Harold Russell, an American soldier who lost his hands in a training accident, tells the story of his medical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC.Harold Russell, an American soldier who lost his hands in a training accident, tells the story of his medical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC.Harold Russell, an American soldier who lost his hands in a training accident, tells the story of his medical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC.
- Director
- Stars
- Harold Russell
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Self
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Joseph M. Newman(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector William Wyler saw this film and chose its featured actor, Harold Russell, to play a role in the film The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Russell's role was rewritten to incorporate as much as possible his real-life injuries and the lessons he had learned in his rehabilitation. Russell won two Academy Awards for that film.
- Quotes
Harold Russell: One thing I envy the others tho. They got theirs in combat. I got mine on D-Day alright, but it was in North Carolina, when half a pound of TNT exploded ahead of schedule. I didn't have a German Scalp hanging from my belt . I didn't have a Purple Heart. I didn't even have an overseas ribbon. All I had was just no hands.
- ConnectionsFeatures Meet McGonegal (1944)
"Diary of a Sergeant" presents the real Russell making some re-enactments about his period in the hospital after losing both hands. We follow his sadness and complete confusion trying to imagine in what possible ways he could go back to a normal life despite the absence of his members. One day, he was presented to another short film by the Army called "Meet McGonegal", a film about an ordinary man who also lost his hands and instead of them received metal hooks to adjust and improve his daily life. That was the wake up call to Russell, who immediately went after similar devices and spent several months training to get used to use his new "arms and hands" to accomplish doing everything independently, his main goal. Indeed, a trajectory of success.
A sublime project made with the purpose of raising the morale of the injured military personnel, "Diary of a Sergeant" end up actually providing for a lot more. The short film (then) was restricted to that audience but since Wyler was on the military filming the war he was able to conceive his project, get a small portion of what was real and bring it to larger audiences, later turned into one of the greatest box-offices of that year. To us, in the present and years to come the short film works to see one of the greatest and unplanned film auditions of all time. The army knew and Wyler knew that there's something special about Mr. Russell - a charismatic, expressive and very talented young guy. Just watch both this film and "The Best Years..." and see how great is. His face seems to tell a thousand stories, several emotions at the same time.
But bear in mind that the Russell we see in Wyler's classic received acting classes by the studio (a fact that infuriated the director because he wanted Russell to be as natural as possible) and the Russell we get with the army project is only 70 percent of him since he's dubbed by another actor. It can't be verified if the real man had a diary that told his recovering days in the hospital but the real goal is accomplished, in fact a lot more than the film Russell saw along with the other disabled veterans. Russell went ahead, perfect his way in using the hooks (he could do everything from changing clothes to lighting a cigarette), followed Wyler's advice of getting a college degree and succeed it in other business, living a blessed life, in full plenty. More cannot be asked about this short film. Sure, wars come and go, technologies also improve (now there's amazing prosthetics to replace both arms and legs) but for the time this great man lived the hooks was the best thing available and he made an important and great use of them. 10/10
- Rodrigo_Amaro
- Oct 3, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- War Department Official Film Misc. 1129
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1