Breakthrough

Like most of Agar's early movies, the surrounding cast were of sufficient quality to hide, and even carry, Mr. Shirley Temple.

The WW2 period featured is one that is usually skipped over, despite the importance and difficulty of that time. The Allies were under pressure from a well organised defence, taking full advantage of the local terrain, this is all well communicated by this movie.

Lovejoy, as the cagey experienced Sgt., is a marvel to watch, as his character does for his Lt., so he does for Agar, a wonderful fusion of living the role.

A worthy entry for any war movie buff

To employ a properly military analogy this film feels like a tired, none too bright straggler rejoining his unit long after better, smarter soldiers with names like "Battleground", "Objective Burma" and "Air Force" have checked in. And the fact that it was written by the son of Hollywood's chief censor while a third of it is comprised of stock footage only adds to its general air of dopeyness and unoriginality. C minus.

David Brian, John Agar, and Frank Lovejoy head a solid cast in Breakthrough a product of Warner Brothers B picture unit that skilfully employs real combat footage nicely integrated into the film

It's a simple plot as the film opens in Great Britain where the troops are gathering for the upcoming D-Day invasion. David Brian is a company commander and John Agar is new 2nd Lieutenant from Fort Benning who has in fact taken over the platoon Brian was formerly in charge of. A training foul up that could have been fatal gets Agar good and chewed out. However Sergeant Frank Lovejoy thinks Agar has the right stuff.

A bit of the plot from Twelve O'Clock High is also used in this film as well in regard to the conclusion.

A lot of familiar names and a lot of WW2 stock characters are used for the members of Agar's platoon.

The three leads are cast well and World War 2 film fans should be pleased.

It's spring 1944. The movie follows a squad of American soldiers going through training. They are part of the first wave on D-Day, and they fight onward to the end.

While I don't mind the characters, they aren't anything special. It is the classic one-of-every-kind sort of group. There are a few minor funny moments, but some downright awkward ones too. The action scenes with the actors are limited. They fill the rest out with real footage from different sides of the war and different battle locations. Some are recognizable and classic. Some are new and impressive. That's all I really want from this movie. There are probably ten minutes of real war footage that I like.

5 years after the war ended, it is under appreciated for it's strengths. Despite it formulaic plot, it does two things exceptionally well that very few other war flix do. First, it puts face on the OCS shavetail. The 90 day wonder was a necessary evil in protracted war but the results are often disastrous. Breakthrough does a nice job of following Agar from overstuffed newbie to battle tested leader. It's a best case scenario but it is also completely plausible because of the primacy of the selfless NCO. Second, it makes the necessity to protect personal sanity by reducing replacements to things. Good leader want to get close...great leaders understand they can't get to close...they may have to send them to their death.