The Big Red One

Brief Description: Describing Sam Fuller as a cult legend and a celluloid genius would be like describing Muhammad Ali as a boxer or Jimi Hendrix as a guitar player. He was a singular American visionary, a giant of independent filmmaking, and a king of bruised-knuckle cinematic poetry. "The Big Red One" is his masterpiece. Twenty years in the making, both the novel and the film are based on Fuller's own experiences with the Army's First Infantry Division ("the Big Red One") in World War II. The story centers on the friendship of five soldiers and follows them from the arid landscapes of Vichy French Africa to Europe to the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and onward into Germany. Excruciating scenes of suffering and brutality are juxtaposed against heartbreaking scenes of compassion and selflessness. In Fuller's vision the lines between heroism and villainy are blurred--"the only glory in war is surviving"--but "The Big Red One" also provides an epic adventure steeped in the true history of World War II. Marc Notes: Text originally published by Bantam in 1980. Publisher Marketing: A twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the World War II tale, this is Fuller's classic tale of the friendship of five soldiers whose tour of duty takes them to Vichy French Africa, Europe, D-Day Normandy, and Germany. Review Citations:

Ingram Advance 09/01/2005 pg. 62 (EAN 9781560257431, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Schickel, Richard Richard Schickel has written many books about film, including The Disney Version, Brando: A Life in Our Times, and Clint Eastwood: A Biography. He is a film critic for Time magazine and the producer-writer-director of more than thirty documentary films about figures such as Charlie Chaplin, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Elia Kazan.