Sergeant York (film)

Sergeant York
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Howard Hawks
Screenplay by	Harry Chandlee Abem Finkel John Huston Howard E. Koch
Based on	Sergeant York: His Own Life Story and War Diary by Tom Skeyhill Alvin York
Produced by	Howard Hawks Jesse L. Lasky Hal B. Wallis
Starring	Gary Cooper Walter Brennan Joan Leslie
Cinematography	Sol Polito
Edited by	William Holmes
Music by	Max Steiner
Production company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	July 2, 1941 (1941-07-02) (New York City)
Running time	134 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.7 million[1]
Box office	$8.3 million[1]

Sergeant York is a 1941 American biographical film about the life of Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated American soldiers of World War I. Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper in the title role, the film was a critical and commercial success, and became the highest-grossing film of 1941. In 2008, Sergeant York was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[2][3]

The film was based on York's diary, as edited by Tom Skeyhill,^[4] and adapted by Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston, Howard E. Koch, and Sam Cowan (uncredited). York refused, several times, to authorize a film version of his life story, but finally yielded to persistent efforts to finance the creation of an interdenominational Bible school. The story that York insisted on Cooper for the title role comes from a telegram that producer Jesse L. Lasky wrote to Cooper pleading with him to accept the part, to which he signed York's name.^[5]

Cooper went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, while the film also won Best Film Editing and was nominated in nine other categories, including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Walter Brennan), and Supporting Actress (Margaret Wycherly). The American Film Institute ranked the film 57th in its 100 most inspirational American movies list; it also rated Alvin York 35th in its list of the top 50 heroes in American cinema.