Stars and Stripes Forever (film)

Stars and Stripes Forever
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Henry Koster
Screenplay by	Lamar Trotti
Story by	Ernest Vajda
Based on	Marching Along by John Philip Sousa
Produced by	Lamar Trotti
Starring	Clifton Webb Debra Paget Robert Wagner Ruth Hussey
Narrated by	Casey Adams
Cinematography	Charles G. Clarke
Edited by	James B. Clark
Music by	Leo Arnaud Alfred Newman
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	December 22, 1952 (1952-12-22)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$3 million (US rentals)[1]

Stars and Stripes Forever is a 1952 American Technicolor film biography of the late-19th-/early-20th-century composer and band leader John Philip Sousa. This 20th Century Fox feature was produced by Lamar Trotti, directed by Henry Koster, and stars Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, and Ruth Hussey. The film's title is taken from Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever", which has become the best known of his military marches.^[2] The film was released twenty years after Sousa's death.

While the film's storyline is loosely based on Sousa's autobiography Marching Along, the film takes considerable liberties and dramatic license, often expanding and examining themes and passages from Sousa's book. Two examples: In the film, Private Willie Little (Robert Wagner), is credited with inventing the Sousaphone and naming it after his mentor, but in reality, James Welsh Pepper designed the instrument at Sousa's request. The inspiration for the film's title march is depicted in a scene with a voice over by Webb quoting Sousa's actual description of its creation while he was aboard ship recovering from typhoid fever. Having learned of the sudden death of his band's manager, Sousa and his wife canceled their European vacation and were returning to the U.S. by steamship when the march came to him.