal arrangement
Dylan "3-D" Dresdow – engineer
Missy Elliott – additional backing vocals, producer
Ron Fair – additional producer, string arrangements, string conductor, vocal arrangement
Tal Herzberg – Pro Tools
Dave "Hard Drive" Pensado – mixing
Ethan Willoughby – mixing assistant
Frank Wolf – string engineer
Charts[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
Chart (2003)
Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[25] 25
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[26] 12
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[27] 14
Germany (Official German Charts)[28] 73
Ireland (IRMA)[29] 36
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[30] 33
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[31] 55
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[32] 33
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[33] 9
US Billboard Hot 100[34] 13
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[35] 17
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[36] 8
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[37] 9
Year-end charts[edit]
Chart (2003)
Position
US Billboard Hot 100[38]
64
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[39]
88
Release history[edit]
Region
Date
Label
United States
June 10, 2003 Interscope Records
Germany
August 25, 2003 A&M Records
United Kingdom
September 8, 2003 Polydor Records
Australia
September 9, 2003 Universal Music
New Zealand
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c Moodring (CD liner notes). Mýa. Interscope Records. 2003. B0000734-02.
Jump up ^ Hall, Rashaun (July 5, 2003). "Music Best Fits Mya's 'Mood'". Billboard. 115 (27): 13. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Mýa – My Love Is Like...Wo Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
Jump up ^ "My Love Is Like . . . Wo". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
Jump up ^ "Hot 100 – Week of June 28, 2003". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Mya – My Love Is Like... Wo". αCharts. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Week of June 21, 2003". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
Jump up ^ "The Official Charts Company - My Love Is Like... Wo by Mya Search". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
Jump up ^ "Top 50 Singles, Week Ending 11 September 2003". Chart-Track. Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Mýa – My Love Is Like... Wo". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Mýa – My Love Is Like... Wo". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Making the Video Episode Guide 2003 – Mya". TV Guide. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
Jump up ^ "2003 MTV Video Music Awards". MTV. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Live! With Kelly Episode Guide 2003 – 2003 July 22". TV Guide. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
Jump up ^ "106 & Park: Top 10 Episode Guide 2003 – Mya Performance; 112 Video Walk-On". TV Guide. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Pepsi Smash Episode Guide 2003 – Pepsi Smash". TV Guide. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Mya – My Love Is Like...WO (Part II And Part III)". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
Jump up ^ "Dawn Richard Talks Being a Dancer's Artist, Spirit-Killing Shoes, Her Pick For President, More". Singersroom. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
Jump up ^ "mtv video premiere: nicole millar x zuri akoko!". MTV. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
Jump up ^ "Girl Talk With Nicole Millar And Zuri Akoko". Moustache Magazine. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
Jump up ^ "Mya – My Love Is Like... Wo (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Mýa* – My Love Is Like...Wo (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Mýa* – My Love Is Like...Wo (CD)". Discogs. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Mya – My Love Is Like... Wo (Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Australian-charts.com – Mýa – My Love Is Like... Wo". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Jump up ^ "Ultratop.be – Mýa – My Love Is Like... Wo" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Jump up ^ "Ultratop.be – Mýa – My Love Is Like... Wo" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Jump up ^ "Musicline.de – Mya Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Jump up ^ "Chart Track: Week 37, 2003". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Jump up ^ "Charts.org.nz – Mýa – My Love Is Like... Wo". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Jump up ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
Jump up ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
Jump up ^ "Official R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Mya Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
Jump up ^ "Mya Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
Jump up ^ "Mya Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Mya Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
Jump up ^ "2003 Year End Charts – The Billboard Hot 100 Singles & Tracks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 27, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
Jump up ^ "2003 Year End Charts – Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 27, 2003. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
External links[edit]
Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
hide
v
t
e
Mýa songs
Mýa
"It's All About Me"
"Movin' On"
"My First Night with You"
Fear of Flying
"The Best of Me"
"Case of the Ex"
"Free"
Moodring
"My Love Is Like...Wo"
"Fallen"
Liberation
"Lock U Down"
"Ridin'"
Sugar & Spice
"Paradise"
"Wish You Were Here"
Beauty & the Streets Vol. 1
"Black Out"
"Show Me Somethin'"
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sexy & Simple)
"Fabulous Life"
"Runnin' Back"
"Earthquake"
"Somebody Come Get This Bitch"
"Mr. Incredible"
"Mess Up My Hair"
"Evolve"
Smoove Jones
"Welcome To My World"
"Team You"
"Coolin'"
TKO (The Knock Out)
"Ready for Whatever"
"Ready, Part II"
"You Got Me"
"Damage"
"Knock You Out"
As featured artist
"Alive"
"Girls Dem Sugar"
"Let There Be Light"
"Love Is the Answer"
"Somebody Like Me"
"We Are the World 25 for Haiti"
"What More Can I Give"
Other songs
"Ayo!"
"Everything or Nothing"
"Free"
"Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)"
"Lady Marmalade"
"My Bra"
"Take Me There"
"Best of Me, Part 2"
"Where the Dream Takes You"
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text:
The Story of G.I. Joe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The Story of G.I. Joe
Theatrical Eagle-Lion Films rerelease poster
Directed by
William Wellman
Produced by
Lester Cowan
David Hall
Written by
Leopold Atlas
Guy Endore
Philip Stevenson
Starring
Burgess Meredith
Robert Mitchum
Music by
Louis Applebaum
Ann Ronell
Cinematography
Russell Metty
Edited by
Albrecht Joseph
Distributed by
United Artists
Release date
June 18, 1945
Running time
108 min.
Country
United States
Language
English
Italian
Budget
over $1 million[1]
The Story of G.I. Joe, also credited in prints as Ernie Pyle's Story of G.I. Joe, is a 1945 American war film directed by William Wellman, starring Burgess Meredith and Robert Mitchum. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Mitchum's only nomination for Best Supporting Actor. This was the film that established him as one of the world's biggest movie stars.
The story is a tribute to the American infantryman ("G.I. Joe") during World War II, told through the eyes of Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle, with dialogue and narration lifted from Pyle's columns. The film concentrates on one company, ("C Company, 18th Infantry"), that Pyle accompanies into combat in Tunisia and Italy. The friendships that grow out of his coverage led Pyle to relate the misery and sacrifice inherent in their plight and their heroic endurance of it. Although the company has the designation of an actual unit, that unit did not participate in the combat in Italy that makes up the preponderance of the film, and actually stands in for the units of the 34th and 36th Infantry Divisions that Pyle did cover in Italy.
Although filmed with the cooperation of Pyle, the film premiered two months to the day after he was killed in action on Ie Shima during the invasion of Okinawa. In his February 14, 1945, posting entitled "In the Movies", Pyle commented: "They are still calling it The Story of G.I. Joe. I never did like the title, but nobody could think of a better one, and I was too lazy to try."[2]
Contents
[hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
2.1 Casting notes
3 Preservation
4 Concept
4.1 Screenplay
4.2 Finding a director
4.3 Historical basis
5 Awards and nominations
5.1 Academy Award nominations
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
The untested infantrymen of C Company, 18th Infantry, U.S. Army, board trucks to travel to the front for the first time. Lt. Bill Walker (Robert Mitchum) allows war correspondent Ernie Pyle (Burgess Meredith), himself a rookie to combat, to hitch a ride with the company. Ernie surprises Walker and the rest of the men by deciding to go with them all the way to the front lines. Just getting to the front through the rain and mud is an arduous task, but the diminutive, forty-two-year-old Ernie manages to keep up.
Ernie gets to know the men whose paths he will cross and write about again and again in the next year:
Private Robert "Wingless" Murphy, a good-natured man who was rejected by the Air Corps for being too tall;
Private Dondaro, an Italian-American from Brooklyn whose mind is always on women and conniving to be with one;
Sergeant Warnicki, who misses the young son ("Junior") he has never seen;
Private Mew, from Brownsville, Texas, who has no family back home but finds one in the outfit, exemplified by his naming beneficiaries for his G.I. life insurance among them.
Their "baptism of fire" is at the Battle of Kasserine Pass, a bloody chaotic defeat. Ernie is present at battalion headquarters when Lieutenant Walker arrives as a runner for his company commander; Walker has already become an always tired, seemingly emotionless, and grimy soldier. Ernie and the company go their separate ways, but months later he seeks them out, confessing that, as the first outfit he ever covered, they are in his mind the best outfit in the army. He finds them on a road in Italy, about to attack a German-held town, just as the soldiers are elated or disappointed at "mail call": letters for Murphy and Dondaro, a package with a phonograph record of his son's voice for Warnicki, but nothing for now Captain Walker. Ernie finds that Company C has become very proficient at killing without remorse. In house-to-house combat, they capture the town. Fatigue, however, is an always present but never conquerable enemy. When arrangements are made for Wingless Murphy to marry "Red", his Army nurse fiancee, in the town they have just captured, Ernie is recruited to give the bride away, but can barely keep awake.
The company advances to a position in front of Monte Cassino, but, unable to advance, they are soon reduced to a life of living in caves dug in the ground, enduring persistent rain and mud, conducting endless patrols and subjected to savage artillery barrages. When his men are forced to eat cold rations for Christmas dinner, Walker obtains turkey and cranberry sauce for them from a rear echelon supply lieutenant at gunpoint. Casualties are heavy: young replacements are quickly killed before they can learn the tricks of survival in combat (which Walker confesses to Ernie makes him feel like a murderer), Walker is always short of lieutenants, and the veterans lose men, including Wingless Murphy. After a night patrol to capture a prisoner, Warnicki suffers a nervous breakdown when, finally hearing his son's voice on the record, his pent up frustrations at the war are released. Walker sadly directs the others to subdue the hysterical sergeant and sends him to the infirmary. Ernie returns to the correspondents' quarters to write a piece on Murphy's death and is told by his fellow reporters that he has won the Pulitzer Prize for his combat reporting. Ernie again catches up with the outfit on the side of the road to Rome after Cassino has finally been taken. He greets Mew and a few of the old hands, but the pleasant reunion is interrupted when a string of mules is led into their midst, each carrying the dead body of a G.I. to be gently placed on the ground. A final mule, led by Dondaro, bears the body of Captain Walker. One by one, the old hands reluctantly come forth to express their grief in the presence of Walker's corpse.
"Then the first man squatted down, and he reached down and took the dead hand, and he sat there for a full five minutes, holding the dead hand in his own and looking intently into the dead face, and he never uttered a sound all the time he sat there. And finally he put the hand down, and then reached up and gently straightened the points of the captain’s shirt collar, and then he sort of rearranged the tattered edges of his uniform around the wound. And then he got up and walked away down the road, all alone."[3]
Ernie joins the company as it goes down the road, narrating its conclusion: "For those beneath the wooden crosses, there is nothing we can do, except perhaps to pause and murmur, 'Thanks pal, thanks.'"
Cast[edit]
Burgess Meredith as Ernie Pyle
Robert Mitchum as Lt./Capt. Bill Walker
Freddie Steele as Sgt. Steve Warnicki
Wally Cassell as Pvt. Dondaro
Jimmy Lloyd as Pvt. Spencer
John R. Reilly as Pvt. Robert 'Wingless' Murphy
William Murphy as Pvt. Charles R. Mew
Dorothy Coonan Wellman as Nurse Lt. Elizabeth 'Red' Murphy (uncredited)
Sicily and Italy Combat Veterans of the Campaigns in Africa as Themselves
Casting notes[edit]
Casting of the role of Ernie Pyle began in June 1944, after speculation about the role brought forth a large number of names as possibilities to producer Lester Cowan.[4] Pyle was seen by Americans as part saint, part seer, and part common man,[5] and himself pleaded with a fellow correspondent, headed to Hollywood to contribute to the storyline: "For God's sake, don't let them make me look like a fool."[6] The choice narrowed down quickly to three character actors resembling Pyle or his perceived personna: James Gleason, Walter Brennan, and Meredith, who was then little-known and serving as a captain in the Army. Meredith was chosen because he was lesser known.[4] Cowan was advised that if Capt. Meredith appeared in the film, all profits would have to be donated to the Army Emergency Relief Fund, and the Army refused to release him from active duty. According to Meredith, the Army was overruled by presidential advisor Harry Hopkins, and his honorable discharge from the Army was approved personally by General George C. Marshall.[6] Meredith himself spent time with Pyle while the correspondent recuperated in New Mexico from the emotional after effects of surviving an accidental bombing by the Army Air Forces at the start of Operation Cobra in Normandy.[7]
The movie studio initially wanted to place a leading-man type for the main role, but Wellman wanted a physically smaller man to better portray middle-aged Pyle. As a compromise, Mitchum was chosen to play Lieutenant (later Captain) Walker. The film was one of the first starring roles for Mitchum.
Nine actual war correspondents are listed as "For the War Correspondents" in technical advisor credits: Don Whitehead (Associated Press), George Lait (International News Service), Chris Cunningham (United Press), Hal Boyle (A.P.), Jack Foisie (Stars and Stripes), Bob Landry (Life Magazine), Lucien Hubbard (Readers Digest), Clete Roberts (Blue Network), and Robert Reuben (Reuters). Three appear as themselves in the scene in which Ernie learns he has won the Pulitzer prize.
Wellman's wife, actress Dorothy Coonan Wellman, appeared in an uncredited speaking role as Lt. Elizabeth "Red" Murphy, the combat zone bride of character "Wingless" Murphy.
The Army agreed to Wellman's request for 150 soldiers, then training in California for further deployment to the Pacific and all veterans of the Italian campaign, to use as extras during the six weeks of filming in late 1944. Their training continued when they were not filming to present the best image possible for the Army, although the War Department allowed them to grow beards for their roles. Wellman insisted that actual soldiers speak much of the "G.I." dialogue for authenticity. He also insisted that the Hollywood actors ("as few as possible") cast in the film be required to live and train with the assigned soldiers or they would not be hired.[8]
Preservation[edit]
The Academy Film Archive preserved G.I. Joe in 2000.[9]
Concept[edit]
Screenplay[edit]
The film's concept originated with Lester Cowan, an independent producer, in September 1943, when he approached the War Department for cooperation in making a movie about the infantry with the same high degree of prestige as Air Force. In October he came to terms with United Artists for financial support and distribution of the proposed film, then developed a story outline based on Pyle's columns reproduced in Here is Your War, which the Army approved on November 27.[10]
Attempts to write a script that would accurately translate Pyle's style and sentiments to the screen while being acceptable to all of Pyle's readers and fans delayed filming for a year. Cowan came up with his final concept—Pyle's "love affair" with the ordinary infantryman—by June 1944, but developing a storyline proved more difficult.[11] After the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, believing that the end of the war was in sight, the script moved in the direction of Pyle covering the infantry in its final advance to victory.[10]
However the final form of the screenplay developed through the input of several war correspondents and associates of Pyle, chiefly Don Whitehead, Lee Miller, and Paige Cavanaugh, who assisted the writers in selecting details from Pyle's columns for inclusion in the film,[12] and from the desires of director William Wellman, who worked directly with Pyle.[13]
Finding a director[edit]
Cowan's first choice for director was John Huston, even though he had completed only two films before going into the service.[14] Cowan was impressed by two feature combat documentaries Huston had made for the war effort, Report from the Aleutians and The Battle of San Pietro, but was unable to gain Huston's services from the Army.[15]
In August 1944, unable to complete the writing of the screenplay, Cowan sought the services of William A. Wellman. One film history (Suid) has Cowan walking into Wellman's home univited, making a strong pitch for Wellman's services, then engaging in a heated argument when Wellman refused. Wellman told Cowan that he "hated the infantry" because of his own experiences as a fighter pilot in World War I, and because the infantry commander assigned by the War Department to assist in the making of Wellman's acclaimed Wings in 1927 so disliked the Air Corps that he had attempted to renege on the cooperation and obstruct the filming.[15]
Cowan made two other attempts to cajole Wellman into accepting the assignment, first by bringing a personal letter from Pyle to Wellman (who was quoted as saying it was "like waving a red flag in front of a bull" and resulted in Wellman slamming the door on Cowan), and by bribing Wellman with gifts for his children. The latter resulted in Wellman threatening Cowan if he came back again.[15]
Cowan persisted, however, and had Ernie Pyle (who had returned to Albuquerque for a rest from combat) personally telephone Wellman. Pyle overcame Wellman's resistance by inviting him to his home where two days of discussions resulted in a complete change of heart by Wellman.[13] Suid goes on to note that although Wellman was dictatorial in his management of the filming[16] and crucial to the style and final form of the script,[13] that Wellman's greatest impact was as the "catalyst" for the "collective process" (as opposed to the more modern philosophy of filmmaking as a "director's medium") of bringing together "Pyle, his stories, the actors, and the Army to create a uniquely realistic movie."[10]
Historical basis[edit]
Pyle covered the 1st Infantry Division, including the 18th Infantry, in Tunisia from January to May 1943, and wrote a column on the American defeat at Kasserine Pass. He also landed with the 1st Division during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. However, after the Sicilian campaign, which is mentioned but not portrayed in the film, the 18th Infantry moved to England to prepare for the Allied invasion of France, while the film's "Company C" is said to have made a landing under fire at Salerno.
While the screenwriters chose the 18th Infantry Regiment to be depicted in the film, Pyle made clear that his favorite outfit, "my company", was in the 133rd Infantry Regiment (originally part of the Iowa National Guard) of the 34th Infantry Division, a unit he had covered in 1942 while it was still stationed in Northern Ireland, then again in Tunisia. Pyle devotes Chapter Thirteen, "The Fabulous Infantry", of his book Brave Men to this unnamed company of the 133rd Infantry, which he accompanied between December 1943 and February 1944, concentrating on eight G.I.s who were the last survivors of the original 200 shipped to Europe. The chapter's vignettes are very similar to the final form of the film, including portrayal of the well-liked and competent company commander, 1st Lt. John J. "Jack" Sheehy. At least three characters were based on subjects in this outfit, including Sgt. Warnicki (Sgt. Jack Pierson, who also had never seen his son "Junior") and the company's mascot dog, in this instance a small black-and-white female named "Squirt".[17]
The events in Italy portrayed in the film are based on Pyle's experiences with soldiers of the 36th Infantry Division in the Battle of San Pietro, and the 133rd Infantry in the Battle of Monte Cassino. Mitchum's character, Capt. Bill Walker, was modeled on two soldiers who deeply impressed Pyle. Walker was a stand-in for Capt. Henry T. Waskow of the 36th Division's Company B 143rd Infantry, and the vehicle for conveying the reflections expressed to Pyle by Sgt. Frank Eversole of the 133rd Infantry. Walker's death—and the reaction of his men to it—is a faithful recreation of the death of Waskow on Hill 1205 (Monte Sammucro) on December 14, 1943, which was the subject of Pyle's most famous column, The Death of Captain Waskow. Sgt. "Buck" Eversole was a platoon leader in Lt. Sheehy's company and the subject of several Pyle stories.
Awards and nominations[edit]
In 2009, it was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant and will be preserved for all time.[18]
Academy Award nominations[edit]
Best Supporting Actor - Robert Mitchum
Best Original Song - Ann Ronell for "Linda"
Best Score - Louis Applebaum and Ann Ronell
Best Screenplay - Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore, and Philip Stevenson
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Indies $70,000,000 Pix Output". Variety: 18. 3 November 1944. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
Jump up ^ Ernie Pyle, "In the Movies", Indiana University School of Journalism
Jump up ^ Ernie Pyle, "The Death of Captain Waskow", Indiana University School of Journalism
^ Jump up to: a b Tobin, James (1997). Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II. Hardcover: Free Press, ISBN 0-684-83642-4, p. 213.
Jump up ^ Tobin, pp. 203-205.
^ Jump up to: a b Tobin, p. 214.
Jump up ^ Tobin, pp. 196 and 221.
Jump up ^ Suid, Lawrence H. (2002 edition). Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film, University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-9018-5, p. 94-95.
Jump up ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
^ Jump up to: a b c Suid (2002), p. 92.
Jump up ^ Tobin (1997), p. 215, however, credits Wellman instead for coming up with this theme--and quotes him nearly word for word with the phrasing used by Suid--after Cowan had gotten off-track drawing up synopses that depicted Pyle as a wayward, drunken, and failing journalist at the start of the war.
Jump up ^ Tobin (1997), p. 213.
^ Jump up to: a b c Suid (2002), p. 94.
Jump up ^ However, the two films, The Maltese Falcon and In This Our Life, were themselves an impressive resumé.
^ Jump up to: a b c Suid (2002), p. 93.
Jump up ^ Suid (2002), p. 95.
Jump up ^ Pyle, Ernie (2000 edition), Brave Men, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0-8032-8768-2, pp. 193-216.
Jump up ^ "25 new titles added to National Film Registry". Yahoo News. Yahoo. 2009-12-30. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved 2009-12-30.
External links[edit]
The Story of G.I. Joe on IMDb
The Story of G.I. Joe at the TCM Movie Database
The Story of G.I. Joe at AllMovie
"The Death of Captain Waskow" reprinted at the Indiana University School of Journalism
Photos of Ernie Pyle from Story of G.I. Joe 1944 by Ned Scott
[hide]
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Films directed by William A. Wellman
1920s
Second Hand Love
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Big Dan
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Not a Drum Was Heard
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When Husbands Flirt
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1930s
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Young Eagles
Maybe It's Love
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The Public Enemy
Night Nurse
The Star Witness
Safe in Hell
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So Big!
Love Is a Racket
The Purchase Price
The Conquerors
Frisco Jenny
Central Airport
Lilly Turner
Heroes for Sale
Midnight Mary
Wild Boys of the Road
Female
College Coach
Looking for Trouble
Stingaree
The President Vanishes
Call of the Wild
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Small Town Girl
A Star Is Born
Nothing Sacred
Men with Wings
Beau Geste
The Light That Failed
1940s
Reaching for the Sun
Roxie Hart
The Great Man's Lady
Thunder Birds
Lady of Burlesque
The Ox-Bow Incident
Buffalo Bill
This Man's Navy
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Gallant Journey
Magic Town
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Yellow Sky
Battleground
1950s
The Next Voice You Hear...
The Happy Years
Across the Wide Missouri
It's a Big Country
Westward the Women
My Man and I
Island in the Sky
The High and the Mighty
Track of the Cat
Blood Alley
Good-bye, My Lady
Darby's Rangers
Lafayette Escadrille
Television
Light's Diamond Jubilee (co-directed)
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