Sergeant York (1941)

Gary Cooper

''Sergeant York'' is an adventure war film telling the true story of the life of Alvin York, the most-decorated American soldier of World War I. The movie was made in 1941, directed by Howard Hawks and starred Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie and Margaret Wycherly.

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The movie tells the story of backwoods Tennessee farmer, Alvin York, who wrestled with his religious pacifism and eventually became the greatest hero of World War I. He personally kills 25 German soldiers, then single-handedly captures 132 prisoners, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for his incredible courage.

Alvin York, for many years refused to sell the film rights to his story, saying, "This uniform ain't for sale." However with the rise of fascism and war once again coming in Europe he was convinced that it was important to have his story told, and he agreed providing that only Gary Cooper could play him.

The movie won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Gary Cooper who became firmly established as one of Hollywood's top leading men and also won for Best Film Editing. It received nine further nominations which were unsuccessful, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Walter Brennan), and Best Supporting Actress (Margaret Wycherly). 'Sergeant York' was both a critical and a box-office success and it became the biggest-grossing movie of 1941.

The movie was ranked 57th in the American Film Institute's list of most inspirational movies and the character of Alvin York was ranked at number 35 it the AFI's list of the top 50 heroes in American cinema. 'Sergeant York' was selected in 2008 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".