A Time Out of War

A Time Out of War
Directed byDenis Sanders
Based onPickets
by Robert W. Chambers
Produced byDenis Sanders
Terry Sanders
StarringCorey Allen
Barry Atwater
Release date
  • 1954 (1954)
Running time
20 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Time Out of War is a 1954 American short war film directed by Denis Sanders and starring Corey Allen and Barry Atwater. In 1955, it won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) at the 27th Academy Awards,[1][2] first prize at the Venice Film Festival Live Action Short Film category, and a BAFTA Special Award, among others.[3]

Summary

The film depicts a one-hour truce agreed to by Union and Confederate soldiers who are on opposite sides of a river.[3]

Production

Denis Sanders was in UCLA film school whilst his brother was a UCLA undergraduate. For Denis's thesis, he searched for an American Civil War short story that was in the public domain to adapt into a film.[4] He chose Pickets, an 1897 story by Robert W. Chambers.[5] Folksinger and songwriter Frank Hamilton composed the original music for the film.

Reception and legacy

Critic Bosley Crowther called it "a keen and eloquent little picture".[6]

The prestige of the film led Terry to be hired by Charles Laughton as the second unit director of The Night of the Hunter (1955).[7] Both brothers were then hired to write the screenplay for The Naked and the Dead, which led to film careers for both men.[7]

The Academy Film Archive preserved A Time Out of War in 2007[8] and it was added to the National Film Registry.[7]

Cast

References

  1. ^ "New York Times: A Time Out of War". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  2. ^ "The 27th Academy Awards (1955) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). October 4, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "A Time Out of War". American Film Foundation. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  4. ^ "Pacific Palisades ~ Palisadian-Post". Archived from the original on September 12, 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
  5. ^ ""A Time Out of War" is a National Treasure | UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television". Archived from the original on July 10, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
  6. ^ Crowther, Bosley (August 10, 1955). "Screen: Fernandel, Pere et Cinq Fils; He Plays All 6 in 'The Sheep Has Five Legs'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c "A Tale of Two Brothers" (PDF). Point of View Magazine: 20. Spring 2007. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  8. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.