Biloxi Blues
Short description
In 1945, a young man from Brooklyn named Eugene Morris Jerome is sent to an army training camp in Biloxi, Mississippi, as the war in Europe nears its end. Surrounded by a mixed group of recruits, Eugene faces the harshness of military discipline and the unfamiliar world of barracks life. He also has his own private ambitions, including a desire to grow up, and he pursues them despite the demanding routine and an eccentric drill sergeant named Toomey. The film follows the recruits as they train, clash and form friendships under pressure.
Biloxi Blues is a comedy-drama directed by Mike Nichols, adapted by Neil Simon from his own play based on his military service. It was Nichols's ninth film as director, released in the same year as Working Girl and followed by Postcards from the Edge. Matthew Broderick plays Eugene, with Christopher Walken as Sergeant Toomey, and Matt Mulhern, Corey Parker, Markus Flanagan and Casey Siemaszko among the recruits.
Made for around 20 million dollars, the film took roughly 52 million worldwide, a solid return. On IMDb it holds 6.7 from about 17,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.3 from a smaller base of 233 votes. A critics' score of 6.4 from 29 reviews places it close to the audience assessment, suggesting a reasonably well-received but not exceptional response.
What's left behind the scenes
- The word “Biloxi” refers to a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, where the film and the play it is based on are set. The action also takes place in Gulfport, which is located on the Gulf of Mexico and forms a single coastal agglomeration with the cities of Biloxi and Pascagoula. However, the film was shot in the state of Arkansas.
- The scene in which the characters go to a prostitute was filmed in the city of Van Buren, Arkansas. A significant portion of the film was shot in the neighboring town of Fort Smith.
- Cinematographer Bill Butler filmed the movie in Super 35 (which involves using standard 35mm film and spherical cinematographic lenses).
- The word “blues” in the film’s title refers to the melancholy associated with the difficulties of basic training.
- In some scenes, mountains are clearly visible in the background. Mountains are not visible from the shore of the Gulf of Mexico in Mississippi.
- At the 27th minute of the film, the soldiers are in a cinema watching the movie 'Privates'.
- Sergeant Tumy, played by Christopher Walken, says that the platoon will be sent either to the Pacific Theater of Operations or to northern Sicily. The film is set in 1945, while Sicily was taken back in 1943, and in 1945 fighting was already taking place on German territory.
- Matthew Broderick, Matt Mulhern, and Penelope Ann Miller played the same characters in the Broadway production (1985) of the play by Neil Simon (1927-2018).
- In the US Army, basic training lasts ten weeks.
Auditions in India
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