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, first prize at the Venice Film Festival Live Action Short Film category, and a BAFTA Special Award, among others.

Summary

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

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. He chose Pickets, an 1897 story by Robert W. Chambers.

Reception and legacy

Critic Bosley Crowther called it "a keen and eloquent little picture". 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). Both brothers were then hired to write the screenplay for The Naked and the Dead, which led to film careers for both men. The Academy Film Archive preserved A Time Out of War in 2007 and it was added to the National Film Registry.

Cast