Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Dalton Trumbo

Writers:

Dalton Trumbo (novel)
Dalton Trumbo (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 August 1972 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

The most shattering experience you'll ever live.

Plot:

Joe, a young American soldier, is hit by a mortar shell on the last day of World War I. He lies in a hospital bed in a fate worse than death...

Plot Keywords:

Dream | Memory | Eyes | Hospital | Soldier

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Don 'Red' Barry	...	Jody Simmons (as Donald Barry)
Timothy Bottoms	...	Joe Bonham
Craig Bovia	...	Little Guy
Peter Brocco	...	Ancient Prelate
Judy Howard Chaikin	...	Bakery Girl
Kendell Clarke	...	Hospital Offical
Eric Christmas	...	Corporal Timlon
Dalton Trumbo	...	Orator (as Robert Cole)
Maurice Dallimore	...	British Colonel
Robert Easton	...	Third Doctor
Kathy Fields	...	Kareen
Larry Fleischman	...	Russ
Eduard Franz	...	Col. / Gen. Tillery
Anthony Geary	...	Redhead (as Tony Geary)
Ed Gilbert	...	Priest (as Edmund Gilbert)

Also Known As:

Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | USA:R (original rating) | Norway:18

Company:

World Entertainment

Trivia:

The scenes with Jesus Christ are written by Luis Buñuel.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Joe: S.O.S. Help me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Trumbo (2007)

What a lovely war!

In America,this film is underrated.In my native France,it's praised by intellectuals,and it's part of what we call "ciné-club movies".In high school,this very year,my son studied passages from the book as well as scenes from the movie. Trumbo's movie might be the strongest condemnation of war that had ever been filmed.Using two colors -and even three-,toying with present and past (could we speak seriously of future?),he makes the dream of such great predecessors as Jean Renoir (la grande illusion) come true:War is impossible,because how can a wise race could tolerate such an horror? Three colors indeed: -the bleak black and white in the hospital,where asceticism rivals the best of Robert Bresson. -the luminous,radiant scenes of Johnny's past,old forties and fifties color are constantly in evidence in those memories that recall Wyler's or Ford's heyday. -the dark and threatening color that envelops the nightmares in the ruins where Johnny tries to catch up with his only love. Johnny is helpless, his loneliness is more frightening than you'll ever experiment.God can't hear you call.The merciful Jesus of Sunday school whom Johnny's mother taught him to fear and to trust has disappeared with Donald Sutherland on a runaway train.Now it's a deaf and dumb Greek divinity -check the shots of the surrealistic nightmare-,who repeats in your suffering body,in your tormented soul ,in your mind on fire,that you cannot escape your inhumane fate. The nurse provides solace for a while.She tries to communicate with him .She believes in the dignity of man,be he a peace of flesh.It encompasses masturbation as well as simply saying "merry Xmas!"But for all the others,particularly for the officer,he's someone (something?)you must hide ,you must gag,because his world has gotten no place for a human being who represents such a slur on his pride and his glory. Johnny got a raw deal....