Reception
Sergeant York was a spectacular success at the box office and became the highest grossing film of 1941. It remains one of the highest grossing films of all time when adjusted for inflation. It benefited from the attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred while the film played in theaters. The film's patriotic theme helped recruit soldiers; young men sometimes went directly from the movie theater to military enlistment offices.
At the 14th Academy Awards, the film won two Oscars:
- Best Actor - Gary Cooper
- Best Film Editing - William Holmes
It was also nominated for:
- Outstanding Motion Picture - Warner Bros. (Hal B. Wallis and Jesse L. Lasky Producers)
- Best Director - Howard Hawks
- Best Writing (Original Screenplay) - Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston, Howard Koch
- Best Supporting Actor - Walter Brennan
- Best Supporting Actress - Margaret Wycherly
- Best Art Direction (Black-and-White) - John Hughes, Fred M. MacLean
- Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) - Sol Polito
- Best Music (Score of a Dramatic Picture) - Max Steiner
- Best Sound Recording - Nathan Levinson
Read more about this topic: Sergeant York
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)